I empathize with the people who have no initial idea of what they’re buying, who don’t have any experienced advisors and who are at the mercy of advertisers on TV or the internet. The same goes for the poor person who must deal with a salesperson who needs to make a sale, but has very limited knowledge. You might not want to buy such an emotionally charged item from a person who is limited to showing you “what happens to be in stock” when you come in. They may not know jewellery, but they do know how to sell.
So many people are buying the “sizzle” instead of the steak. Advertising companies use words that seem to say one thing, yet legally mean something very different. Technically they are not lying to you, they are telling you straight out that you are about to get sucked in, and you are too innocent to understand. This advertising ploy is called using “weasel words”.
For example, the word “virtually” means “similar to, but not actually in fact”. It does not mean “the same as”.
Another pair of weasel words is “best” and “better”. “Best”, legally means “as good as any other similar item” not “the one that is head and shoulders above the competition in some way”. If you want what we refer to as “best” in every-day English, then you want a “better” product. In legalese, "best" is one of the herd and "better" is comparatively superior.
And as soon as you see or hear the words, “in our opinion”, run away. The opinion of a paid spokesperson is only worth something if they are an expert in their field and they are potentially liable for anything they say that is untrue. As an example, many appraisals have a disclaimer on them. That “appraiser” is not qualified or knowledgeable enough to give an opinion and doesn’t want to be held responsible if anything turns out to be wrong. Beware of appraisals generated in store that are used for “Big Markdown Sales”. It doesn’t matter what the real value of an item is, it only matters how much it cost before it was marked down. 50% off of an item appraised at 10 times too high is still a huge profit for the seller, but not a good deal at all for you, the customer. When the sale is over, if you pay their full price, you really get taken!
Here are a few other things to look out for.
“Quantities limited” means there are only a few of something at any location, or maybe there is only one piece in stock. This tactic allows a vendor to avoid a criminal charge of “bait and switch”, which can be laid if the seller hasn’t stocked any of an advertised sale product and then tries to sell you something else for the same money but not the same quality.
"Wholesale to the public" implies that the price is the same as the amount the dealers are paying. It also implies that you will get huge savings, but this phrase can be part of their registered name or trademark. Then it means nothing at all about pricing or costs. It is just the name they chose to do business under. And it works!
So, how can you be sure that you are not getting ripped off?
Think to yourself, how expensive is the location that these guys are operating from? We dealers all buy from a very limited pool of suppliers. If a low rent shop pays the same price for a product as one in a mall, the mall store must charge a bigger mark-up. Their costs are so high that they have to make more from you on every purchase just to stay open. You pay for every frill; all of the snow removal in winter and everything in the “Mall atmosphere” as well as the malls’ advertising. I’m not suggesting that you shop in a dump, but the less of your money the store wastes each month, the less they need to charge you for the same service.
Another point for you to consider; We sell Canadian diamonds that come from a mine partly owned by Tiffany’s. We both offer an identical stone to a customer, I mean, exactly the same cut, the same polish, the same symmetry, the same weight, the same colour and the same clarity. They even have identical grading appraisals from the GIA (the Gemological Institute of America, the most respected appraisers around). We are both offering you a triple X stone, the best there is on the planet!
Do you think that they’re going to sell you that stone for the same price as we do?
I don’t think so.
And yes, we are comparing apples to apples here. Yes, they have a great name in the trade, but are you willing to pay the premium for that name? Some do and some think that they would rather not. And please don’t think that I’m picking on Tiffany’s. Any high overhead store is going to charge you more, for exactly the same goods, as a qualified independent shop, like us.
So please, come in and put us to the test. We can start small and as we build up your trust in us, I think that we can make you glad that you came in.
Daniel.
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