Hi y’all, I just came in on the back end of this thread. I now live
in a small town, and there was only one person here who did any sort
of jewelry repair, and he passed away last week of a heart attack.
Anyway, he ran a small gift shop and used to charge locals about
$4.00 to size a ring, and I thought there was no need to compete
with him, since I charged more labor than that to size a ring ten
years ago, just “let him have at it” and just stick to doing my art.
So now I thought I’d offer my services to locals for repairs and
remounts, but I wanted some sort of nationalized pricing chart or
something, to show them that most people in this country pay about
$20 and up for a basic ring sizing. Also, I’ve been out of a
jewelry store for quite a few years now, and I’m not sure what the
going rate is for basic repairs.
SO…if anyone can e-mail me this article you’ve been talking about,
or some sort of price list to go by, I sure would appreciate it.
Wendy Newman
www.goldgraphix.com
Hi Wendy Your repair price in Utah should not different much then
your price at Newport News. Are you paying any less for supplies? How
do you value your time? I would look at David’s book for a STRONG
guide for pricing. His e-mail: dgeller@bellsouth.net Haim WWW.SILBERS.COM
Might sound self serving, just get Geller’s Blue Book to Jewelry
Repair. Used by over 5000 jewelers. Virtually everything is priced in
a book, coil bound.
www.jewelerprofit.com
David Geller
Dear Wendy, You might just as well forget this nonsense of a one size
fits all when it comes to pricing repairs. You’ve got to sit down
and figure out what your individual costs are and then contemplate
what your service value is in the community. You also have to
consider what the ratio of value is to what it is that you are
servicing. If the item is sentimental, then you can get somewhat
more for the service. The fact that you have a captive clientele is
relevant only if you want to prey on your clientele for short term
advantage. If you want to stay in the community you should take the
more humanistic course of providing a needed service at a reasonable
price. ( This approach also has the advantage of deterring new
competition )
The idea that one ought to charge the same price for a service
throughout the nation is simply silly. The cost of doing business in
New York City is astronomical compared to that in Podunk, Ohio.
Furthermore, the average income of the person living in NYC is
beaucoups times more than the person shoveling “waste” in Podunk !
Your situation suggests that you are in a position to become the
"the" jeweler in your town. Don’t blow it by gouging…but, by the
same token, do gradually bring your prices up, not by what they are
charging in NYC, but, rather, by what is reasonable and profitable
in your town. Be your own person ! Don’t follow the herd to the
trough ! Ron at Mills Gem, Los Osos, Ca.
Dear Wendy, Don’t blow your opportunity.! The National Price for
services is malarky. You sure as hell are not going to charge the
same price as New York City nor do you have to absorb the same costs
of doing business. Adjust your prices in accordance with reasonable
LOCAL costs of doing business and to hell with the other locales.
Your prices should reflect the realistic value of your services
based on local opportunities for your economic survival. The cost of
sizing a ring in NYC is not even remotely relevant ! Ron at Mills
Gem, Los Osos, Ca.
Your customers will be your customers regardless of what you charge,
as long as it is fair. There are stores in my area charging from
$2.50 to $9.50 for a simple battery changing. I 'm at that high end
and do plenty of batteries. The one or two I lose because of my
charge to the customer aren’t going to become my customers anyhow.
Gellers book is a complete price list and it’s all our jobs to keep
data like his and what AJM are doing out of the hands of the public.