The quote from March
In March, you quote for a pair of 18ct wedding bands and a heavy platinum ring. The customers go away to think about it. In May, one of them comes back with the printed quote and says they would like to go ahead at that price.
The metal element has moved since March. Maybe up, maybe down, but not in a way you had planned for. You can honour it and absorb the difference, or explain why the price has changed to a customer holding a piece of paper with your logo on it.
Neither option feels good, and the same thing happens with larger repairs involving new shanks, and with remodels where old gold is credited against new.
Why quotes and metal prices clash
Most jewellers' quotes are a single figure. The metal cost is inside it, invisible to the customer and sometimes to the staff member who wrote it. When the price of gold changes, there is no easy way to see which open quotes are affected.
Validity periods are written on some quotes and not others, and are rarely enforced because nobody tracks when quotes expire.
Different staff also calculate metal costs differently, using the price from a website check that morning, last week's supplier invoice or a rule of thumb.
What stale quotes cost
| Issue | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Metal hidden in a single figure | Hard to explain a changed price |
| No validity period enforced | Old quotes honoured at a loss or argued over |
| Different metal prices used by staff | Inconsistent quotes for the same job |
| No view of open quotes | Price moves affect quotes nobody remembers |
| Credit for customer gold unclear | Remodel quotes that are hard to follow |
How you price, and what you promise in your quote terms, are your commercial decisions. What helps is having those decisions applied the same way every time.
Remodel quotes are the most sensitive. When a customer's old gold is credited against a new piece, the credit and the cost of new metal both depend on the price on the day. A quote that looked generous when gold was high can look mean a few weeks later, or the other way round. If the figures are buried in one total, neither side can see what moved, and the conversation turns into a negotiation.
How we build quotes that handle metal prices
- Quotes are built from components: metal by estimated weight and type, stones, labour, outside work such as setting or hallmarking, and any credit for customer metal.
- The metal price is taken from a feed or a figure you set each morning, so every quote on a given day uses the same price.
- Each quote carries a validity period that you set, printed clearly, and the metal element is shown separately if you choose.
- Open quotes are listed with their age and the metal price used. When the price moves past a threshold you choose, affected quotes are flagged.
- When a customer comes back after a quote has expired, the requote is produced with one click, showing what changed.
- Accepted quotes carry the price locked at acceptance, recorded with the date, into the commission or repair job.
We do not tell you how to price or whether to hedge. The system simply applies the policy you set, and shows you where the exposure is.
Quoting with confidence
When the customer returns with a March quote in May, the counter can see it has expired, produce the updated figure and show the customer exactly which part changed and why. A change with a reason attached is an easier conversation than a new number with none.
- Every quote using the same metal price on the same day
- Validity periods that are clear and tracked
- Open quotes flagged when prices move
- Requotes that show what changed
Is quoting like this in your shop?
- Quotes are one figure with the metal cost hidden inside.
- Customers return with old quotes after prices have moved.
- Staff check metal prices in different ways.
- You have no list of quotes still open.
- Remodel quotes with gold credit are hard to explain.