I am interested in starting a repair shop. not a jewelry store, here
in Michigan. Anyone have that would help me? Who’s
written a book? I really need info on all facets of this business, I
have a good amount of knowledge but I need someone with first hand
experience to help me so I don’t make any critical errors…thanks
in advance.
Mary Dunker
Mary
Join jewelrydealersnetwork and you will get all the info you need
and more. It will cost you a few dollars up front but will save you
many in the long run. Many of the guys on this network have had
tradeshops. The best investment you can make.
Jerome
Well, Mary, we need a wee bit of first. How long have
you been repairing jewelry professionally? What facets of jewelry
repair do you feel that you are an expert in? Who have you worked for
in the past? Do you personally know local jewelry shop owners or
managers? What is the quality of your equipment? Do you own a
(relatively) complete set of jewelers tools, including rolling mill,
polisher, torch with various tips, large ultrasonic cleaner, steamer,
professional flex-shaft, and all hand tools? Would you need to rent
space or do you have a location available to you with high quality
ventilation? What professional references do you have?
Do you have valuable, professional, confident experience doing the
following:
Inspecting and diagnosing both new and worn jewelry for
contamination and additional repair work needed?
Prong, bead, channel, and bezel setting diamonds?
Prong, bead, channel, and bezel setting colored stones?
Sizing, both up and down, on stone-set rings in 10K, 14K, 18K, both
white and yellow gold, and platinum, containing both easy and fragile
stones?
Soldering and/or riveting gem-set hinged bracelet links?
Repairing fine, thin, and/or hollow herringbone, rope, byzantine,
box, stampato, and link chains in all karats, colors, and materials?
Replacing half and whole shanks on rings of all materials and
colors?
Re-tipping prongs by replacing missing material with new tips, not
just placing a small blob of solder on each point and polishing it?
Finding and matching color and quality of diamonds and colored gems
for replacement in multi-stone jewelry Cleaning, inspecting, and
polishing finished repair work?
With the answers to these, it is a lot easier to point you in the
proper direction to start your business.
Lee Cornelius
Vegas Jewelers
I am interested in starting a repair shop. not a jewelry store, here in Michigan. Anyone have that would help me? Who's written a book?
Well I would tell you not to get into that field. It pays slave
wages. You can smile, look nice, be good and basically charge what
you need to make a very, very good living doing retail.
Of course the overhead is high. But repairs in retail are not price
sensitive, they are trust sensitive.
But when it comes to trade work, it is PRICE sensitive.
I spoke to a guy last week, had been getting $10 wholesale to size a
ring smaller. After a few years of doing a chain store’s work, they
gave HIM the list they were going to pay:
$4.55 to size a ring smaller.
You can’t make living for less than $7.
But you asked
You should give them a repair list that is a 3 time markup over
your cost. That will make it easy for them.
You should guarantee your labor. You cannot guarantee stone loss
above a 10 point diamond. You can’t charge enough. This is ONE of
your policies and you MUST have the manager sign a copy of your
polices before doing work otherwise they will blames you and make you
pay for every small stones loss. You could pay for a 1/2 carat that
fell out for a friggin $5 ring sizing.
You need insurance, go to www.jewelersmutual.com
You need a safe. Ask jewelers mutual what they’d require.
You need QuickBooks Pro 2006 to keep you books and for billing.
You’ll need (if in town) a schedule for pick up and delivery.
You’ll have to knock on people’s doors to sell this
“relationship” you want with them. You should dress nicely and bring
some examples of your sizing, shank, tipping, soldering and setting
work.
YOU SHOULD SET THEM UP FOR BILLING. Getting paid within 30 days
is a must. Many of my trade shop buddies took my advice and signs all
trade shops up with charging their credit cards when work is
delivered. NO BILLING. Then the store can take their sweet time
paying MasterCard rather than stringing you along. Don’t fret, many
of your accounts are ALREADY C.O.D. or on credit card buying with
Stuller.
if you can’t get a Stuller account, big deal. There are other
wonderful suppliers. Southeastern Findings, R Findings, Agem, etc.
Deliver your work on time and don’t be afraid to charge
correctly. I’d suggest also, being part of your job is to help the
STORE make money from you, offer 20 minutes of free training once a
month to their sales staff on how repairs are done and selling
repairs. For some stores it’s the only training they get.
I did an analysis for a 90 store chain on their trade shop prices.
Compiled 88 trade shops last year in what they charged, the high, the
low and the average and then made a column for what I THOUGHT they
should charge. I’ll send it to you offline from Orchid.
Good luck
David Geller
JewelerProfit, Inc.
510 Sutters Point
Atlanta, GA. 30328
(404) 255-9565 Voice
(404) 252-9835 Fax
david@JewelerProfit.com
Hi David;
I’d like to respectfully put in my two cents on some of your
suggestions. I see some things differently on some points. I’ve been
running my shop for around 10 years. I have a dozen accounts, some
large, some tiny, and I earn about what I did when I worked as an
in-store jeweler.
But when it comes to trade work, it is PRICE sensitive.
Actually, David, I haven’t found that to be the case. Most of my
clients are far more concerned with quality, and are happy to pay a
little more if the work is done right.
After a few years of doing a chain store's work, they gave HIM the list they were going to pay:
I avoid the chain stores. Their management style is not that of a
sustainable business, they are in the race to the bottom. When they
offer you a price list, tell them to take it to your competition and
put him out of business.
You can't make living for less than $7.
I have a $10 minimum, and that’s wholesale. It costs me, in wages
and overhead, more than $7 just to process a job through our system,
even if we don’t do anything but clean and check it. If they don’t
like it, I give them names of really cheap jewelers so they can go
back and re-learn the lesson of “you get what you pay for”.
You should guarantee your labor. You cannot guarantee stone loss above a 10 point diamond.
I don’t guarantee all jobs, just most of them. There are some that
will present too much risk, or the customer won’t pay for the better
repair, or it’s a bad piece of jewelry to begin with. As for stone
setting, I guarantee most, and some I don’t. It’s a case by case
thing, but I know I guarantee far more stones against breakage and
loss than most jewelers, because my selling point is “you get what
you pay for”. People trust me to set the really expensive, risky
stones, and sometimes I do it at their risk, sometimes at mine, and
it’s not cheap, but they know what I can do so I get the work. But, I
think if you are going to call yourself a setter, and you can’t
guarantee the work against defective workmanship, you’re not ready
to sell that service. I can’t imagine telling someone, “sure, I’ll
set that 1 carat diamond in a new platinum head, but I won’t
guarantee it won’t fall out”. But I do suggest that they call their
insurance agent and make sure it’s covered against loss.
You'll have to knock on people's doors to sell this "relationship" you want with them.
I thought this too at one time. I’ve never gotten a single account
by cold calling. Start building a network, especially with other
in-store jewelers. Of course, they won’t give you work unless you are
better at some things than they are and can help them. It’s going to
take a couple years to get known in the area, then they will start
approaching you. Meanwhile, yeah, go ahead and drop in on them, but
don’t leave them a price list unless they are going to give you work.
But do a little research on all possible new accounts. Find out if
they are looking for a new trade shop because they didn’t pay the
last guy.
YOU SHOULD SET THEM UP FOR BILLING. Getting paid within 30 days is a must.
Tried that, I offer net 15, at net 30, the cash flow problem made my
hair fall out. New accounts should be payment due upon receipt, then
after a while, if they aren’t slow pays, longer terms. If you offer
them 15, they’ll pay you in 20, if you offer them 30 days, you won’t
see any money for 6 weeks. Yes, if you can get them to pay with a
credit card, great, but it’s not likely they are going to pay you
before they get the work in their hands.
I did an analysis for a 90 store chain on their trade shop prices. Compiled 88 trade shops last year in what they charged, the high, the low and the average and then made a column for what I THOUGHT they should charge. I'll send it to you offline from Orchid.
I’d sure like to see that too, and in return, I’ll send you anything
I’ve got that you’d like to see, price list, policy, etc. And thanks
for all the
And to Mary D. I don’t want to discourage you, but I wouldn’t
suggest anybody start a trade shop unless they were very, very
experienced with repairs. It’s the most demanding work I’ve ever
done. Why don’t you go over to the Advance building of the Greenfield
Plaza in Southfield and ask around. That’s where all the trade shops
are, and there are quite a few of them.
David L. Huffman
Hi David
Your two cents is as valuable as mine.
There are always two types of people in the world. Those who do
fabulous and those who watch others do fabulous.
You’ve always been pro active. You’re the top 20% of your trade (the
wholesale trade shop side).
Not to discredit the fellow I wrote about at all but there is more
work from low paying retailers than what you are doing. You’ve
decided to only work for higher end retailers. Those that will pay
$10 smaller. AS I said, can’t make money for less than $7. The trade
list I looked over, with 88 trade shops showed me AGAIN that most
trade shops are charging from $4 to $8 to size a ring smaller with $6
being the median. A half shank was $19 to $40. can you believe?
When chose your retailers and I imagine you present yourself as the
upper crust shop and I bet you dress nicely.
Most trade shop guys and gals act like the fish who attach
themselves to the back of large sharks. They are waiting for the
crumbs to fall so they can eat.
All of your items are great posts. And yes being an expert in
repairs is a must. One so you don’t screw things up but also SPEED is
a must. Without speed, folks will starve.
Thanks for the response. Good work.
David Geller
JewelerProfit, Inc.
510 Sutters Point
Atlanta, GA. 30328
(404) 255-9565 Voice
(404) 252-9835 Fax
david@JewelerProfit.com
Hi Mary,
Detroit is a good place to open up such a business. Understand that
you will have lots of competition in the field. The Advance building
and Greenfield Plaza hold about 500 business that are your direct
competition. With a lot more around the Metro area. You would do well
to already have three accounts under your belt while working out of
your home. You will make roughly the same money as if you worked for
someone else.
If your just talk chains and sizing. You will have to average 60-70
jobs per day with one day turn.around. If you can carve waxes you
will do better. If you can set diamonds you will do better still. If
you can engrave and do all the above, plus book keeping. You will
have a business.
Jim
Jim Zimmerman
Alpine Custom Jewellers & Repair
I to have been aproched with 4-8$ range on sizing that was the price
I did in 1972. I told them to send it to China if you are paying
China wages. not in the USA. I haven’t heard back from them.
Don in Idaho
Hi David;
Thank you for the compliments. I have often referred people to buy
your pricing book and CD’s, thinking that this would save me the job
of educating them on how to take in and price repairs and custom.
It’s got to be one of the best, if not the only tool of it’s kind out
there. I know a lot of retailers, and trade shops for that matter,
are just guessing when it comes to prices.
No, I’m not getting anything for endorsing here, and I was even one
of the skeptics when David first came out with his book. I only have
one account now that I know of using it, but I haven’t asked some of
the others. It’s worked out well for both of us.
I must confess, part of the reason I get paid a little more than
most trade shops isn’t the quality of work. I hope it’s a big part of
it though. I field a lot of the work that the retailers don’t know
how to do, like diagnosing what repairs are needed beyond the simple
and obvious, and also handling all the aspects of custom work, from
design to manufacture to pricing. Whereas I’m not the cheapest, I
might be one of the more helpful. My customers do like my work, but
I’m sure there are other jewelers running trade shops who are just as
good. I just don’t see how they could be any cheaper than I am. It
just takes too much time to do careful work.
I remember David saying that you could go broke running a trade
shop, and from what I found out from experience, yes, he was right,
you definitely can go broke, or else you can work yourself to death
to eek out a meager existence. That’s about when I got lucky.
I don’t deserve a lot of credit for my success. Before I had time to
accumulate a lot of basic repair accounts, I found a lot of new
kinds of customers coming to me, and I saw that it was the kind of
work I could charge more for. In fact, I needed to charge more for
it. I had designers who didn’t know that much about making jewelry,
or wanted to design beyond what they had learned to make, so they
needed somebody who could work out the technical parts and still keep
the character of their creative work. And I got jewelers who had
pretty good skill sets, but they’d heard I had a lot of experience,
so they send me work when they think I can do it better than they
can, for one reason or another because of some of the things I’m
particularly good at. Finally, there are jewelers who get buried in
custom work for their own customers, so they send me repairs to get
them out of their hair, knowing I won’t keep them too long or screw
anything up. I’m kind of a worry-free pressure valve for them. It’s
all worth a little more for these people to have me solve problems
for them and do it consistently. These people pay me a little more
because I’m picky about the work, and I’ll spend a lot of time with
them to get it right. And, of course, the accounts that do send me
basic repairs count on the good turn around time, the quality, or
accountability therein, and, again, a lot of problem solving. I guess
they don’t feel shopping for a cheaper trade shop is worth the risk.
And I really do try to give them price breaks every time I can, and
try to find options to help keep the price down, and I think they
know that.
So it’s all a kind of balance. There’s a certain minimum level of
quality and speed people expect, and I guess the better you can do in
both departments, the more you can expect to charge. But, I believe,
if you are charging more, you may also have to sweeten the pot a bit
by being willing to extend yourself. If you’re charging more, your
accounts will expect a little more personal service, just as their
customers expect of them.
I think you’d agree with me on these points that make running a
trade shop challenging. These are things I experienced, and maybe
I’ve heard you say some of them. I’m not a stickler, I’ll lift
anything useful anyone says.
You really need to know what it costs to run YOUR business and
what you want to earn to determine what YOU need to charge for your
work. (please excuse the caps/shouting, can’t use italics). This I
know is one of David’s.
You need a lot of experience, which equates to being fast and
efficient, or you’ll either earn too little or have to charge too
much. And you need a lot of experience to know what you shouldn’t
attempt, or you’ll have to fix it when it goes ka-blooey and you
can’t charge for fixing it (if you can even fix it). . 3. You need to
be able to make people respect your policies about payment, returns,
turnaround and quality expectations, etc. And to do that, you need to
keep your promises or you won’t have any authority to expect people
to play by your rules.
Just as with your home economy, beware of your debt level. You
can underestimate how long it will take you to get out of debt, and
it’s like wearing shackles, hobbling along paying interest. Better to
stay lean and be patient.
Expect a couple years of low pay and really hard work. Unless
you’ve got a bankroll to start with, this will be your start-up
capitalization. After that, it should get better, but if your prices
are too low, you won’t get out of the woods until you fix that. I
actually figured this out while I was struggling along, barely making
ends meet while people were telling me my prices were too low! Duh!
Raised my prices… voila! I was afraid I’d lose all my business, but
I got to the point where I was going to lose it anyway. I try to be
smart, but thank God I’m lucky.
Oh, and by the way, yes, I do spiff up to meet new potential
clients. Business casual. Jacket but no tie. Dress slacks and shirt,
leather shoes and belt… stylish but age appropriate, shave,
haircut, deodorant and mouthwash but no aftershave or cologne. No
sunglasses indoors. Pretty much like a toned down Sunday Presbyterian
out to dinner in J.C. Penney off-the-rack. Dress of choice for CIA
agents, confindence men, and most middle age busniess types from the
midwest. Shows that you are respectful enough to go to the trouble,
but not in the habit of trying to impress people. I’d like to think
it’s calculated, but in reality, it’s conforming, and, uhm, probably
sincere. C’est moi.
Best of luck you future trade shop gladiators.
David L. Huffman
I to have been aproched with 4-8$ range on sizing that was the price I did in 1972. I told them to send it to China if you are paying China wages. not in the USA. I haven't heard back from them.
Same thing over here in Toronto. There is one jewellery company
asked if I would like to do do some setting for them. I declined, why?
They would pay me.06 to.10 cents a stone for wax setting and then.40
cents for claw setting. “Overseas wages” on Canadian soil.
Gerry!
Hi Gerry,
Same thing over here in Toronto. There is one jewellery company asked if I would like to do do some setting for them. I declined, why? They would pay me.06 to.10 cents a stone for wax setting and then.40 cents for claw setting. "Overseas wages" on Canadian soil.
So I’ve just got to ask. Where did they go to get stones set a.40
cents Canadian or.38 cents US? What companies is charging this and is
still in business on this side of the ocean? Is there a setter that
reads orchid charging .40 cents per stone and laughing all the way to
bank. Hmmmmmmmmmm I don’t think so. So where did this cheese go?
Jim
Jim Zimmerman
Alpine Custom Jewellers & Repair
Hi Gerry,
Same thing over here in Toronto. There is one jewellery company asked if I would like to do some setting for them. I declined, why? They would pay me .06 to .10 cents a stone for wax setting and then .40 cents for claw setting. "Overseas wages" on Canadian soil.
So I've just got to ask. Where did they go to get stones set a .40, cents Canadian or .38 cents US? What companies is charging this and is, still in business on this side of the ocean? Is there a setter that, reads orchid charging .40 cents per stone and laughing all the way to, bank. Hmmmmmmmmmm I don't think so. So where did this cheese go?
It’s been about four days without a response. I would conclude that
there are no setters in North America charging the above prices, at
all. That would mean the jobs have been orphaned and are still out
there. If anyone wants that type of trade work. I notice rather hostel
remarks being made about go east for those prices. I would say this
is the wrong tack to take. I would say leaving your price list and
saying if would still like to do business in the future give me a
call, might be a better idea. This grubby little orphan job may come
back to you. It takes a certain size company to jump the ocean for
cheap labor which means smaller sized companies have to do business
here.
I will not miss good bad olds day of having to set a 1000 oval 6 x
8mm in one ring style. I still shudder when I think of those job
runs. I will cry no tears over the loss of three carat Christmas
trees. (Christmas tree is a pile of three hundred .01 pointers to set
at Christmas in one day). Usually six stones a ring same style. Will
I miss the unimaginative grunt work, absolutely not. My company is
based around the Idea of no two job the same,and from many sources.
I’ve only had one multiple single design job to do and that was for
corporate ring for the Canadian Post office. That was nice, but
enough. I still make a good living. This has to do with just in time
philosophy of stocking more common to jewellery companies today.
Looking for finger grinding work, intentionally.
Why would any base a modern company on that?
Jim
Jim Zimmerman
Alpine Custom Jewellers & Repair