How Would You Solve 'The Case of the Tariff Tangle'?

THE ENGAGEMENT RING CASE at Brightwell & Co. was eye-catching under the showroom lights, every piece positioned to draw the eyes of shoppers drifting in from the late-afternoon crowd. Among the trays sat a sleek semi-mount ring priced at $1,800 and designed for a one-carat center stone. It was a popular style: modern, timeless, and consistently in demand.

When a couple came in one Saturday, they headed directly toward the bridal collection. After trying on several styles, they ultimately chose the popular semi-mount. They then selected their center stone from Brightwell’s diamond inventory, a 1.50 carat stone retailing for $8,500. The pairing was beautiful, but the fit was not straightforward. The mount, built for a one-carat stone, would need to be ordered with a larger head to hold the diamond securely.

The sales associate, Bryan, moved quickly, eager to capture the sale while the customer was ready to buy. Without calling the vendor to confirm pricing for the modified mount, he wrote the order at the $1,800 retail listed for the one-carat version. In his mind, it was the same ring, just scaled to fit. The paperwork was finalized, and the couple left Brightwell & Co. excited about their upcoming engagement.

Days later, the order crossed the desk of the inventory manager, Sofia. While reviewing vendor invoices, she noticed a red flag. The semi-mount had been ordered as a custom adjustment for the 1.50 carat center. Based on the vendor’s new cost, the retail should be $2,500, not $1,800. Sofia approached Marcus, the store manager, and asked where the original pricing came from. Marcus, unfamiliar with the situation, responded that the team had likely just used the retail tag from the floor model.

The vendor soon clarified the discrepancy, explaining that tariffs had increased his costs across the board, making every semi-mount more expensive to produce. The vendor had implemented the tariff-related price increase several weeks earlier, but they had never sent Brightwell & Co. an updated price list, noting that the original list had carried a disclaimer that “prices are subject to change.”

The retailer now found itself caught in a bind. Bryan had quoted $1,800 because that was the price displayed on the case tag. The customer signed the order at that price, expecting to pay nothing more. Yet the vendor insisted that, in addition to the higher cost for the larger head, their prices had gone up due to tariff impacts.

The vendor pointed out that Bryan should have called for a confirmed price before writing the order, especially when the request required deviation from the standard configuration. The responsibility to confirm pricing remained with the retailer.

From Brightwell & Co.’s side, frustration grew. The vendor had never communicated new pricing, so every product remained tagged and entered in the system at the original pre-tariff cost. Floor models, labels, and staff knowledge all reflected the old structure, leaving no indication that tariffs had raised expenses. The error now put the store in the uncomfortable position of absorbing the difference, passing it along to the customer, or challenging the vendor on their lack of communication.

Complicating matters further, the customer had already given them a 5-star review, sharing their excitement about the ring. Walking back the number would risk the sale and potentially damage the store’s reputation for transparency.

Bryan worried about his commission and whether Marcus would hold him responsible for the oversight, causing him to lose his commission.

Marcus weighed the long-term relationship with the vendor against the immediate financial hit of absorbing the extra $700. He also wondered whether losing margin was worth protecting what could be a lifelong customer relationship.

Brightwell & Co. had to make a decision. Who should shoulder the cost of the discrepancy? The store, the vendor, or the customer? And how should the communication be handled?

Ginger G.
Gladewater, TX

Of course the store pays it and the customer should never hear a peep about it, nor should the vendor. It was just a mistake in quoting a price, it happens. The store should still make a profit, although a small one. Eat it and move on.

Stan G.
Charlotte, NC

Bryan screwed up. Anytime there’s an upgrade to a setting, there’s an upcharge to follow. It was his job to find out how much, especially in this new era of gold pricing. Looks like Brightwell eats this error unless they can gently negotiate with the vendor. They are not in a position of strength. Going back to the client for the shortfall is out of the question. Train everyone to never assume a reorder will be the same price as what’s in stock — prepare the customer for an increase!! Better to be surprised with no cost differential than the other way around.

Erin H.
Lancaster, PA

This seems so obvious! The wholesaler isn’t responsible for a change in prices not filtering down to the on-the-floor salespeople. The salesperson should have had some better training, or at least a manager double-checking what was going on. I’m surprised that an option is to stiff the salesperson. They did what they were trained to do. They get the commission. Based on what they sold the ring for, not the “amended” retail price. The customer needs to know nothing. They bought a ring. Management and ownership need to take the L on this, and someone should be assigned the task of checking prices! $700 is a small price to pay for this wake-up call.

Kathy H.
Lemont, IL

First, the sales associate should know anything custom would be more expensive. The store manager has a teaching opportunity here. Get a deposit on the diamond and advise the client that a fair price would be charged for the ring but since it has more metal, extra labor, etc., they would get a firm quote before proceeding. If it’s not acceptable, we would do our best to find something similar, offer financing, or refund if necessary. I would definitely not charge the client more money. A deal is a deal once they’ve signed off. It’s your reputation at stake. Lastly, I think they should work with the vendor to make sure that they get updated pricing and retag their goods to avoid future profit loss.

Megan C.
Port St. John, FL

This was definitely the sales associate’s fault. No matter your store’s markup, in this day and age with gold on the constant rise, it is irresponsible to quote a price on the fly for a bigger stone unless you are prepared for your store to absorb that cost. Of course it would cost more for a larger stone! Common sense. This person should not have authority to quote prices. Period. If this had happened in our store, we would have called the customer immediately to explain the oversight and that the employee acted out of order. We have had situations where things came in higher than quoted and most customers are understanding if you call and talk about it up front. Generally, we offer to split the difference, but it is certainly not the manufacturer’s fault that this employee didn’t check before writing a ticket. He should lose a proportional part of his commission.

Iris M.
Aventura, FL

The fault is with the STORE. The store should know that because of the new tariff, every item imported went up in price. They should have called the vendor for the price. A vendor cannot keep sending updated pricing for thousands of items to all the stores they deal with. The store should just give the customer the ring at the price agreed upon — the store made money with the sale of the diamond.

Keith T.
Hilton Head Island, SC

The store has to absorb the overage. It is the salesperson’s responsibility to find out the cost of any new piece ordered. The asset inventory does not reflect new prices unless the store wants to increase their margins on the pieces already owned. The salesperson should have been aware of the rising price of gold and the tariff situation and should know any new order would be at a higher rate.

Jeff M.
Knoxville, TN

First and foremost, you have to honor the price to the customer. Depending on the relationship, you can explain the real “bargain” they are now getting. Still, the ship has sailed on getting the new retail price if you want to maintain the customer relationship. I think there is shared blame between the sales associate and the vendor. In the gold environment we’ve all lived in for the past year, sales associates should implicitly know that the price of the item in the case may not reflect the cost of a new item ordered today, even absent the modification. At the same time, the vendor has not published updated pricing, so I would hope there was room to “split the difference” on this one, though in my experience that may not get very far depending on the vendor. Either way, the team needs to be debriefed on the situation and coached to call for updated pricing on any modification based on an item in the case.

Ellie T.
Chicago, IL

The customer gets the ring at the quoted price of $1,800. This should not even be a question. A nice touch would be to provide an insurance appraisal reflecting the new price so that the customer can insure their new ring appropriately. The salesman should have checked on the price before quoting — hopefully there would be an easy and efficient way to do that, online catalog perhaps — any change to a ring will likely result in a change in price. The salesman gets his commission docked but not eliminated. The manufacturer posts that prices change, sometimes every day due to market volatility (gold prices, tariffs, etc.) or other factors, on invoices, catalogs and online. The store gets a lesson learned, noting that they did not lose money, and they gained a customer. A new customer is far more valuable than a single sale.

Sherrie L.
Sharon, WI

The store should eat the $700 and call it training cost. The salesperson should surrender any commission on the sale, assuming that store protocol was to confirm the price for the order was the same as the tag in-store. The store needs to go through their entire stock and reconfirm current pricing with their vendors. Given the recent rapid appreciation of precious metals, last week’s new stock may already be mispriced for future orders.

Becky B.
Peabody and Gloucester, MA

It sounds like everyone dropped the ball except for the customers. The store has no choice but to take the hit. Going forward, every associate needs to verify pricing before ordering.

Ronald R.
Stony Point, NY

It would be nice if all vendors had the bandwidth to give updated pricing as often as needed, but most of them don’t. Further complicating the issue is the fact that gold keeps going up at record pace and shows no sign of stabilizing. It is not possible for any of our vendors to keep up with this. It won’t be forever, but right now retailers need to inform their staff that vendors must be called for updated prices on anything not being sold as-is out of the case. What is going on in the world nobody asked for, including your vendors. Don’t blame the vendor, instead work together with your vendor to get through these challenges and to land every sale.

James S.
Canal Winchester, OH

Tell the customer you are honoring the original quote and giving them the ring worth $2,500 for the $1,800. Keep the sale and a new customer happy looking down the road for future business. And emphasize to employees the importance of checking with the manufacturer first.

Don D.
Tampa, FL

Store should honor the price and take care of their customer and reputation.

Gene P.
Tuscaloosa, AL

SH#T happens. Number one, you absolutely honor the price to the customer. Have a team meeting and discuss how to not let this happen again. These times are different — runaway gold and tariffs.

David B.
Calgary, AB, Canada

This price issue could have just as easily been due to gold pricing. In no way should the customer be involved or know about the issue. The store has to absorb the difference and really it isn’t the end of the world an amount. With the complexity of tariffs and gold pricing changes, nobody, retailer or vendor, can keep up to date. The store should make an effort to better train staff with current issues that can affect pricing and make every effort to check the costs first. The fact that a change in head size was needed should have been an alert for the salesperson. If the store is that hard up for the cost, deduct the commission on the mount. Another possible option would be to contact the vendor and ask if they can help with pricing. Most vendors will do something to help. Use the problem as a teaching moment for all the staff.

Robyn P.
Pickering, ON, Canada

The store should absorb the cost. They need to take responsibility and not pass the cost to anyone else. They should have adjusted the cost in the first place to account for the larger stone. Sold the mount and the center stone, I’m sure they didn’t lose any money.

Laura S.
Little Rock, AR

Long-term profitability is more important than a one-off low margin sale. I think they should honor the price quoted, then move on to the manufacturer communication problem. They can reprice the inventory and continue with that manufacturer or not. Honoring the client relationship is most important, and hopefully they can communicate that to the manufacturer because Brightwell is also a client to them.

Bruce A.
Sherwood Park, AB, Canada

The sale should be completed at the price agreed to by the customer. What a great opportunity to not only earn that exceptional five-star rating but use this moment to review and train the sales team. At the point of completion and while the ring is being gift-wrapped, I would explain to the customer why their appraisal shows the much greater retail reflection. I know they will be more than elated that they picked the right jeweler to walk with them for this important purchase.

Marcus M.
Midland, TX

Super simple, the store absorbs the discrepancy and takes it up with the vendor. You DO NOT pass that extra cost on the customer. That’s called being stupid. If the vendor won’t help, then you have to chalk it up to Bryan not doing his due diligence and checking the price knowing that he needed to order a new mounting with a new head size. Hopefully the vendor will make an exception because they never sent the new price list. But if they don’t make the exception … sorry, Bryan, your commission takes the hit.