Jewelry acquisition is by definition “cash flow-sensitive”. A lot of money can go into critical acquisitions, and getting the best value for money is absolutely crucial. You may be surprised to learn that even leading jewelry companies watch their acquisitions budgets very closely.
The process of turning money into jewelry and back into money is anything but simple. It’s tricky and time-consuming. Even bread-and-butter basic transactions incur costs over time. Turnover time matters, a lot.
This is cost management, in the most brutal, unequivocal business sense. Many jewelry start-ups in particular find themselves short of cash due to excessive spending on acquisition. It’s a dangerous situation for any business, to be avoided at all costs, pun intended.
Acquisition essentials
Strict best practice for jewelry acquisition is pretty simple in theory:
• Minimize cash outlay as much as possible
• Ensure a reliable supply of high-quality assets
• Take advantage of any cost savings available
• Get the best terms of sale possible when buying
How can something as simple as that go wrong, you may ask? It’s frighteningly easy:
• Buying things that don’t sell fast enough to cover your costs
• Buying too much of one asset and not enough of other, more saleable items
• Spending too much upfront relative to cash returns
• Over-commitment to higher-value purchases without properly watching the bottom line
• Dubious middleman-market “deals” which can seriously affect your cash flow
Tricky? Yes. You can find yourself lumbered with stock that simply isn’t moving. If anything, the moral of this story is that cautious purchasing is the default best approach to acquisition.
There are, however, some very useful, and thankfully simple, options. Without over-committing your own cash, you can acquire quite a range of gemstones at very low-risk prices.
Jewelry wholesalers online vs hit and miss acquisition deals
When buying wholesale, you have a lot of good built-in options as a purchaser:
• You can easily manage your outlay. (Some “deals” may look good, but may require bulk purchases, for example, which can run down your cash to an unacceptable level very quickly.)
• You really don’t have to spend a lot of money; you can always buy more as required. (This is rarely the case in the notoriously unreliable “take it or leave it” acquisition market. You can spend a lot of money upfront for a single acquisition, for example.)
• Regular suppliers will be happy to help with your acquisitions and can also source specific gemstones upon request. (A good relationship with a reliable supplier is always an excellent long-term major asset.)
A little hunting online will find excellent suppliers who offer regular discounts.
Important: Please note that you are very strongly advised to deal only with top-of-the-line major-league suppliers for regular acquisitions.
If you’re looking for a reliable supplier for your acquisitions, talk to us.
RMC are the world’s biggest gemstones suppliers. We have a fantastic range of gems from around the world, and we back up our prices with excellent discounts and all the support you need. Just give us a call or contact us online, we will be happy to help.
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