[Jewelry making - Article 00122] - Re: [Orchid] Hagglers at your jewelry booth

[Daniel R. Spirer]

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Richard,

>     You included someone elses comments in your reply to me 

    Actually you might say I was trying to discount my writing time. I
    know that it was two different responders, I was just trying to get
    it all in the same email so I didn't have to write two responses. And
    I know you've been quite successful doing what you do. I DON'T
    discount that. 

    And as I repeatedly have said, I don't give a hoot if anyone wants to
    discount stuff (and that I occasionally do too) either for the
    purpose of moving old stock or making a decent sized sale happen, or
    as someone said today simply because you need to eat that week. My
    ONLY objection is to purposefully raising all your prices so that
    you can always discount something and make it seem like the customer
    isn't paying full price. That, in my book, is just dishonest. And
    that is what I have been trying to get across. My response was
    specifically to the person who suggested that. 

    On the other hand, discounting can work in a negative way in
    general. It often leads to that customer being unwilling to ever pay
    full price. It does also leave the customer in the position of saying
    to themselves, if they were so willing to discount this then it must
    be overpriced to begin with. In the case of people doing craft shows
    the reason so many are asked for discounts is because so many other
    craftspeople have already bargained with them and because since
    they're doing "craft shows" they're often not perceived as "really"
    being in business (trust me, I did craft shows long ago and I know
    this). I mean how many people on list, who either ask for or have
    been asked for discounts, would go into Nordstrom's or Neiman Marcus
    and ask for a discount? Why is it ok for people to ask for discounts
    from some small mom and pop type store that is struggling just to pay
    the bills but not to ask in a store that has sales in the hundreds of
    millions who can really afford to sell the stuff for less if asked? 

    The coupon issue is the same as having a legitimate sale. They are
    routinely limited in time frame of when they are offered, they are
    not a permanent offering. (Plus in restaurants the real money is in
    liquor sales and that is something you will never see a coupon for.)
    That is different than having the restaurant raise their prices and
    then offer it all at a discount. Periodically I have a small sale
    associated with a sales tax free weekend we have every year in
    Massachusetts. It's an offer made only to existing customers and
    it's a one day thing and the discount is small, although with the tax
    savings it can add up to a wee bit. For anyone who wants to come
    into my store on that day and make a purchase and save a few dollars
    once a year it's a good deal. But I don't jack up my prices ahead of
    time to cover the discount. I don't offer it any other time and it's
    a legitimate sale. It doesn't mean that my prices are inflated. It
    just means that I'm offering a small discount to my regular
    customers for that one time only. 

>     Because of the diversity, we have incredible word of mouth. We have
>     become an iconic mom and pop family jewelry store. We cannot go
>     anywhere in this city and not bump into a customer. 

    I have the same situation here, but what I'm happy to report is that
    even in Kazakhstan my customers bump into each other (true story).
    And that they always recognize that it's my work. 

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