For jewellers
How to quote a jewellery repair without undercharging
Repairs are where most jewellers quietly lose money. They come in over the counter, they feel small, so we quote them off the top of our head, round the price down to be nice, and move on. Do that fifty times a month and it adds up to a serious hole. A repair is still skilled bench work, and it deserves to be quoted with the same discipline as a custom piece. Here is how I approach it.
Assess it properly before you price it
Half the bad repair quotes come from not looking closely enough. Before you name a price, check the whole piece, not just the obvious problem. A ring in for a re-tip might also have worn claws, a thin shank or a loose stone. Quote the job in front of you, but flag what else you can see, because it protects you from a job that grows on the bench and it is genuinely useful to the customer. Never guarantee a price on a repair you have not actually inspected.
Price the skill, not just the time
A laser weld, a retip on a worn claw, a rhodium plate, a chain solder, these are quick for an experienced jeweller precisely because of years of skill. Do not let speed talk you into a tiny price. Put a proper hourly rate on your bench time and price common repairs as set jobs based on the real work involved. A tricky invisible-set stone replacement and a simple sizing are not the same job, so they are not the same price.
Charge for materials at today's rate
If the repair uses metal, sizing up a ring, adding a new shank, replacing a claw, that gold or platinum is costed at today's rate, not last year's. Small amounts of metal still cost real money, and across a month of repairs the difference is not small. Add any stones, findings or consumables to the quote too, so the price reflects what the job actually costs you.
Set a minimum charge
Some repairs are barely worth switching the torch on for. A minimum bench charge protects you from the five-minute jobs that still take up counter time, cleaning, admin and handling. Decide your minimum and apply it as policy. Customers understand that skilled work has a floor price, and it stops the tiny jobs from running at a loss.
Take the job in the same way every time
A tidy intake is half the battle. Note what came in, its condition, what the customer wants done, the agreed price and the promised date, and give them something to confirm it. Photos of the piece as it arrived protect both of you. When repairs are logged properly instead of on a scrap of paper, nothing gets lost, no piece is misplaced, and you look like the professional you are.
Track it like any other job
A repair should move through your workshop with the same visibility as a custom build: taken in, on the bench, ready for collection. When you can see every repair in one place you stop losing them, you hit your promised dates, and you invoice every one of them. The jobs that used to slip through the cracks are exactly the ones this fixes.
Repairs, handled like real jobs
Workshop Pilot lets you take a repair in with photos and details, quote it, track it through the bench, and invoice it, with the same tools as a full custom job, so the small work is as tidy and as profitable as the big work. Try it free for 14 days, no card required.
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