I think ethics last a lot longer than meager profits from the one
customer, and the good will garnered by passing on the "break" in
pricing to a customer is greater than gold and a lot more
profitable in the long run.
Just my humble and very solid opinion.
I don’t remember who said this famous quote but…
‘You’ll never go out of business making a profit.’
A jeweler should look at profits monthly and then by job.
Zales thinks they are ethical. Costco co.
Zales has a 60% margin, Costco has a 20% margin.
I have done a lot of stupid things in my life, seems to continue
year by year too! I remember this one when I started in the 70’s. I
bought a chain from vendor B for $30, triple key to $90. Sold all of
the chain I stocked. Always sold out.
Then a new vendor came by and the same chain costs from this vendor
$24. I triple keyed it to $72.
Sold all of it.
Years later I said to myself
“Dummy, why didn’t you buy at $24 and sell at $90?”
I missed $18 of extra profit on every sale. That $18 adds up.
To the point of not charging enough, most jeweler do not charge
enough for their labor. Period. And starve to death. On product, if
you’re missing sale and you think its because of the price of the
product, it could be. But once the price is agreed on, the customer
is happy.
Guilt makes most folks lower the retail if the get a break
themselves.
But most folks don’t think about making it up someplace else. A good
example is this product cost that is driving this thread. OK, so you
quote the NEXT customer a price and the finding or stone suddenly
isn’t available. You have to pay more and you absorb it. Happens, but
not too often.
What happens a LOT THOUGH is you quote actually 2 prices.
One for material, which you sell at $100, you think it costs you $40
and by George it DOES cost you $40.
But you quoted $200 to make the piece for 2 hours time. The flask
blows up and you have to start over, or you just take longer than you
thought it would take (most people under charge for labor) and you
lose.
Not giving a break on the previous example would make you come out
better on the losing job.
You can count on 2 fingers the amount of time you get such a great
price break.
You’ll need your hands, feet and your friends hands and feet to
count the number of times you under figured time on your estimates
and came up short.
David Geller
David Geller
JewelerProfit
510 Sutters Point
Sandy Springs, GA. 30328
(404) 255-9565
www.JewelerProfit.com