Should prices be visible?

Jewelry Discussion
61 
So now a day later I'm wondering the dynamic involved. Obviously
this is working for her. Are the goods so tempting that people
will stand in line? Is it some exclusivity appeal? Are her clients
so well versed in the finer points of high end jewelry that seeing
the price up front is not an issue? Does she purposely hide the
tags to weed out the riffraff?

First off, some vendors have clients that return to see what’s new,
and purchase. Can you say collector?

Second, possibly her work attracts people who do not pre-judge based
on criteria some of the people on this forum use to discriminate
against a vendor simply because prices are not shown.

Perhaps this vendors work is so attractive, people want to see it
closer, hold it, know about it, and have personal contact with the
person who created it. When I am impressed with someones work, I will
wait till they have a moment and tell them how much I admire their
creativity, the beauty of their work, their exquisite ability to
design.

As to the “weed out riffraff”, I doubt that very seriously. Perhaps
next time someone on this forum will have the presence of mind to ask
a vendor so we can know their true intent. It would be good to know
the truth. I have stated quite clearly that I hid tags because it is
not attractive to look at. This does not seem to be acceptable to
some
who want to attribute some devious or nefarious adgena on my part to
victimize my customer.

Richard Hart

62 
shoes have price tags,

For what it’s worth…there is a store in town that I have tried to
shop in a couple of times. There are no prices on the shoes. I took
my 2 and 3 (at the time) year old sons in there (I’m crazy) to find
shoes once (because it is so close and I thought it would be
convenient)…After much looking (and no visible prices) we ask the
sales person about some shoes. Lo and behold, not only are the shoes
on the floor not priced, they are not even there. Almost all the
shoes shown had to be custom ordered.

In hindsight, I think it was a sign of bad times for the store. They
may actually not have been able to afford an inventory…but that’s
another story. The sign went up this week and they are “retiring”.

I will only ask the price on jewelry if it is something so unique, I
haven’t seen it before. I go to a lot of local shows, so, needless
to say, I have seen a lot of the things before. I’m not offended by
unseen prices. I just don’t often have the extra time to ask a bunch
of different prices, wait for the response, try on, decide…all
that. I only email people. I hardly ever talk on the phone.

I would like to see small prices on things. You know, a lot of the
time, there is a tag on the item. Everybody is saying that they don’t
price things because it is less attractive. There are an awful lot of
people who price it, but turn the tag upside down. I have been known
to practically lay on the floor to see an upside down price. Rather
than wait to be waited on, this is what I do.

Everybody is different. people don’t seem to have a lot of visible
tags at shows. In stores, it’s just a lot more convenient to see some
kind of price. You guys seem to have skipped the customer who is able
to spend, but has no time to have extensive interaction with the
person behind the counter.

The customer is the person who would know the answer to this
question really. It’s what he/she thinks. What makes him/her buy?

Kim Starbard
http://www.kimstarbarddesigns.com

63 
As to the "weed out riffraff", I doubt that very seriously.
Perhaps next time someone on this forum will have the presence of
mind to ask a vendor so we can know their true intent. It would be
good to know the truth. I have stated quite clearly that I hid tags
because it is not attractive to look at. This does not seem to be
acceptable to some who want to attribute some devious or nefarious
adgena on my part to victimize my customer.

“riffraff” was tongue in cheek, I should have done one of these ; P I
was wondering if she hid the tags to help her separate the earnest
customers from the sightseers(among other possibilities). I was
making no judgement of her or you. When I see something that works
I’d like to understand it, perhaps its adaptable to my business.

64

Hello again Richard, and all

I’m not wanting to get in a last word here, but this is a matter of
intense curiosity to me.

As I mentioned, Richard Hart’s point about the esthetic difficulties
of price tags in a jewelry display made perfect sense to me. I can
see where they’d be distracting or untidy looking.

However, there is a fairly common practice which utterly baffles us
here (my wife and I). We have seen many jewelry displays with price
tags attached to each item - but every tag carefully turned face down
or coyly tucked half-under the piece so as to be unreadable.
Esthetics, in those cases, is obviously not a major consideration.
That sort of thing inevitably raises the question in my mind, and
many others’ - What is the agenda? What psychological game is being
played? I hasten to add that this is not an accusation against
anyone, despite how my previous posts have been misunderstood, but I
am really, really curious as to what is intended, consciously or
otherwise. What is the origin of that conventional practice?

Thanks,
Marty

65 
I would like to see small prices on things. You know, a lot of the
time, there is a tag on the item. Everybody is saying that they
don't price things because it is less attractive. There are an
awful lot of people who price it, but turn the tag upside down. I
have been known to practically lay on the floor to see an upside
down price. Rather than wait to be waited on, this is what I do.

In this day and age, if the issue of whether a price tag is
displayed where you can read it, or trying to assume what the message
or meaning of a hidden tag is is one of the issues you think
confronts us at this point in our history, I envy you. If the lack of
understanding shoppers have and the attitudes displayed about how
some of you feel about prices not being shown shows to me how bigger
more important issues are not being dealt with in favor of gnat
issues. 20 years of retail and I have not had issues or problems
with customers not asking for prices. We have an average of a sale to
80% of walk in customes. Thank God we are attracting the type of
customers who apparently do not play games or assume we do.

The priority we should have with issues of lack of health care and
education going down hill would seem to require more attention. If
you think that I implying that people who have issues about price
tags are petty I am stating it. Get over yourselves. All of the
reasons for why price tags should be shown have been selfish and
self-centered thinking. If you think I am the only retailer who feels
this way, you are wrong.

Try pretending that retailers have good intentions, and that you do,
see how that feels.

Richard Hart

66

Any thoughts on displaying prices, at say Tucson Show, when you are
in midst of your contemporaries, selling almost similar products.

Anil Gupta

67 
In this day and age, if the issue of whether a price tag is
displayed where you can read it, or trying to assume what the
message or meaning of a hidden tag is is one of the issues you
think confronts us at this point in our history, I envy you.

Thanks! Yeah, I feel pretty lucky.

Try pretending that retailers have good intentions, and that you
do, see how that feels.

That’s my whole point. I don’t really take the time to think about a
retailer’s “intentions”. I walk in, I look at things. Gee, there are
no prices and I can’t configure my body to really find any prices. I
don’t have a lot of extra time. I walk out.

See, it’s pretty cut and dry.

Kim Starbard
http://www.kimstarbarddesigns.com

68

Again I will jump in and repeat some of my last post. To me there is
no dynamic involved in hiding tags, I think a case full of tags is
plan ugly, we are selling beauty. If we have a case full of tags
maybe we should call ourselves a tag store instead of a jewelry
store. I think the only people that hidden tags might bother are the
introverted internet people that like to hide out. Maybe 10 times in
my 30 years have I had a person come in look at a piece and say “I
Want That”. What sells the piece is the beauty and storyof the piece
and artist. If they ask the price, you have an interested person that
you can tell a story to. If all you people that want tags showing,
are trying to sell your jewelry you better look at yourselves and the
way you interact with the customers. If your standing there waiting
for someone to say I’ll buy that, don’t blame the economy or
President Bush for your lack of sales. Also all of the women’s
clothing shops that we go into have the tags hidden in the garment,
yes you can find them yourself but they are not hanging out on the
clothes. Bottom line, I am here to sell my jewelry and my artists
jewelry and if a customer comes in and looks at a tag on an item for
$500.00 and thinks he can go to walmart and buy similar for $350,
he’s gone. If I get to educate them a little, I made the sale and
others will follow for that individual. The average guy is a cheap
ass, when he comes in and wants to spend as little as possible. I can
usually get him to spend more just with a little education, I’ll be a
teacher for that. OK my rant is over. I’m sticking with hidden tags.

Bill Wismar

69

I’m with Richard Hart on this one. I think most people who think
prices are being hidden from them for some nefarious reasons are way
off the mark. Frankly, if price is the ONLY reason you’re shopping
then you should be shopping in some place like Wal Mart where price
is the only issue. Why even bother going into a fine jewelry store
if that is your only benchmark for whether you will buy? How about
trying: Is the piece well made (something you can rarely tell by
seeing it in a case)? Is it something that looks good on ME
(something you can never tell by seeing it in a case)? Is this
something that would bring me joy (happiness, pleasure,
satisfaction, pride)? Is this something that will have meaning to me
for the rest of my life (wedding bands, engagement rings, birth
rings, anniversary gifts, etc.)? I have always found that people will
stretch themselves a bit if these questions are answered positively.
Perhaps even if you can’t afford the beautiful ring with the 3 ct.
fine blue sapphire in it, maybe the jeweler can put a tourmaline in
it and then it becomes more affordable for you. How will you ever
know this if you don’t just open your mouth and ask??? Besides all of
this, as a seller of jewelry, how can you ever ASK for a SALE if you
can’t even ask someone else for a price?

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

70

Richard, you are quite reasonably seeing this from the perspective
of an established retailer. Your input is very valuable, but please
realize that anyone who walks into your shop has self-selected for
actively wanting to buy jewelry. People who are just out for an
afternoon walk are not going to enter your store in the first place.
Those of us who sell at outdoor festivals and other events do not
have this advantage.

I try to make the potential customer feel as much at ease as
possible, and the shy sort who are not sure they are in the market
for jewelry won’t often ask for a price. These are the folks who may
come to a festival for some other reason and wander into my booth -
they probably don’t wander into a retail jewelry store just to see
what’s there. If the price is visible and the potential customer
likes the piece and can afford it, then I have made a sale without
many words being exchanged. I can’t count the number of times someone
has, after I have said ‘Good afternoon’, looked around, taken a piece
of jewelry from the stand, and placed it on the table near my receipt
book while reaching for their wallet without saying a word. The
people who have ‘issues’ about price tags are not petty or selfish,
just shy and not wanting to take up someone’s time with questions.
They also don’t want to put themselves in the potentially embarassing
position of gasping at what seems to them to be a very high price. I
print up tags with a brief description of the piece (e.g. Sterling
silver with 11-carat ruby drop, $XX). Plainly visible pricing works
for me at the events I attend.

71

My opinion is that most jewelers do not display prices. This is due
to esthetics and the time it takes to make sure every tag is
readable. These two points seemingly having been lost on several who
still cannot understand and attribute it to unethical or intimidating
intent on the retailer, I have discovered the unrealized benefit of
not displaying prices. Eliminates those people that are already prone
to distrust or easily intimidated from wasting my time. For the
amount
of posts with good reason as to why tags are not visible, the lack of
understanding of such simple concepts is overwhelming.

Richard Hart

72

Marty, Where I work (retail jewelry store) we where told the
following :

If the price tags are showing, the customer already knows the price
and will buy what they can afford and you’re going to end up being
just a “Sales Clerk”. (common at costume jewelry counters)

If the tags are hidden the customer will have to ask the price of an
item and you have to be a “Sales Person” and “Sell” the customer the
jewelry which mean you need to know your product, not just quote a
price or ring up their random selection they have made.

It didn’t take me long to see this is true, so we start "selling"
the jewelry well before we ever mention the price.

That if anything is the agenda of the hidden tag.

gWebber

73 
If all you people that want tags showing, are trying to sell your
jewelry you better look at yourselves and the way you interact with
the customers.

Perhaps the discussion of pricing can be divided into 2 categories
(or maybe 4). There are prices above 150 dollars (varies by
geographic area) and prices below and prices at a home show or art
fair vs. prices in a gallery or retail jewelry store.

The kind of customer I come across is almost always one who is
making an impulse buy. This is because nearly everything I make is
priced under 150 dollars. The people I sell to want to see a tag
because it’s very convenient for them. When I do a show, I plan to
put a small tile with a price in front of a “grouping” of items that
are all the same price. This has an extra benefit for me because (as
a new craftsperson) I have a tendency to lower prices out of
nervousness. If the price is displayed, it’s harder for me to want to
give people a deal.

In a fine jewelry store (eliminating from the discussion those who
turn tags upside down) I can easily see the reasons for not having
tags. The small tiles are very nice, but it’s extremely hard to do
that when one has hundreds of pieces displayed. Thankfully, (because
my husband does it) I have not shopped in a fine jewelry store for
myself yet. This is why what I say about price and display, when
referring to a fine jewelry store, is not relevant. My opinion is
only relevant to a craftsperson selling lower priced items at an
art/craft fair.

Now, in a trade show or wholesale showroom situation…The kind of
product I buy is a wholesale strand of beads. I already pretty much
know what the price is without having to ask or see it. Therefore, if
there is no tag, it is a little bothersome because it takes more
time. I go to a particular showroom in NYC where there are no
prices…there are price/per carat numbers and that’s it. When I
want to buy something, I have to ask the price. The salesperson gets
a calculator and punches a bunch of numbers in to calculate it by
weight. I have wondered a couple of times if his price is possibly
“adjustable” based on the experience level of the buyer. His
calculator makes me a little uncomfortable, but I like his beads.

Kim Starbard
http://www.kimstarbarddesigns.com

74

I think a definite distinction should be made when discussing this
issue as to what venue you are selling in, general price range, and
what locale.

I do indoor and outdoor shows in a range of locales, and there is a
definite difference in what buyers respond to. I would think there
would be even more difference between selling at shows and in a
store, and between stores.

I live in a poor rural county, and the only jewelry stores we have
are the chain all imported make nothing yourself variety. Not where
you go to buy something unique.

An hour away is a (for my area) large city, again with a number of
chain stores. It has in addition a few genuine jewelers, and just
got a store that is the new “high end” jewelry store for the entire
region (a branch from a city an hour away). The clientèle in
each of these is different, and I would think their expectations and
paying ability would be different too. Someone on a tight budget
isn’t going to the store that sells Rolex…they will go to one of
the chains that they know is in their price range. Someone with more
discretionary income may well go into any of the nicer jewelry stores
and shop around.

My memory is that the nicer stores have some prices visible, some
not, and plenty of sales staff to offer to assist you if you are
browsing.

I doubt there is one “right” answer, rather many that work in
different situations.

I certainly don’t always shop one way - sometimes I have the time
and inclination to browse and ask prices, and sometimes if the price
isn’t available and no clerk immediately approaches me I will just
move on. This is especially true at craft shows…I’m not there with
any specific purchase in mind, and there are plenty of other artists
with work to view if this one doesn’t have prices showing and is
busy. That said, if the work calls to me enough I will wait on the
clerk/artist and the price! It is the “might be nice to have, but no
biggy if I don’t” category that looses me with no prices.

Good selling and buying to everyone - and you all have "right"
answers!

Beth in SC who is amazed at the stir this topic has caused, and is
melting in the heat and humidity

75 
Any thoughts on displaying prices, at say Tucson Show, ....

I am still relatively new to the jewelry business, so my response
comes from that standpoint. Selling and buying at a wholesale show
is, to me, quite different from selling/buying in other venues.

When I go to wholesale shows I prefer that prices be “available” -
either visible or if the stone is in its own little plastic box,
where I can turn over the box and see the price. I am still not great
at matching potential price to stone. I’m not too shy to ask, but
quite often there will be one person manning the booth and several
browsing/buying. If I can access the prices myself, then I can
either decide to stay and buy, or to move on if they are out of the
range I feel I can make a profit on with my customer base. I have a
limited amount of time to “do” the show, and unless it is something
really special that no one else has, I won’t wait if the vendor is
busy. Someone else down the row will have an equivalent item with a
price I can access.

Some vendors have price signs up, indicating that items in a certain
area or of a certain type are a certain price or price range, and
indicating if there are discounts for volume (the volume is more
common in strings of beads or pearls). Again, this lets me decide if
it is worth my time to stay or not.

When the vendor has unusual items that no one else has, I will stay
and wait if I think the price is possibly in my range. Then if it is
way out of my range I wind up disappointed that I wasted my time and
the vendor’s time over something I won’t be buying.

Good luck with your shows!
Beth in SC

76

First, let me say that it is a truly remarkable business that can
afford to eliminate a whole class of customers because they “are
already prone to distrust or easily intimidated”.

Second, I congratulate Richard Hart and Daniel Spirer on owning
‘destination’ jewelry galleries, with well-established clienteles
who patronize their businesses because of a combination of their love
of being ‘sold’ on items through storytelling and advanced sales
techniques, and their seemingly limitless budgets. I am sure that
your stores are full of David Geller’s idealized repair and service
customers, who are 100% ‘trust’ based, care nothing for cost, and
wouldn’t dream of taking their business elsewhere to save money.

Unfortunately, many of us do NOT have this type of clientele! We
compete with Walmart, Zales, Jared, Costco, Target, eBay, Amazon,
QVC, Value City, and countless others, big and small, fancy and
junky, each and every day. The majority of the customers that walk
through our door are not looking for a ‘feel-good’ transaction with a
fancy song-and-dance sales pitch with a lot of hand-holding,
compliments on their excellent taste, or misty-eyed descriptions of
exotic lands. They are looking to spend $200-$300 (or $1,000, or any
amount) on an anniversary present, or $30 on a 1st communion gift, or
$150 on a new watch. They want to find something they like, in their
price range, WITHOUT having to ask prices on 50 items that DON’T
meet their price requirements.

In the real world, price is EVERYTHING to most consumers. Take a
look at the rubbish being advertised (and SOLD) to the masses at all
of the holidays by all of the mass-merchandisers. $99 1-carat TW
diamond tennis bracelets, $79 1/2 carat TW diamond stud earrings, $15
sterling silver pendants with chains and genuine These are
sold by the millions, and each sale removes a potential customer for
a DECENT piece of jewelry.

We replace most watch batteries for $6 or $7, including
installation, and receive complaints about that price nearly every
week.

The FUN part of selling is that most of the customers DON’T WANT TO
TELL US WHAT THEY WANT TO SPEND, due to fear that we will try to
‘up-sell’ them, or offer them less of a discount on a particular
piece. We end up showing 10 or 100 pieces, before the customer gets
burned out on the whole experience, and heads off to wal-mart,
costco, or k-mart, where the prices ARE visible, and they can sell
themselves on a piece without the pressure of a salesperson standing
over them.

Why don’t WE show our prices? With over 7,000 different jewelry
items on display, most needing to be moved to the vault each night
and set up each morning, we have never found displays that are
designed for compact storage AND display of prices. If we could show
prices, we would in a heartbeat! I have no doubt that it would
increase sales.

Lee Cornelius
Vegas Jewelers

77

I think a pattern has emerged for this thread:

If the jeweller owns and operates a store then forget price tags, if
the jeweller sells from an outside both then use them.

I hate walking to jewellery stores (actually any store) and not
seeing any type of indication of what prices could be and
consequently leave. However, if I see a cabinet with a small
plexiglass mount reading $15,000 then I know I’m out of my league
and let the owner know that I really do admire his/her items but
they aren’t for me, but if I see another cabinet with a similar
mount reading $500 then I know that it might be worth my time to at
least look. Result: in any case I’ve just become a third party
advertiser for the owner.

David

78 
I'm with Richard Hart on this one. I think most people who think
prices are being hidden from them for some nefarious reasons are
way off the mark.

So, they are bad, wrong-thinking people, and you wouldn’t want to
deal with them anyway. OK.

Frankly, if price is the ONLY reason you're shopping then you
should be shopping in some place like Wal Mart where price is the
only issue. Why even bother going into a fine jewelry store if that
is your only benchmark for whether you will buy?

Who said price is the only factor? Whatever you might like to
think, price is certainly one factor for most people. It’s part of
the equation, whether you like it or not.

How about trying: Is the piece well made (something you can rarely
tell by seeing it in a case)? Is it something that looks good on ME
(something you can never tell by seeing it in a case)? Is this
something that would bring me joy (happiness, pleasure,
satisfaction, pride)? Is this something that will have meaning to
me for the rest of my life (wedding bands, engagement rings, birth
rings, anniversary gifts, etc.)?

You sound like a car salesman :slight_smile: Confident of your ability to
persuade a customer to buy. Unfortunately, that’s useless if the
customer glances into the showcase, sees no prices, and keeps
walking. But you don’t want that kind of customer anyway.

Al Balmer
Sun City, AZ

79 
Again I will jump in and repeat some of my last post. To me there
is no dynamic involved in hiding tags, I think a case full of tags
is plan ugly, we are selling beauty.

I must have slept through art appreciation class that day. I can
look at a case and see two kinds of things - jewelry and tags. Unless
the tags are prettier than the jewelry, I don’t find it a
distraction.

Perhaps, as an artist, you are projecting your own judgment to your
potential customers? Is the purpose of the display to attract
customers, or to satisfy your own sense of esthetics?

Al Balmer
Sun City, AZ

80

Hello Anil Gupta,

I can only speak for myself (an American), but I’ve done the Tucson
show for several years. I like to see tags with prices. We all
probably recognize that there is bargaining room in that posted
price, especially if one buys in quantity. However, in the interest
in making the most of my time, I’m not going to waste it on having to
ask for prices when an attractive price is posted on the same
material at a nearby booth. That’s where I’ll go and bargain if
necessary.

Judy in Kansas, where a marvelous cool front came through last night
and the day is perfectly delightful. No tomatoes yet though.