I’M SURE you’ve seen advertisements that showed if you saved just “so much” you could retire a millionaire? Who wants to wait that long? Let’s solve some money issues from the shop using the Power of 28!
Actually we are talking about 28 dollars. You know, a dinner for two at an average restaurant. Not a lot, really.
But it is when we talk about the shop. When you make a ring smaller or larger, let’s say it takes 15 minutes from start to finish. Many stores don’t charge to check the stones for tightness. I’ll bet you dinner that if they come in tight and they loosen up while the jeweler does his sizing work, your jeweler will make sure the stones are tight. Will you be told? Will you get the money to tighten them? Probably not or not all of the time. It’s possible that it could take as long to tighten the stones, smooth and straighten the prongs as it did to just size the ring.
If you get $42 to size the ring smaller and it takes the same amount of time to fix loose stones, shouldn’t you get that amount of sizing money for this time spent again?
Whether you charge for tightening loose stones or not, if they get loose or fall out months later, your customer will assume you will guarantee the lost stone.
You should be charging a check-and-tightening fee at take-in whether or not they are loose. It’s a liability issue because you might have to tighten them and time is money. Charge because you might have to replace the lost diamond.
How much? In our price book we don’t charge to check/tighten/guarantee the first four stones. But here’s the extra charge to check and tighten:
- 5-20 stones: $28
- 21-35 stones: $43
- 36-50 stones: $58
If you charge $42 to make a ring smaller and it has 9 stones in it, we’ll add another $28 to check and tighten the stones. If they get loose in 12 months, we’ll tighten them at no charge and if any of the stones fall out, we’ll replace them at no charge. If you do have to replace a stone at a later date, those costs will be covered by the extra $28 you’ve made from all of those repair customers.
I paid car insurance for the last three years and had not a single wreck. But they charged me a premium anyway — just in case. You should do the same.
That’s the power of 28.