Why Jewelry Stores Dislike Knowledgeable Customers

For decades, jewelers have had benefit from the position of being the “keepers” of the information regarding diamonds and gems. They stood at the back of jewelry counters and disclosed little scraps of info about jewelry to purchasers. The jeweler looked like to be talking down to the buyer, making them believe as if they must be appreciative to even be in the shop or touch the prized gemstones in the show case. This domination of understanding went hand in hand with the domination of stock. The single way you could obtain a diamond or valuable gemstone was to obtain in a jewelry shop. The prices were artificially high with markups of 100% to 300% of wholesale expenditure. The aspects that differentiated shop included the luxuriant decorations, the fancy show cases, and decorative storefronts. Life was easy and very advantageous for the jeweler. The purchaser came in, the jeweler said this is what you should purchase, and the buyer paid the price as they had no other alternatives. Could you remember any poor jewelers earlier than the millennium change in the year 2000? It was about this time that the most feared word in the jeweler’s expressions started to alter the industry eternally. That word was Internet. All of a sudden there were competitors springing up who can supply diamonds and jewels delivered to your gate, regularly at prices lesser than can support the high overhead of the jewelry store. Though, the greatest worry was that the concealed facts of diamonds and valuable gemstones was open to any customer who wanted to spend a little time researching online. The jeweler of the earlier period said here is what I have and which one do you want to buy? Then came the knowledgeable buyer prepared with printouts of online diamond instruction. Rather than simply asking for a 1-carat diamond, the purchaser now has a comprehensive list of requirements that all but guarantees that nothing in the store will meet their necessities, regardless of the price. It is common for a diamond shopper nowadays to say, “Here is what I want” and I expect the lowest price in the country.” Then they show their list of requirements for their round diamond: 1) Carat weight exactly 1.27 as our 1st date was January 27th 2) At least G color 3) VS2 clarity but I don’t want to be able to see anything under the microscope 4) Must have a GIA grading report dated in 2006 with Excellent cut grade 5) No fluorescence 6) At any rate Very Good for brilliance and symmetry 7) Girdle has to be Medium (nothing more or less will do) and faceted Laser inscribed with the GIA number 9) Must be able to take to an independent evaluator who agrees with all grading 10) I need it in two days Their parting observation is that they are purchasing these same necessities with twenty other retailers and are going to purchase from the 1 with the lowest price. This is the jeweler’s nightmare as this is not how their business works. Their jewelry shop caters to the impulse buyer who will come in, observe something stunning and buy with only hardly any encouraging expressions from the sales clerk. Spending hours of effort to find the particular diamond the consumer wants and then paying the delivery and insurance to have it shipped next day is just more work than they like to do for a transaction. Instead, they protest and wish for the return of the good old days, when Ma Bell restricted the telephones, gas was 59 cents a gallon and the secrets of the diamond business were safely at the back of the jewelry counter. Happily, for diamond and gemstone purchasers there are a new type of diamond retailers available who not only support diamond education; they like working with buyers who know precisely what they want. These diamond brokers have access to the diamonds on the wholesale market and know how to obtain diamonds that meet the shopper’s requirement. Best of all, the diamond brokers have much lesser overhead than a jewelry store so could obtain the excellent diamonds at really cheap prices. The economical market always looks to produce sources for services and goods that customers demand. The online diamond broker is well matched to serve today’s well-experienced and demanding diamond purchaser.