written by Ji
How to Customize an Engagement Ring & Save Money
I am aware you are here for a good time and not a long time so let’s dive right in.
Custom made sounds luxurious and well…it definitely is. Getting exactly what you want the first time around is not very common in this industry due to the lack of true customization – BUT the best news of this article is that custom tends to be less expensive when it comes to engagement rings! It sounds counter-intuitive but let’s break it down.
What actually makes engagement rings expensive in traditional jewelry stores:
Quick notes:
There is a significant amount of capital tied up in a jeweler’s inventory of finished goods just sitting in a display case. Engagement rings are a slow moving product – they’re not flying off the shelves. Jewelry can sit for years waiting for the perfect person to come and purchase it.
Detailed Example:
Normal brick and mortar jewelry stores make money by marking up the product to make enough return of the product sitting there. In order to make money on that engagement ring that took 2 years to sell, there has to be a significant markup value. In many traditional jewelry stores, it’s common to have profit margins in the 55 to 70% range ($55 to $70 of every $100 is profit).
(Think of all the overhead a retailer incurs in 2 years. We are talking rent, staff, hydro, and more. If a lot of money is tied up in inventory that sells slowly, you bet the markup has to be decent to make money. The opposite would be a grocery store which is always being restocked).
Why custom is cheaper
With custom engagement rings, there is no inventory…except in raw materials (gold, loose diamonds, and more). Raw materials, however, can be fashioned into any style a client chooses and turns over at a much higher rate than finished jewelry.
We pass these savings onto the client and find that custom allows us to work on smaller margins since inventory holding costs are not a restraint.
It’s a win-win. You get exactly what you envisioned in your wildest dreams and get it at a better price – Budget and wishlist combined!
