Amazon, I know they deliver to your house but can we get back to stores? And leave Amazon. Store employees actually send customers to Amazon and tell customers we dont carry that.
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unfortunately, shady companies come in on the internet and undercut brick and mortar. We had people bringing crap stuff they bought off the internet asking us to repair it. They'd also come in for information from us, take up our time and our employees time that they could have been doing something for us, and then the customer would leave and go get their crap on the internet using the free information they got from us. We sold high value items, and they would use us for all they could. Then they'd demand free stuff, free or discounted repairs, expect us to exchange their shoddy crap for our quality items, telling us that they may have got it off the internet, but it's nice stuff. They'd want us to price match. It was ridiculous. They are used to Amazon service, free shipping, and all the perks that Amazon can negotiate. We couldn't do that. I just don't see brick and mortar making a come back.
There were a few internet sites that tried to compete with Amazon... one was blue something or purple something... but they just never took off. Amazon has a hold on people and has a strong business model. Hopefully some day someone will figure out how to compete, but until then, they reign supreme.
I really can't argue with what you are saying except that Amazon really doesn't give anything away. Your shipping is paid for as a membership, a per month fee. And that is a number of dollars, as I am not a member of Prime but it must be worth it to Amazon to offer it that way. And I am sure they make money on it or why set it up that way. Of course I think Costco's return policy is great on everything but electronics or jewelry-but I can understand it
That is sad, using your company for information ONLY. That is not an especially good business model for you, at least not your choice of a business model.
We were in the jewelry business, so we gave information to make people comfortable with the product and so we could sell it to them. The amount of false information surrounding the product is ridiculous (no! It's not worth it to us to switch your stone! And any reputable jeweler won't do it... it's not worth being closed and sued for your measly under 2k stone!! Although in the case of an imminent divorce, one party or the other will ask us to change it out to a CZ beforehand) People take advantage of you for sure.
Jewelry, I understand, has a high markup for retail sales. And lab grown diamonds seem to be a choice for "cheaper diamonds" and a lot less expensive!
Not high enough of a markup!! We needed extra security, upgraded cameras, security not tied to the electricity so someone couldn't turn off the power and break in... plus we needed big safes, trustworthy employees, shatter proof showcases... so much extra money goes into keeping the inventory safe. Plus extra insurance. We had two break ins. Insurance doesn't like to pay. We lost more than product. The police recovered some of the stolen items and they keep it as "evidence" and we never saw it again. There is way too much expense in the business. We just finally got tired of it and had to close.