Hi Ron at Mills Gems. I started using David Geller’s prices, and
while I have to adjust a bit, I think the most resistance I have to
raising my prices is how much I feel I am worth. Some of the replys
seem to be based on a concept of what is fair or competitive, and
that changes depending on our overhead. That is not a logical basis
for pricing. I am in agreement with the basis of what David Geller is
doing, as I have a mom and pop small jewelery store and I am in a
partnership in a mall store. We raised our prices according to what
Geller suggests. Both stores are getting the work and making more
money. It is a trust issue, not money issue. Particularly on sizing
rings, Ron, my own personal opinion is you are doing the sizings too
cheap. Based on one fact. How many times have you had a problem, and
it cost you more to do the work with no compensation? I know the
answer. I believe it is wise to charge more, just like other
retailers, for loss or spoilage. In our case it is underestimating
the cost. My sense of humor is that we are already capitalists, we
can chose to me rich or poor ones. It is not about competition, and
It is not about chargig too much. Those are considerations in the
equation, but what works in both parties best interest is the
criteria. If you charge too much and cannot get any business, that is
a consideration. Charging more and finding out that there is not
resistance to higher pricesmeans what? It means that your customer
values your time more than you do. The part about the $3 filter
being $27 actually supports what I’m trying to say. If you consider
that the dealership has done it’s homework and is charging what it
needs to order, stock, ect all of what needs to be accounted for to
supply and sell the item, it is business, not ethics or morality. My
opinion about sizing is that the time you spend sizing your customers
finger and talking about the weather (or the war) is why, n my
opinion, you are not charging enough Don’t some of your customers
make your blood pressure go up? What that worth? And Susan Sliedel:
I have found that there is great wisdom in marking down items to get
rid of items that do not move, in my store I have peices I have made,
and pieces that we purchased. There is a connect to me between what
David Geller is teaching and what Suzy Orman teaches people about how
to get their financial lives in order. My $50 worth, Richard in
Denver, still digging out from our blizzard