Let's Chat here !

Good day !

Monday will be the official launch of this blog, just want to say hi to you all first .

We are sorry that most items run out of stock during Sept-Oct, new stocks are coming and being listed .. non-stop ..

How's your business ? Will the coming shopping season be good ? Hope so..

I am off to walk my dog now, you guys have fun

Austin

What's The Best Retail Mark-Up ?

We have been receiving quite some enquiries regarding the re-sell value of our products. We would like to share some of our thoughts and experience with you.

Our general reply is the mark-up could be at least 5-7 times. However, it is very dangerous to just follow this figure. What makes you think you can mark it up by 5x, but not 10x or 2x ? We have one chain store retail our products at 8x - 12x, and another individual resells at 2-4x on eBay. Why ?

Few friends of mine think we can earn the most if we sell in retail as we are the manufacturer, however, this assumption is absolutely wrong as doing retail is not just a manipulation of the calculator by multiplying the cost of the item by 2,3,4......

Some customers like to do shopping in a very disciplined way, start at 10A.M., get the shopping list done in a hour and then retreats at 11Am. However, majority like to do the shopping in a very leisure way. They like to browse, to chat, to listen, to ask, to try the item say, earrings, to see if they match their hairstyle, to seek advice from their friends, and in most cases, from you. You are not just the seller but also the consultant of your customers.

Gift wrapping is common, but will you offer postal services if your customers buy the gift for his/her family overseas ? E-cards seems getting the way, but have you thought of going back to the old days , suggesting your customers to write on the gift card you provide and post for them to the ones they love ? I don't know if helps or not ? But we all know it is the good shopping experience that keep your repeating customers, and it is your services that give your customer good experience.

Hence, the retail value of any piece of item is not only about the quality of the product, but also the services you can offer, and also a bunches of determinants like :

- the location of your store
- the decoration and layout of your store
- the way you display your goods, is it eye-catching ?

and other factors that I believe you should know better than me.

Retail mark up is not the unscrupulous profit that some people deliberately like to call it, but is the amount of money that customers are willing to pay for the premium services that some sellers do not care or do not have the expertise to offer.

Any comments ?

Good business to you all !

Austin Zilo
TFDirect

What is Mystic Color Topaz / CZ ?

They are all surface enhanced designer stones.

Surface of the stone, either Bottom (Pavilion ) or surace of the white stones ( Topaz or CZ ) is treated by a thin-film optical treatment. This method is known within the technical industry as Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). The PVD method is unique: utilizing various minerals, oxygen and high vacuum, and is considered to be environmentally "green" since no radiation or harsh chemicals are utilized.

The method of treatment is patented by the coating company in USA, the patent number is 5,853,826.

The thin film treatment applied to gemstones is durable and hard. The treated layer is only microns in thickness. If the wearer utilizes care, the enhancement will last the life of the jewelry setting.

The difficulty of making jewelry with mystic color stones is higher than using ordinary stones like regular cz or genuine amethyst, because all these mystic color stones cannot go into the rhodium bath, that means we have to set those stones onto the rhodium plated jewelry, it is our high craftsmanship overcoming this difficulty.

To have a secure and long lasting coating, stones ( white topaz or white cz ) of very good quality have to be used.

To clean the mystic color stone, please do not use any abrasives, acids, or immersed in an ultrasonic cleaner. Soapy water is good enough.

Mystic Color is the trend forever, stay tune for more new color !

Austin
TFDirect

About TFDirect Blog

Dear Valued Customers,

We will try to, through this blog, write down as frequent as we could some market information, market news, gossips, and some observations we collected via jewelry exhibitions, seminars and industry talks.

If you have any interesting story, any idea or any experience you would like to share with us, please email us at : openmyeyes@TFDirect.com

If you have any complaints, questions, or query about your orders or products listed on TFDirect or about our services, please either refer to FAQ or email us at : cs@TFDirect.com

Comments in confict with the followings will be removed :

1. personal attack
2. rumor that cannot be confirmed
3. advertising
4. not related to the jewelry & gemstone industry, and

to be very direct, we reserve the rights to remove comments/postings that we think are not appropriate to be displayed on this blog.

Hope we can share useful information here.

Good Health & Good Business To You ALL !

Austin
TFDirect