Reality Check

Their sales have gone down in jewelry too...jewelry and electronics, according to their last annual report.

They need to listen to their customers, IMO.

I only watched a few minutes here and there the last couple of days...boy are you right the prices are really inflated for gemstones/sterling. $500-$1400 range on some items....WOW! I enjoyed looking at Jill's nail polish instead and found one in my collection that is a very close match..

I agree that many of the Judith Ripka pieces are not worth to me near what they are charging. However, in reality it is "worth" whatever someone is willing to pay. Designer jewelry has never been valued at commodity prices. The intangible value of the design, including the designer's reputation and status, is a big part of the value.

They can use the price of silver as an excuse/sales pitch, but that's largely what it is. The commodity price of silver is back down to about what it was in early 2008. That's still not nearly as low as it was in the '90s and early 2000s, but it's down considerably in the last year. However, if the Q finds their sales and profits are good at the current prices, then we consumers may not see the reduction passed on to us for a while and not just because of the production lag time. If the economy continues to improve, the prices may eventually go down, but I'm not holding my breath.

I can only imagine that the Q is making money on the Ripka line, or it wouldn't be there. Certainly not in the quantity and frequency it is now. Granted, QVC may perceive some "prestige value" in having Ripka (John Hardy, Dooney & Bourke, etc) on their network. But at this point I doubt they value the prestige factor enough to have Ripka there as a loss leader.

If you ever need a reality check, take a look at Tiffany's prices. They will indeed charge what the consumer is willing to pay. They have a new collection of "T" jewelry, very sleek, stylish, and sophisticated, and I love it! But they are charging $350 for a simple sterling silver ring. I know the price is because of the Tiffany name and pretty blue box and white satin ribbon, the designer's name; the cost of labor and silver is the least of it.

On 10/13/2014 severusgirl said:

If you ever need a reality check, take a look at Tiffany's prices. They will indeed charge what the consumer is willing to pay. They have a new collection of "T" jewelry, very sleek, stylish, and sophisticated, and I love it! But they are charging $350 for a simple sterling silver ring. I know the price is because of the Tiffany name and pretty blue box and white satin ribbon, the designer's name; the cost of labor and silver is the least of it.

The collection, "T", if looked at symbolically, (from ancient points of view), one would see that the tau and perpendicular symbolism is more than just a letter for a company or one randomly pulled from a can of alphabet soup.

But, perhaps for another day.

On 10/13/2014 severusgirl said:

If you ever need a reality check, take a look at Tiffany's prices. They will indeed charge what the consumer is willing to pay. They have a new collection of "T" jewelry, very sleek, stylish, and sophisticated, and I love it! But they are charging $350 for a simple sterling silver ring. I know the price is because of the Tiffany name and pretty blue box and white satin ribbon, the designer's name; the cost of labor and silver is the least of it.

The Tiffany name means something, though and will hold its value. Something from QVC will not.

On 10/13/2014 NickNack said:

On 10/13/2014 severusgirl said:

If you ever need a reality check, take a look at Tiffany's prices. They will indeed charge what the consumer is willing to pay. They have a new collection of "T" jewelry, very sleek, stylish, and sophisticated, and I love it! But they are charging $350 for a simple sterling silver ring. I know the price is because of the Tiffany name and pretty blue box and white satin ribbon, the designer's name; the cost of labor and silver is the least of it.

The Tiffany name means something, though and will hold its value. Something from QVC will not.

Not necessarily true, imo. If there was a situation on the globe where value was determined by weight of precious metals, one could buy more precious metals here than there, in probably all circumstances.

Do you really think they will give more of whatever is bartered for if one has a logo on the metal which is being tossed into the melting pot?

On 10/13/2014 ical said:

On 10/13/2014 NickNack said:

On 10/13/2014 severusgirl said:

If you ever need a reality check, take a look at Tiffany's prices. They will indeed charge what the consumer is willing to pay. They have a new collection of "T" jewelry, very sleek, stylish, and sophisticated, and I love it! But they are charging $350 for a simple sterling silver ring. I know the price is because of the Tiffany name and pretty blue box and white satin ribbon, the designer's name; the cost of labor and silver is the least of it.

The Tiffany name means something, though and will hold its value. Something from QVC will not.

Not necessarily true, imo. If there was a situation on the globe where value was determined by weight of precious metals, one could buy more precious metals here than there, in probably all circumstances.

Do you really think they will give more of whatever is bartered for if one has a logo on the metal which is being tossed into the melting pot?

No, not if it was tossed into a melting pot. In other situations, yes.

On 10/13/2014 NickNack said:

On 10/13/2014 ical said:

On 10/13/2014 NickNack said:

On 10/13/2014 severusgirl said:

If you ever need a reality check, take a look at Tiffany's prices. They will indeed charge what the consumer is willing to pay. They have a new collection of "T" jewelry, very sleek, stylish, and sophisticated, and I love it! But they are charging $350 for a simple sterling silver ring. I know the price is because of the Tiffany name and pretty blue box and white satin ribbon, the designer's name; the cost of labor and silver is the least of it.

The Tiffany name means something, though and will hold its value. Something from QVC will not.

Not necessarily true, imo. If there was a situation on the globe where value was determined by weight of precious metals, one could buy more precious metals here than there, in probably all circumstances.

Do you really think they will give more of whatever is bartered for if one has a logo on the metal which is being tossed into the melting pot?

No, not if it was tossed into a melting pot. In other situations such as on Ebay or in a jewelry store, yes.