The Jeweler 

I joined a family member this weekend as she went to the famous Jewelers Row in Philadelphia in an attempt to sell back her diamond engagement ring from a relationship that ended last year. It was the final nail in the coffin that she needed to hit in order to move on.

She asked me to go along with her for emotional support, and who am I to turn down a family member? Especially since love bites sometimes. You all can vouch for that. The pain of a breakup? OUCH.

Yep, there's a point to this.

So as we went from store to store, the jewelers would look at the ring that cost $7k, and they scoffed at her request for $3k. They told her it wasn't worth that much and she was scammed. They pointed out all of the imperfections, told her to lower her standards, and then come back.

It made me think of a typical stereotypical car salesman when he sees the credit score of a potential customer. Just as the jewelers were excited when she said "Oh, I want to sell a ring!" and even when she showed them the ring, it wasn't until the microscope was shined until their demeanor changed.

Sounds familiar, right? Customer walks in, gung ho about a pre-owned car that you know you'll make money off of. You see dollar signs, the person disappears. You then run their credit, and your own stomach drops as you see that 500 score. The tone of the conversation changes as you deliver the news.

They knew coming in that their credit wasn't amazing. As did my cousin know that she wasn't going to get as much as she paid for that ring. But it's not necessary to laugh, scoff, or say "Are you serious?" to a customer who is in a rough spot. If not for any other reason, that you don't know their story. 

One of the stores that we went to had an attractive 40 something man who explained to us the ratings of the diamond, the weight of the diamond, the fact that they'd scrap the setting.... none of this stuff did I know. He was completely honest. He said he wouldn't insult us with an offer, to go around to other stores, get some quotes, and come back. So we did. 

10 stores, and offers from $500-$1600 on a $7000 priced ring, we were exhausted. We decided to go back to Mr. Honesty, tell him about the offers we got, and he made a competitive offer. We took it. It was somewhat lower than our max offer, but it was his honesty, his hesitance to even give us an offer until we heard other ones, his willingness to explain the situation to us that made us go back. He didn't laugh at us. He didn't scoff that my cousin was screwed when she bought the ring. And because of that, he made a great sale / buy. 

Are we in the business to sell cars? To sell jewelry? To sell ourselves? Yes. But not in the process of making others feel bad. Because you know, when that 500 score decides that they want to improve their situation, and they do, they're coming back to you if you show them some respect.

And respect is 100% free.