Hello all,
I sent off a single opal earring to be matched.
Was sent one, matches fairly well but the price seems a bit high to
me.
5 x 7 oval, mostly green blue with few flashes of red, nothing
spectacular by any means, really… wholesale price I was quoted was
$40.00. So I have to turn around and charge my customer $80.00 for
it. Seems very expensive.
What do you think?
Thanks in advance,
Laurie
There are opals and then there are opals. Matching opals can be hit
or miss. You’re not paying $40 for an opal, you’re paying $40 for
the service of someone going through a batch or more til they find
something suitable. $80 retail? Seems reasonable to me. Don’t forget
to factor in shipping two ways.
Quick check with Stuller catalogue, A quality $10.80, AAA quality
$45. If this is a white based opal, $10 or $20, crystal opal would be
more.
Richard Hart
Laurie; White or black? Doublet, triplet, crystal? need more info
but it seems pretty high.
Dave Owen
I think that you bought a $15.00 opal and $25.00 worth of labor to
match it up and process your stone for matching and return to you.
Unfortunately, services like opal matching are rarely free in today’s
market, unless you are a VERY good customer.
Lee Cornelius
Vegas Jewelers
David,
The opal is white based, not translucent in color.
Mostly green, little blue with a few red flashes.
I do agree though that I am probably paying for their time to
"match" my opal, that is something I did not think of when I figured
in the price of $40.00.
I also agree that I could probably just purchase 2 matching pairs
from Stuller or somewhere for probably equal or less…but then it
wouldn’t be the customers stone that she purchased on a trip
somewhere, you know, that sentimentality that we all deal with…
so thank you for your input once again.
Nice to know big brother / sister is watching out for all of us
Happy holidays to all!
Laurie