How much of a markup is acceptable on loose stones?

[dk168]

Ok - I thought you took the 3.5x ingredients seriously.
Some do.

And I shouldn’t have said profit per hour. I meant what are you earning/paying yourself for your labor per hour.

Nah, I lost out big time, charging not a lot for something that was very laborious to make, like pulled pork with coleslaw etc...

I did it for fun as I love cook.

I help out as a cook for a charity for the homeless and vulnerable people in my area nowadays to get my cooking fix!

DK

 

[PrecisionGem]

When I was going to college, I worked at a small shoe store, selling shows. The markup they had on shoes was 3X, and for cleaners and polish etc is was much more.

 

[2Neesers]

Many years ago, one of my first jobs was working for a chain mall jeweler. As an employee benefit, we were able to purchase things at cost plus 10%.
The retail price was 6x cost! Even with A 6x markup, there were months that sales were so low that they definitely didn’t make a profit after paying all of the expenses involved with running a brick and mortar store.

I was also involved with a specialty retail store and the markup was “Keystone Pricing” which is 2x. Keystone pricing is very common in retail. The profit from the sale of merchandise then pays for employee wages, taxes, insurances, rent, etc.. If a retail store makes a profit after paying all of their expenses, they are doing very well.

Back to the topic of loose stone markups, another things to consider beyond the price of the rough is the cost of the equipment to facet the stones. It’s really expensive! I was interested in learning and when I looked in to it, the price of a good faceting machine alone was around $5,000, plus you need laps and other supplies on top of that. A buying trip to Tucson would be another example of a business expense someone might hope to recover when pricing a stone. There are so many hidden expenses involved in running or owning a business that it’s hard to say what an acceptable markup is.

 

[Rfisher]

Some businesses are really just subsidized hobbies.

 

[2Neesers]

Some businesses are really just subsidized hobbies.

I think the hobby cutters typically have the best prices too

 

[JewelledEscalators]

I remember a friend of my saying he once worked at a delivery pizza place, the difference between the cost of the ingredients and the price of the pizza was huge.

 

[jordyonbass]

The amount of mark-up that is acceptable is whatever mark-up a vendor chooses to put on their stone as far as I'm concerned.

If a vendor lucks out somehow and manages to get a stone that would usually retail for $10k at a price of $100, then chooses to sell for (say) $7k - that is a 70x mark-up. Should we expect them to only mark-up 2-3x to a maximum of $300? I think that would be a bit silly personally.

 

[PrecisionGem]

The amount of mark-up that is acceptable is whatever mark-up a vendor chooses to put on their stone as far as I'm concerned.

If a vendor lucks out somehow and manages to get a stone that would usually retail for $10k at a price of $100, then chooses to sell for (say) $7k - that is a 70x mark-up. Should we expect them to only mark-up 2-3x to a maximum of $300? I think that would be a bit silly personally.

I have been doing this for 20 years, and I have yet have such a deal come my way. Pretty much everyone in this business knows what they have and what it's worth.

 

[jordyonbass]

I have been doing this for 20 years, and I have yet have such a deal come my way. Pretty much everyone in this business knows what they have and what it's worth.

Neither have I mate, just throwing out random numbers as a hypothetical to make a large mark-up figure.

But it sure would be nice hey?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

That's a pretty typical markup for a jeweler. I sell stones often to jewelers, and they all typically mark them up 2 to 3x. They are of course in business to try to make money, just like every other retailer.
What do you think the mark up is on a bottle of water? I recently bought a bottle in the Atlanta Airport and paid $3.15 for it. I bet there was much more than a 3x mark up on the water.

ive worked in retail my whole life
markup = how long is a piece of string

if a vender is bricks and mortar and /or have staff wages and likely a high commercial rent need to be paid

i know before Amazon books typically had 300% loped on here
but its not immoral to want to cover costs and make a profit

 

[voce]

I remember a friend of my saying he once worked at a delivery pizza place, the difference between the cost of the ingredients and the price of the pizza was huge.

That is not comparable to gemstone trade. With pizzas and value-add business they actually transform what they sell. With an online turnaround resell of an already cut gemstone, they are doing literally nothing except keep it safe and advertise.

 

[JewelledEscalators]

That is not comparable to gemstone trade. With pizzas and value-add business they actually transform what they sell. With an online turnaround resell of an already cut gemstone, they are doing literally nothing except keep it safe and advertise.

Sorry for posting

 

[dk168]

The bench that advertised a stone for sale from a lapidary artist/Etsy/FB vendor that I also follow, a 3ct+ blue Zircon, is adding nearly 50% to the price as seen in their FB/Etsy listing.

DK