Connect with us

David Geller

Jewelers, It’s Time to Raise Repair Prices

If you’re doing it for inventory, you should definitely do it in the shop.

mm

Published

on

YES, INDEED: INFLATION has hit the repair department.

I’m on several jewelers’ Facebook groups. The constant word is, “OMG diamond prices keep going up, we keep raising our diamond prices.”

The cost of the mountings are going up, mostly because of the melee that goes into the mounting, and the labor keeps going up. So, what do jewelers do? They raise their retail prices, just like you do because their cost has increased.

You wouldn’t believe how many jewelers are coming out of the woodwork updating their older Geller Blue Books, many of which are 5 to 10 years old! Can you believe it?

Many jewelers are afraid to raise their sizing price $5 to $10 from years ago — meanwhile, they have no problem raising a replacement diamond tennis bracelet $500.

It’s all over the news that every price on the planet has skyrocketed. Employees are quitting, and to keep employees, the store may have to increase salaries to keep good people.

Advertisement

Your repair cost and costs to keep the store open have increased, which includes:

  • Jewelers’ wages
  • Jewelers’ benefits and health insurance
  • Tools and supplies for the shop
  • Gold
  • Advertising for the shop
  • Salaries for sales staff

If you don’t have the latest release of our book but have your own repair pricing sheet, just increase all of your prices 10 percent right now. Three months later, do it again.

You’ll see that the shop is much more TRUST-sensitive than price-sensitive. It’s a numbers game. Think about these numbers:

10 people look in the showcase and you sell three or four out of 10. That means six or seven people leave the store without buying and leave you with hundreds of thousands of unsold, old, stale inventory.

If 10 people come in with a repair, typically nine out of 10 will leave the item to be repaired. That’s an 80- 90% win rate! One or two don’t like the price and leave, but look: eight or nine do make the repair sale for you. The shop usually has less than $20,000 of inventory, unlike the showroom.

If you haven’t raised your repair prices in a bunch of years, it’s time to do it now and learn how to sell it!

Advertisement

David Geller, Repair Department pricing Guru

Advertisement

SPONSORED VIDEO

You Wouldn’t Cut Your Own Hair. Why Run Your Own Retirement Sale?

After being in business for over a quarter of a century, Wayne Reid, owner of Wayne Jewelers in Wayne, Pennsylvania, decided it was time for a little “me time.” He says, “I’ve reached a point in my life where it’s time to slow down, enjoy a lot of things outside of the jewelry industry. It just seemed to be the right time.” He chose Wilkerson to handle his retirement sale because of their reputation and results. With financial goals exceeded, Reid says he made the right choice selecting Wilkerson to handle the sale. “They made every effort to push our jewelry to the forefront of the showcases,” he says, lauding Wilkerson for their finesse and expertise. Would he recommend them to other jewelers who want to make room for new merchandise, expand their business or like him, decide to call it a day? Absolutely he says, equating trying to do this kind of sale with cutting your own hair. “The results are going to happen but not as well as if you have a professional like Wilkerson do the job for you.”

Promoted Headlines

Most Popular