As a store owner, what did you earn (salary + share of profit) last year?
NOTE: Reflecting wider economic trends, those at the top end (jewelers who reported earning more than $250,000 a year) continued to do well last year, with this group expanding to account for more than one in fi ve jewelers. Proportionally, these jewelers were most likely to be found running well-established stores (at least 40 years old) from downtown addresses in small cities with a strong focus on bridal. They were also most likely to be men at 77%, versus 61% for our overall pool. Note that 4% of our survey-takers reported earning $500,000-$1 million a year, and a little over one percent earned more than $1 million.
What were your total sales last year? (if you have more than one store, please tell us the average per store.)
COMMENT: Amid a year when consumers curtailed discretionary spending, independent jewelers’ sales slipped slightly. At the lower end, 13% of jewelers reported sales under $250,000, up from 9% in 2023, while the share reporting sales over $1 million fell to 58% from 61% in 2023. As for the very top end? More than 5% of the stores reported 2024 sales of over $10 million.
What was your average ticket for product sales in 2024?
| Less than $250 |
|
4%
|
| $250-$499 |
|
16%
|
| $500-$749 |
|
15%
|
| $750-$999 |
|
14%
|
| $1,000-$1,499 |
|
13%
|
| $1,500-$1,999 |
|
10 %
|
| $2,000-$2,999 |
|
8%
|
| $3,000-$3,999 |
|
5%
|
| $4,000-$5,000 |
|
2%
|
| More than $5,000 |
|
2%
|
| I don’t calculate/track this. |
|
11%
|
What was your average price per item sold in 2024?
| Less than $100 |
|
1%
|
| $100 to $249 |
|
7%
|
| $250-$499 |
|
12%
|
| $500-$749 |
|
18%
|
| $750-$999 |
|
13%
|
| $1,000-$1,499 |
|
13 %
|
| $1,500-1,999 |
|
9%
|
| $2,000-$2,499 |
|
4%
|
| $2,500-$3,000 |
|
5%
|
| More than $3,000 |
|
6%
|
| I don’t calculate/track this. |
|
12%
|
The No. 1 factor driving your sales is:
| Great location |
|
4%
|
| Great products |
|
4%
|
| Great marketing/sales strategies |
|
6%
|
| Superior prices |
|
1%
|
| A particular business circumstance (e.g., a special partnership with a certain supplier,such as Rolex) |
|
1%
|
| Reputation for service/trust/jewelry-making skill |
|
82%
|
| Other |
|
2%
|
Have your sales become more concentrated over the past few years? (Are you selling more to fewer, rich customers?)
The top 5% of your customer base (your very best clients) accounts for about what proportion of your sales?
COMMENT: VIP customers have always been important to jewelers, and the trend seems to be becoming more prominent with a notable share of jewelers witnessing increased wealth concentration among their clients, refl ecting broader trends of economic disparity and wealth accumulation across the U.S. How to best respond if you’re seeing a similar situation in your market? Keep doing the things many of the best jewelers do: Invest in exceptional customer service and personalized experiences to build loyalty, build relationships and trust, use targeted marketing campaigns to reach di erent segments, and stock the high-end, customized, or exclusive pieces that appeal to a uent consumers.
Advertisement
What small win felt like a giant stuffed bear this year? (For example, a refund customer that ended up turning into a $20,000 higher sale.)
Many respondents noted routine services like watch batteries, appraisals, or minor repairs that blossomed into major sales, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. Others celebrated unexpected windfalls such as estate purchases, vendor mistakes, or social media posts that brought in outsized sales. A recurring theme was customer relationships: turning complaints into loyalty, winning referrals, or welcoming back multi-generational buyers. Here were some of the best.
- I just had a first-time customer come in for an earring repair. While I was pricing it, my sales associate got her trying on jewelry and sold her an $18,000 bracelet! I decided to throw in the repair for free!”
- I repaired a gold chain that belonged to a client who had just inherited it from her mom’s estate. The sentiments for the small chain were far greater than any value. That client was so pleased with the work, she bought a 12-carat natural diamond tennis bracelet!!”
- A small post on Facebook about a firecracker necklace led to a $100,000 diamond necklace sale for the 4th of July.
- Dropping off breakfast to our local sheriff’s station resulted in $15K of sales so far!
- It It didn’t result in a $20,000 sale, but we made one customer a pledged lifelong customer after we found almost the exact antique white gold diamond ring for her. She had lost hers and was sick about it, so when we found one that was nearly identical, she was thrilled and claimed her ‘un-dying’ love for us! LOL!
- We refurbished a Rolex for a new client that we had never dealt with before. He was so happy, he came in and purchased a 4-carat natural that I had in stock for the past three years. Surprised the heck out of us.
- Did a simple repair that only took a few minutes for an older couple at no charge. I thought they needed a break because they looked like they worked hard all their life. He comes back a few weeks later and drops $40K. Learned that he owns an engineering company at 80-plus years old.
- A client was unhappy with repair because we didn’t discuss in advance how the repair would be done. I intervened and they made a new ring for $12,000.
- Our strip mall making a terrible lease renewal offer, which led us to move to an independent building. Less rent and more freedom, plus better visibility.
- Returning happy customer first buying for $500 and returning later and buying $500,000!
How did you achieve your highest-sales day ever?
| It was a regular holiday season day that went bananas |
|
19%
|
| It was just a normal day in the year that went bananas |
|
15%
|
| It was one customer who spent a small fortune |
|
35%
|
| It was a string of big spenders, one after the other |
|
9%
|
| It was driven by a special event (Ladies Night, roundtable, etc) |
|
12%
|
| It was driven by a big sale with attractive price cuts |
|
6%
|
| A calendar event (St Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day,etc) |
|
1%
|
| Other |
|
3%
|
Last year, the holiday season (from Black Friday to New Year’s Eve) accounted for what proportion of your sales?
| Less than 10% |
|
5%
|
| 10-19% |
|
27%
|
| 20-29% |
|
41%
|
| 30-39% |
|
19%
|
| 40-50% |
|
6%
|
| More than 50% |
|
2%
|
Gold is at historic highs. What proportion of profit has gold buying and trading (a.k.a. “buying o the street”) contributed this year?
COMMENT: More jewelers are making more money from buying and selling gold with almost half saying gold trading had contributed between 10-25% of their profit this year, up from about a third of jewelers who reported such a level last year.
What’s been the main impact on your store from the surge in the gold price this year?
“OTHERS” included boosting custom work as clients use the value of their old gold for new items, increasing bullion sales, squeezing margins, and increasing the option to melt rather than selling trade-ins. It’s also caused headaches with tags. “I don’t like giving away an automatic discount (i.e., if tag is at $2,800 gold) that the customer doesn’t even realize is discounted. That drives me insane,” noted one jeweler.
Rank your rivals from toughest competitor to least:
- Internet retailers 5.24*
- The independent jeweler around the corner 5.23
- Chain stores 4.90
- Big box stores (Costco, Walmart, etc.) 3.74
- Brands selling directly to consumers 3.66
- Non-jewelry luxury retailers 2.89
- TV shopping networks 2.55
*Scores represent a weighted average based on how respondents ranked the options.
COMMENT: We asked this question a little differently back in 2021, when the country was still in the depths of the pandemic, but the results were quite similar. Online retailers were identied as the top competitive threat, ahead of the fellow independent around the corner. Chain stores have improved their competitvie position in the last few years while the issue of brands selling directly to consumers appears to have eased somewhat.
Advertisement
What’s the most unethical thing a direct rival has done to you in the name of competition?
The range of low actions was impressive, from slander, to poaching staff, to design theft, to pricing manipulation. Here are some of the more egregious ones:
- Recommended shady characters to our store.
- Said I was going out of business.
- Used our company’s name in their SEO to drive sales away from us and to their website.
- Store name almost identical to ours a half mile away.
- Negative Google ratings.
- Owner of (the store) threatened to sue our client for canceling an order with him that was two days old. He said he couldn’t take the stress of being sued anymore and asked if we would refund his money.
- She asked if I would do appraisals for her while her appraiser was on medical leave. I did. She plagiarized at least one of those appraisals, removing not only my name and my company name but also my address. I am a CGA.
- One said they were related to us and it was a family business “joined at the hip”.
- Put their microscope at 30x and showed my customer a created blue sapphire with a supposed chip on the edge of it. The ring had been discounted to get the sale and the chip was not there.
- Told a client the custom ring we made for her contained lab diamonds, not natural. It cost us $350 to prove him wrong.
- Tried to get one of my main suppliers to sell exclusively to her by placing a huge, huge order with the condition they sell to her and not to me.
- Parked a billboard truck announcing their GOB sale across the street from our store.
- Slandered us, saying we sold sterling silver as 14K white and were selling fracture-filled diamonds undisclosed.
- A rival duplicated one of our original trademarked designs. The client’s girlfriend came in to replace a missing diamond because she thought he bought it from us. And she was very upset when she found out he had a much lower quality version made elsewhere.
- Previous employee stole my customer database and did a direct mail campaign to them.
- Told people that we were antisemitic.
