Discounting

Remember this:  "A discount is like a coat, you can't take it off until you put it on."

All businesses have to decide what their philosophy is going to be.  To Discount or Not to Discount?  Discounting pushes the greed button in people and selling with discounts is much easier and provides greater volume of sales with less skill (you don't need product knowledge, expertise, quality, etc.)  To sell without discounting requires high quality (people don't expect as much when they buy something "cheap"), more product knowledge, and a love of what is being sold.

Discounters must mark up their pieces quite a bit in order to have room for enough of a discount to tempt buyers.  Since business is fairly competitive, they must sell a product that LOOKS like what their non-discounting competitors are selling, but costs them less.  To cost less, it has to be of lesser quality.  Perhaps it weighs less, or the gems are of lower quality, the labor may be cheaper, and the materials used may be inferior.  The end piece will not look as attractive, nor will it be as durable.  It may need frequent repairs.  End result?  You're not really getting what you thought you were getting and in the long run it is MORE expensive because you need to repair it and replace gems, etc.

Many years ago I made the decision NOT to discount.  I give you the best price I can, up front.  You don't have to fight with me to get a good deal.  Some people enjoy the bargaining but I have always thought that it results in a lot of distrust on a deeper level.  After all the bargaining, you have to wonder if you really got the best possible deal! 

Imagine this scenario:  The customer asks the price.  Answer:  $500.  the customer asks:  "Can you give me a better deal?"  The salesperson says:  "How about $300?"  What just happened here?  The salesperson just told you that he was lying with the first price.  If you had accepted the first price he told you, he would cheerfully have treated you like a sucker and taken your money!  What a way to build a trusting relationship with a customer!!!  If you were smart and asked for the discount, great!  You saved some money.  BUT, you will always wonder if you should have tried harder and saved more money, and you will always wonder what tricks might have been used to make you think the piece was worth more than you paid.  And since you now know that the salesperson is a liar, why would you think he would treat you ethically when it comes to disclosure?  Is it really 14k, or is it stamped 14k, but it's really 10k?  How will you know?  Are those really natural sapphires, or are they cheap synthetics?  Can you really trust something you bought from a proven liar?

The diamond, gem & jewelry business is all about trust, so I give you my best deal, and you can trust me that it is.  Of course I make a profit.  My customers expect me to and are glad I'll be able to afford to still be here in the future to take care of them.  But it's a fair profit and we don't need to bargain for 30 minutes to get there.

The fact is, if people ask for a discount (I'm never offended.  Heck if you don't ask, how will you ever know?), I'm willing to drop the price by a few dollars and tell them to have a nice lunch on me.  A few dollars is fine, but a big drop would represent the difference between "it's worth being here", and "I should have gone fishing".

Sometimes people come in and show me jewelry that they bought for 50% off at one of the big chain stores.  Typically when it is 50% off, it is about 10% more than we charge all the time.  This seems to be the difference between the small independent jewelers and the big chains whenever I've been able to compare accurately.  I shudder to think how much people must be paying when they buy something between "sales"!

Our quality is the best I can buy and our service is the best we can make it.  Big names Like Tiffany, Cartier, and Winston's may be able to afford bigger jewelry than me, but NO ONE can offer better quality and service.  We just have to sell a little smaller than them - for now!

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Paradise Jewelry
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5455 Airport Rd. North
Naples, FL 34109
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