Full Version: Inside-Ring Engraving $5.00
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#1]
18 Oct 2004
To: ALL
OK, here's one of the stories from my East Coast trip.
The person I was staying with, John, a good friend since the 7th grade, specializes in jewelry repair. He does work for a number of jewelry stores in the Raleigh N.C. area.
I spent a coulple of days hanging out with John at his shop and tagged along on his pickup/delivery run.
We dropped off a few jobs at one jewelry store, which is part of a chain. We were about to leave, when the sales clerk called us back and informed John that they had to adjust one of his previous invoices (downward).
The items in question were rings which John had engraved (inside the band) with a New Hermes ring engraving machine. John's charge was extremely nominal (my opinion) at $15.00. One ring had 24 engraved characters.
Here's the deal. This chain of stores has a fee schedule in which they list numerous repair procedures, including engraving, and dictate what they will pay for the contracted work. Their listed price for inside-ring engraving is $5.00, no matter the difficulty or number of characters.
When I heard that, I REALLY had to contain myself! I realize "what the market will bear" varies, depending on region, but this was ridiculous!
When we left the store, I asked John what the deal was with the $5.00 ring engraving. He said the store offers free ring engraving to their customers.
That was it! Friend or not, I had to lower the boom. I tried hard not to scold.
I said that no matter what the industry, a self-employed person with a marketable skill is worth $60 per hour. Bare bones minimum. No exceptions. I don't care what part of the country.
The next day, as John worked, I timed some of the procedures, such as ring sizing and setting stones. Some procedures fell into the $1.00 per minute range ($60.00 per hour) others hit snags and fell woefully short of that mark.
My suggestion was to go down the list of pre-set pricing and highlight those procedures which regularly fell short of the $60.00 per hour mark. Hand the list to the jewelry store manager and tell them you can't offer the highlighted services (at their price).
John said, "Yeah, but then they'll give the work to someone else."
I said, "No they won't. You've got them where you want them. You're offering free pickup and delivery, with no minimums, turning the work around in incredibly short order and the quality of your work is great! If they send the work elsewhere, PERFECT! You can't afford to work at their prices. Bottom line!"
It's difficult to say if my rant will have an overall impact, but according to John, the $5.00 ring engraving is dead and gone.
What can I say? You gotta start somewhere :-)
Moral of the story? Friends don't let friends shortchange themselves.
David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA
EDITED: 18 Oct 2004 by DGL
From: precisionlaser [#2]
19 Oct 2004
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#1] 19 Oct 2004
That was a great story. He is lucky to have a friend who is willing to lower the boom and make him rethink his business, as well as someone who understands his business well enough to offer meaningful constructive criticism. I can't say I've never "given away" a service, but usually it's to friends and only a one-off situation. Normally, I just set my price and they either buy or they don't. Usually, they do.
Mark
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#3]
19 Oct 2004
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#1] 19 Oct 2004
David,
That is a great story. That approach to pricing applies to all of us.
A couple of years ago I bought a used New Hermes inside-ring engraver on Ebay. It worked fine and I was able to provide the service I wanted.
One day I was engraving a wedding band and didn't release the diamond cutter correctly, which resulted in a nice line drug from the last letter to the edge of the band.
I immediately took the ring to a local jeweler to have him remove the engraving. As I visited with him I discovered that he did his own inside-ring engraving and charged $5 whether the ring was purchased there or not. Their price has probably been $5 for 25 years.
After discovering his price schedule, I raised my price from $15 to $17.50 and began taking all of my ring engraving to him. It is great because he does the engraving and assumes all of the risk for errors.
That same day I listed my New Hermes engraver on Ebay and recouped that investment in about five days. That money is now invested in other equipment, giving me another profit center that I wouldn't have had otherwise.
From: JHayes55 [#4]
19 Oct 2004
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#3] 19 Oct 2004
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#5]
19 Oct 2004
To: JHayes55 [#4] 19 Oct 2004
Joe,
I hate to take advantage of someone who is charging about 25% of what the market will bare. He thinks I am an angel sent from heaven. Let's hope he doesn't figure out the real value of his labor anytime soon.
I think that passing on the risk is the best part of it. My insurance agent thinks so as well.
While I do plenty of customer supplied items, dealing with rings that are worth multi-thousands of dollars was a bit nerve racking for me.
The risk factor is the part of the pricing that I think most engravers are not figuring into their price. There are not a lot of engravers that want to assume that risk.
EDITED: 19 Oct 2004 by DATAKES
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#6]
19 Oct 2004
To: precisionlaser [#2] 19 Oct 2004
Mark,
My pricing rants are as much a reminder to myself as to others. I've been in John's position. He sees himself as a skilled artisan (which he is) and the customers merely look at him as the underling who jumps to their commands. I picked up on that, though I doubt he did.
I don't appreciate my friend being taken advantage of like that. Then again, nobody can be taken advantage of unless they allow it.
I also realize that nobody makes a crucial change in their business until they're ready. After 30+ years in this industry, it was only about 5 years ago that I decided I was ready to drive the bus.
I think because most of us have accumulated our knowledge over a span of years, (sometimes decades), we lose sight of just how much skill we've developed.
David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA
EDITED: 19 Oct 2004 by DGL
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#7]
19 Oct 2004
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#3] 19 Oct 2004
David,
Words of wisdom, from a wise man :-)
David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#8]
19 Oct 2004
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#7] 19 Oct 2004
David,
Back on the subject of risk. I had a customer bring in a sterling silver child's cup that had names engraved on it dating back to 1846 (or maybe it was 1864, whatever it was, it was long ago). The only area remaining on the cup to engrave was an ornamental "ridge" that was about 3/32" wide and went all the way around the cup. Another option was to start adding names to the bottom of the cup. For me to engrave on the "ridge" it would have cost them $40 (more risk for error). Engraving a name on the bottom would have cost $15. They now have a name on the bottom of the cup.
EDITED: 19 Oct 2004 by DATAKES