A Backhanded Compliment
Last night, I heard a radio ad for Barsky Diamonds, a local jewelry store in Philadelphia. The ad itself was a lovely customer testimonial about how, through service and trust, Barsky built a lifelong relationship with them as clients, beginning with their engagement ring and continuing with their wedding bands, their anniversary gifts, and various gifts for their families.
The ad wasn’t hawking discounts, yakking on about low price, or promising to appraise anything for twice what you pay for it. It focused instead on all the things independent jewelers point to with pride—good service, great selection, and lasting relationships. Given recent findings by the Platinum Guild International that a huge number of engaged couples don’t buy their wedding rings from the same jeweler who sold their engagement rings, Barsky must be doing something right.
Unfortunately, the ad also proved just how truly tarnished our industry’s image has become. One of the things this customer innocently gushed on about was how, at Barsky, they’re confident that the piece they’re buying really is what the jeweler says it is.
Now, why would a customer ever imagine a piece was anything but what the jeweler says it is, unless he or she has been somehow conditioned to mistrust jewelers? Just how many bad-jeweler exposes has this customer seen? Or, more likely, how many screaming discounts, bogus appraisals, and “buy it cheaper” ads have they been bombarded with, until they don’t know what to believe?
I can’t even begin to count how many people, when asking me to recommend a jeweler, begin their request with “how do I find one that won’t rip me off?” or some variation thereof. Even the Barsky testimonial, meant to be a great compliment, subtly reinforced that negative image.
It’s not Barsky’s fault. He’s only a messenger. The message, unfortunately, has long ago been delivered.
My Beef commented:
I design one-of-a-kind pieces that are not only jewelry made with
gems and precious metals, but also much time is put into the design
and labor on a piece. I used to sell on eBay. I couldn't sell my
pieces for cost because eBay has driven down the value of my
designs because many online jewelry auctioneers start bidding at
$.99. This has made it very difficult for the small business to
break even and they are driving down the value of all our pieces.
One of the reasons why someone would buy my pieces as opposed to a
chain is that they will own something that no one else has. That is
what irks me about these online auction sites. Now I will shut up.
Everyone have a nice sparkly day.
My Beef commented:
I design one-of-a-kind pieces that are not only jewelry made with
gems and precious metals, but also much time is put into the design
and labor on a piece. I used to sell on eBay. I couldn't sell my
pieces for cost because eBay has driven down the value of my
designs because many online jewelry auctioneers start bidding at
$.99. This has made it very difficult for the small business to
break even and they are driving down the value of all our pieces.
One of the reasons why someone would buy my pieces as opposed to a
chain is that they will own something that no one else has. That is
what irks me about these online auction sites. Now I will shut up.
Everyone have a nice sparkly day.
CFoshee commented:
Hedda, you are so right! If someone wants an item enough, he or she
will pay full price for it. (There is always layaway!) I know I do.
There is no reason why great jewelry should not fetch full price!
That being said, we are in an interesting situation with the market
being what it is today. We can build clients' and consumers' trust
by pricing items properly, then sticking with that price. If they
want something on the cheap, rest assured, they will find it, and
discover that, as my great grandmother said, "You rarely find a
bargain; you almost always get what you pay for!" If they go an do
that, then perhaps they are not our kinds of customers to start
with! This leads us back to marketing. Perfect practice makes
perfect, and this also applies to marketing. Our first question,
therefore, is "Who do we want as our customer?"
Hedda Schupak commented:
To Marc's point, there is definitely something to be said for
editing. But we as an industry still have to reposition ourselves
as selling a product that's worth what it costs--not as something
to be "hondled." Luxury purveyors don't hawk their goods at 50%
off. You want it? You pay full retail for it or you don't get it.
That's what our industry should be aiming for! But all the
discounts have made the consumer wary, and made the consumer assume
the markup on fine jewelry is stratospheric. They'd be shocked to
discover the markup is nowhere near as much as that handbag they
just plunked down $1800 for!
marc cohen commented:
In the late 60's The Lovin' Spoonful sang a very popular song
titled "Did You Ever have To make Up Your mind". It dealt about the
problem of having to decide between two people. Picking one up and
letting the other one ride. The days of making a simple decision
are long gone. In any market, the amount of offerings is
overwhelming. Our Coffee shops now offer 15 kinds of coffee, and in
3 sizes. Our supermarket aisles will offer us 12 different scents
for our bathrooms, and 10 completely different varieties of milk!
Oh, not to mention, you can have this in Organic too! The contents
that a jewelery store now offers is no different. years ago, it was
Platinum or gold, now we have paladium, titanium, stainless steel,
rubber, leather and the list goes on. Diamonds, Moisannites, Cz or
a list of other diamond imitations. While your jewelry won't come
in small, medium or large it will come 75% off, 50% off, or below
dealers cost. Todays consumer, after having to decide which of the
104 cable channels it will watch, the list of 10,000 dvds it gets
from netflix, the 15 coffees to choose from at Starbucks, is now
thoroughly conditioned to ask.."who do I trust?" Unlike the coffee,
dvds and 42 varieties of cheese, Jewelry is a one time, long term
purchase. It needs to be sold in an environment that allows the
consumer to say with confidence "I can easily decide"
Shanu S. Guliani commented:
Hedda-My opinion on this issue over and over again is the lack of
education...and GIA, the authority in Gemology needs to start
implementing electives as part of their programs. They now offer a
Bachelors Degree, why not have electives on how pricing tricks
affect the market, managing the business, fashion/Bridal/, selling
tacticts etc. These GG's are the future of the jewelry industry.
Education.
Hedda Schupak commented:
Thanks, Tina. Unfortunately, a few days later, I happened to walk
through the Lord & Taylor store in King of Prussia, and saw
that most of their fine jewelry counters had "40% off" signs. Very
discouraging. To me, 40% off says the item is either a dog that
didn't sell at the beginning of the season, or it was overpriced to
begin with. No big surprise our industry's image is in the trash
can.
tina bearska commented:
Well said. I agree that it is a refreshing change to apeal to
audience in such a manner.
