[Jewelry making - Article 01082] - Re: [Orchid] Hagglers at your jewelry booth

[Karen Goeller]

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Holly,

    This is likely to provoke some strong discussion on the list!
    However, I'll chip in my $.02 on the topic. 

    First off, I'd be really careful about something like offering a
    cash discount, as that will likely violate the terms of your merchant
    agreement should they find out. 

    Second, the only reason to "make them feel special" is if you want
    to encourage haggling. To me, I price my pieces fairly so that I
    cover my costs to make them (including my cost of business
    operations), plus a small but appropriate profit that goes toward
    building the business in the future. My response to hagglers is a
    firm but gentle one "The prices I offer are as competitive as
    possible in this economy, and are as marked." The price is clearly
    marked on each piece so they can see I'm not making it up as I go
    along and adjusting it based on how they appear (I've heard that
    perception when prices are not visibly marked). 

    Should they persist in requesting a "special deal," I point them to
    older inventory that I've dropped the price on already and explain
    that these pieces are priced more aggressively to help them find
    homes. And should there be an actual conversation going, I will
    mention that the price of silver has quadrupled in a very few short
    years and how the price of gold has skyrocketed as well, making it
    much more expensive to purchase the raw materials to make replacement
    pieces. 

    I try not to get insulted because I realize that there are some
    people who simply don't feel they've fulfilled their duty unless
    they've asked for a better price... and there are some who truly will
    not purchase unless that price is dropped even if it was very fair to
    begin with. The former are satisfied with a courteous but firm
    response. The latter are folks I really don't want to do business
    with, because they next time they expect an even larger discount, and
    so on, becoming a real drain on your business. 

    I guess that was a little more than $.02. Ah well. 

Karen Goeller
No Limitations Designs
Hand-made, one-of-a-kind jewelry
www.nolimitations.com
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