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Does this adage hold true?

PreRaphaelite

Ideal_Rock
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Feb 2, 2015
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Many years ago, I ordered a pair of Stock settings for some small diamonds, to make earrings. Probably around November 1st, ish. The bench jeweller was a family friend (I think you can tell where this is going) and quoted me a price that was reasonable, I thought. I mean, we are talking a half-Carat, total, so...

When the call came that my little studs were ready, the price had jumped considerably. I objected, and the “family friend” insisted that because it was close to the holidays, everything was more expensive. Supply/demand, as it were. He essentially held my little stones hostage.

I paid, and never went back.

Fast forward all these years later, and I’m considering sending a stone off to be matched, to again make earrings. But each time I gather the courage to write an email, the unfortunate scenario pops into my head, and I delete the message without sending. Hence my question to the group; with the busy season upon us, am I going to run into the same supply/demand price hike?

Further, should I wait until the holidays are over to begin the search, because jewellers are busy and I’ll get a better result if I wait?
 

PreRaphaelite

Ideal_Rock
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Feb 2, 2015
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Do diamond sellers do Business this way In 2019?
 

JPie

Ideal_Rock
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3,897
I've had custom settings from David Klass, and one from Kataoka. In every instance, the price I was quoted was what I paid. Nobody should do business the way your so-called family friend did!
 

the_mother_thing

Ideal_Rock
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Umm, that’s BS! He quoted you one price in November, then took ~6 weeks to do the work, and since he just so happened to finish up just before Christmas, there’s a price hike? :hand:

I’d have raised the BS flag and insisted he honor the price quoted unless there was something significantly unexpected that occurred costing more in labor/materials ... and even then, you deserve a call at least to let you know/decide to proceed or not. Classic bait & switch, and ‘family friend’ or not, I’d be Yelping that nonsense NOW ... because ya know, holidays & busy season and all.
 

PreRaphaelite

Ideal_Rock
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Feb 2, 2015
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I agree.

I mean, I definitely understand when jobs take slightly longer, because of a large amount of orders to process in time for holiday delivery. Also, some clients opt for expedited ‘rush job’ and those orders come first. I have no problem with that. I just think of the dreams that are coming true for those clients. The glistening eyes, the quickening pulse! I get it.

But I’m not in a hurry or anything. Just don’t want a shock.
 

winnietucker

Ideal_Rock
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Jan 4, 2019
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2,461
Plus wouldn’t they have know about the holiday season issue when they quoted you? It’s not like it was too far off at that point. That should have been factored into their initial quote or brought to your attention when you dropped it off. I genuinely can’t imagine anyone who isn’t sketchy operates like that...
 

the_mother_thing

Ideal_Rock
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When I have shopped jewelry stuff during ‘peak’ times, if I am not in any hurry/rush, I try to be clear about that when I reach out to whomever so they know that I’m not in a hurry and understand they may get/be busy with rush orders, etc. so long as they periodically reach out/update me. I think vendors appreciate that as well as not having another client who “needs it NOW”, and I think it says (without saying) “so no, I don’t expect any sort of Christmas/Valentines Day/etc mark-up that you’re tacking on to those who do “need it NOW“. And, hopefully they keep that in mind when they are working on your order/piece/final bill.
 

WinkHPD

Ideal_Rock
Trade
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7,516
I do not know of any reputable businessman who would do this to you. Especially in today's hyper competitive market. You may want to wait for Christmas to be over just so your chosen jeweler is not swamped, but not because it should have any effect on the pricing.

Wink
 

PreRaphaelite

Ideal_Rock
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Feb 2, 2015
Messages
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Thanks everyone for responding. I feel a lot better - at least knowing I wasn’t unreasonable! I never spoke to the ‘family friend’ again, but if he felt fine doing that to me, I can’t imagine what he would have tried on with strangers.

I think I’ll wait until the season is over, just so I have something to look forward to in the new year :)
 

monipod

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 25, 2019
Messages
1,041
I'm so sorry that this 'friend' did that to you. Definitely not the norm. It's like he felt it was appropriate to put a surcharge on current jobs to make up for not being able to take any more clients on before Xmas.
 

OoohShiny

Ideal_Rock
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Apr 25, 2014
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8,228
This sort of thing adds weight to the adage 'never mix business with pleasure'!

WRT the higher price you had to pay, think of it this way - it cost you X to never have to deal with a charlatan again and to find out his true nature. You could think of it as money well-spent :)
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
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Jan 22, 2014
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Avoid that jeweller.
Work should not be more expensive than quoted without first discussing. A competent jeweller can quote correctly for labour and materials. There might be Exceptions ie stock not to hand or rare unforeseen circumstances.
work should not be more expensive because it’s Christmas / holiday time. If you were doing a rush job that involved overtime or outsourcing at a higher expense maybe more dollars but that should be discussed before work starts.
 
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