Platinum Never Changes, and More Reader Letters for August

Platinum Never Changes

In June’s “Web Browser”, we were surprised the first “outrageous” answer was, “There’s no such thing as white gold.” This statement is actually true. White gold is yellow gold that is alloyed with whitening metals. We may understand this as an industry, but many consumers don’t. When they learn that white gold is not naturally white, they feel misled. To ensure your customers and staff understand the differences between platinum and white gold, visit platinumlearning.com.  — Jenny Luker, president, Platinum Guild International USA

THINKING LONG-TERM

If the industry doesn’t wake up and ignore the short-term profits of synthetic diamonds, there will be no long-term profits in real diamonds. — James Adair, Adair Jewelers, Missoula, MT

E-TAILING IS DOOMED

Online retailers have assisted in educating consumers while destroying margins. These sites make little to no money and move tremendous amounts of merchandise. Hopefully one day they either get cut off from suppliers or have to increase prices to become profitable. Unfortunately, how many jewelers will survive that period of time is yet to be determined.
— Christopher Sarraf, Nuha Jewelers, Plainview, NY

ABOUT JULY’S STORY ON STAFF MOTIVATION

Motivating staff is always a blessing … but how do you motivate family? LOL. — Ryan “Jr.” Karp, Cornerstone Jewelry, Palos Park, IL

One of our biggest challenges is motivating the sales associates, so any info or knowledge on motivating the sales staff is very welcome.
— Sanjay Rupani, Gold Coin, Laredo, TX

This article originally appeared in the August 2017 edition of INSTORE.

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