[Jewelry making - Article 00013] - Re: [Orchid] Hagglers at your jewelry booth

[daniel spirer]

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    I've been away for a few days. I drove to NYC. In Connecticut gas
    was priced at $3.57/gallon. In NYC it was higher. Higher gas prices
    means everything that is driven from one place to another costs more
    so, besides the fact that your metal prices have skyrocketed
    recently, all of your costs are going up. Richard Hart, you say your
    sales are down 25%. In the same breath you say that because of that
    you need to discount your prices to your customers. Personally I'm a
    little confused by this. If all of your personal and business
    expenses are going up, and you're selling 25% less jewelry, don't
    you actually have to make every single one of the other 75% of your
    sales as profitable as possible? You should actually be raising your
    prices in this economy, not dropping them. 

>     If you or your organization does wholesale and retail sales there
>     is no reason why you cannot arrive at a new price somewhere above
>     the wholesale price and below the retail price. 

    Hey you can set your prices anywhere you want. It's only YOU who
    loses. You make less money. You have less to invest in expanding your
    business, less to pay your rising costs with. If you can do it that
    way more power to you, but it seems like a losing proposition to me. 

>     My wife and I routinely offer a discount for family members. 

    I give my jewelry to family members for free. I have a few very
    close friends who I either give stuff to or they get huge discounts,
    because they're my friends and they support me in a myriad of ways
    when things are good or bad. It doesn't mean I'm going to extend
    that to my customers. 

>     Regardless of how you feel or what you think, whatever ethics or
>     moral caca you have, you are not superior or more conscious or
>     respectful. Just ignorant. 

    I'm sorry Richard, but just because some people in other countries,
    or people in this country do something it doesn't negate ethics or
    "moral caca". In many countries bribery is an accepted way of life.
    Does that make it right? Not in my book as it's morally and
    ethically wrong. Every country in the world could do it and it would
    still be wrong. But I think you are misunderstanding my position as
    it is quite specific. 

    To raise your prices only so that you can make the customer think
    they're getting a discount when in fact they're paying full price is
    wrong. It's wrong because you aren't charging a real price ever. It's
    wrong because in fact the real price of the piece is exactly what
    they paid, but you're just trying to make them think they're getting
    a bargain, when in fact they're not because you never planned to
    charge the "real" price to begin with. It's the same thing as selling
    a piece to a customer, then offering them an appraisal at a much
    higher price to make them think they are getting a bargain. They
    aren't getting a bargain. If you went back the next day you could get
    the same thing for the same price. Every single appraisal
    organization in the country will tell you that this is morally and
    ethically wrong. And it really is the same thing because you are
    being dishonest with the customer. You are presenting something to
    them that it's not. It's not a piece worth $500 if you always sell it
    for $400. It's then only a piece worth $400. Would you tell a
    customer a stone is natural when it's actually been heated, just so
    that you can make a sale? Would you tell a customer a piece is 18k
    when it's only 14k just to make a sale? So then why would you tell a
    customer a piece is worth $500 when it's only worth $400 just to make
    a sale? 

>     We are taught to not waste electricity, don't waste food, but don't
>     negotiate for a commodity? 

    I would wager that 80% of the people on this list are not selling
    commodities. They are selling a product they made themselves. That is
    not a commodity. If you want to look at diamonds as commodities, you
    can (although I try hard not to as it makes it much harder to sell
    the darn things) but I don't think that's what most people on this
    list are selling. If you're selling loose diamonds, then sure it's
    not insulting when someone says can you do any better. But that isn't
    what most people (on this list) are selling. They're selling
    something they slaved over themselves, spent their own time and money
    designing, making and then attempting to sell. To come to them and
    say your piece isn't worth what it's marked (assuming that the price
    is marked fairly and not unjustifiably boosted) is just plain rude
    and insulting. 

    You know I had a customer in my shop on Saturday. She owns a number
    of my pieces, nothing very expensive, but a few interesting pieces.
    She likes tiny things so she usually isn't buying anything that can
    even get very expensive. While she was in the shop (and I was out of
    hearing range at the moment) she said to another customer in the
    store: You know, this is the most expensive jewelry store around
    (actually not at all true, except within her own experience, because
    she wouldn't think to shop at Tiffany's or Cartier's). And after she
    said that she then spent another 45 minutes with me setting up her
    next order from me for a pendant. I may be perceived as being
    expensive, but the customer knows the quality she'll get, she knows I
    stand behind everything I make permanently, and she sees the inherent
    "value" in her purchase. The value isn't the price she pays. It's the
    entire experience she gets. 

    Oh and by the way, while being a complete atheist, I was born Jewish
    so I don't think you're quite on the money with that one either. 

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambrige, MA 02140
www.spirerjewelers.com
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