Reordering fast sellers (items that sell in under 180 days) and fast-fast sellers (items that sell in under 90 days) is a simple discipline that will dramatically increase your profitability as a jeweler. If one person liked a particular style of earring or bracelet, quite often someone else will like that style, too, so having another one on hand to sell again is critical to your business.
 
Some jewelers don’t fully understand how the ‘fast-seller’ principle works, so I tell them this true story:
 
When I was running my retail jewelry store many years ago, I ordered five styles of pendants from a vendor. They were in a modest price point, were perfect ‘bridesmaids gifts,’ and all had their own unique charm.
 
I sold one of the pendants during the first week so I immediately reordered it. When I sold that one the following week, I quickly ordered another three. After selling those three during the third week, I ordered five more. This process of selling and quickly reordering went on for several weeks – while the other four pendant styles just sat in the case.
 
Eventually the sales rep called to let me know that the supplier was discontinuing the style. He said that he had 23 pendants left and he wanted to know if I was interested in purchasing them.
 
Normally, buying that many of one item wouldn’t be advisable, but since I had such success selling that pendant, I decided to buy the rest of his lot.
 
At the end of the year I had sold 127 pendants of that one style. I was very surprised that not one of the other four styles had sold.
 
If I had taken the approach that most jewelers take (meaning that I had celebrated the sale of the one pendant and waited for the other four to sell), I would have missed out on the sale (and profit) of 126 pendants.
 
Having multiple quantities of fast fast-sellers (3 or 4 stocked) is much better than having 3 or 4 different styles that don’t sell. It also eliminates the delivery time when reordering.
 
So, remember to reorder your fast sellers!