I had helped a lady and her young daughter with ring selections, but there was not a size or design that seem to fit her. She had left and I notice one ring that she had looked at was now gone. I told my husband I thought she had taken it (the only space that was missing a ring) and he said go after her. So I went on a search mission, about 10 booths down I confronted her (it was easy she was wearing the ring!) I asked her if she was going to pay for it. She said she didnt realize that she had it on her finger and offered it back to me. I told her that she had two choices, she could either pay for it or I was calling security. She gave me her credit card and I went back to the booth to process the sale. She had all kinds of excuses for what had happened. She even had the gall to tell me that I had embarassed her when I got loud and told her to pay for it or I was calling security. I hope that it taught her 10yr old daughter a lesson.
Thank you for your comments, whether it was lifted intentionally or not, anyone caught with a product in hand and have left my booth will either have to pay for it or the police will be called. There is no other choice for the person in my book. I am just sorry that I havent caught all the others who have taken from me.
When it comes to theft - if the person has the item and has left the premises - it IS theft until it is accounted for. There are some suggestions I have for you Mary Kay to help deter something like this in the future, and feel free to write to me at carol@riversedgefiberarts.com for them. For the people remarking about well...she might typically wear a ring there...etc...it WAS deliberate. When a ring goes on a finger - that is a deliberate action especially since she was fussing over the rings not being the right size. Wrong size would have come right off the hand - not stayed on there - it would be uncomfortable. Allow me to explain - since I used to teach theft prevention at shows I vend. She took advantage of Mary Kay a) vending by herself - easy target, b) distracting her with not having "quite" the right size so as to create confusion - and have May Kay looking down into her own goods rather than at the thief's actions (the ring she took seemed to fit her finger just fine to walk out with it on..hmmm) c) having a child with her so as to create a situation where the thief thinks she is playing the young child card - no one will accuse her in front of a young child. It WAS a set-up and thankfully - Mary Kay did NOT fall for it. Mary Kay is not "playing" store she is a viable business protecting her bottom line and I am thankful she had the guts to share this with us. Thank you. For those of you who think this is a brash response - go get the movie the "Grifters" and you will get an idea of how some people live. They have no conscience when it comes to stealing from others...its just a way of life for them...YOU mean nothing to them beyond someone for them to get something for free from.
Just finished a show where my high end fibers were "accessible" from the outside front edge of the booth. With our heavy duty racks - the EZ up tables/etc, I put bungy cords X's on the back side and never had a problem until this past weekend. The notorious quilty parties are the "home school" mothers with hoards of children thinking that "vendors" such as myself are to be their learnin/teaching experience for their children. I look through the shelving and here is this mother and 5 children under 3' tall roughly pulling on the fibers through the x's, and wrecking them. I explained to her to stop immediately, the sign was inches away that said - please come inside to enjoy our fibers - from hers and her children's hands and she couldn't understand what was the big deal. I wanted to ring her neck...that was our high end fibers which the majority of our booth is high-end and my customers expect pristine condition. When she gave me grief over it - I told her it was just plain creepy to see people grabbing and pulling my goods through the outside of my booth. I repeated myself before the clod got the hint. She had no intention of purchasing - just another opportunity to "teach" her children on someone else's hand dollar. If I sound pissy about it - this has happened repeatedly with this particular group of mothers at the shows I vend. I and everyone else sees them coming a mile away. Now, I think nothing of either doing the creepy thing if its gone too far, but I truly to cut them off at the pass and send them to the demonstrators and stress, they NEED to go to the demonstrators (and stop ruining everyone's merchandise - which is in essense theft because its been detroyed and made unsaleable and they "would" never purchase it as "they" don't do that type of work...just wanted to teach their children on my dime. Okay - rant over.
I work at a store and on occasion have had people return things that they mistakenly walked out wearing. We get talking and they forgot they tried it on. I guess I would have just been happy to get the ring back and given her the benefit of the doubt. If she did steal it, she did get caught and that is enough for me.
I don't have my work in cases at shows and feel that people being able to touch and feel my work increases my sales. I work the booth alone and if everyone had to wait for me to take pieces out from a case they may walk away without buying. I know that it makes me vulnerable, but the loss of a piece or two over the season outweighs the sales I believe I gain by having my work accesable. In my mind, the people who are stealing are pros. They are going to get me know matter how vigilant I am. And funny, it happens when I am in the booth and not when I have walked away (yes, artists need to use the restrooms too!) and I think it is the thrill of stealing something from under my nose! Someone mentioned that they take the earrings off the cards and puts them on stands that make it harder to get off and therefor harder to steal. I have found that any earrings I display this way rarely sell. The ones on cards that they can easily walk to a mirror and see how they look are the ones that sell. I stopped putting any on stands. But that is just me and my customers buying patterns. I think it really depends on your price points (use of cases) and also the shows you do. I know that there is a show in the city that we all get hit. I am more aware of people at that show and where I display my more expensive pieces. At the show this year I lost a necklace in the same palette that I had a ring, bracelet and earrings lifted last year... apparently they needed to complete the set! FYI, my pieces range from earrings: $45-60 and necklaces: $80-200. If I had ones in the "fine jewelry" price range I would have a diff response than above and keep them in cases. Oh, and yes I have also had that ugly feeling that something was stolen and I found that I had moved the piece! But I don't panic and say something was stolen which would distract customers from buying. Just me... I feel karma will get them and it is the cost of doing business.
I still would have given her the benefit of the doubt, particularly when she offered to give it back. If you're used to wearing a ring and left it off, the better to try on new ones, then the feel of a ring on the finger is natural.
The thing is that the lady put the ring back and when I looked for another ring in a drawer, and had turned for a second she had taken it. She decided that she didnt want a ring anymore and her and her daughter exited the booth. It was then that I noticed the ring gone. She was not wearing any rings on her fingers before entering my booth. So my gut tells me that she was well aware of stealing the ring, just surprized that I came after her. She should have tried when I was working alone, I wouldnt have been able to run after her.....so fast!
Hi Matana. I got mine from http://www.abstracta.com/. You might ask which is the most durable finish. I got the one that is the best with the "decor" of my booth, but it is apparently the least durable and is showing quite a bit of wear. You can make something similar with glass clips and sheets of glass. I would just try doing a Google search on glass display cases or jewelry cases. With a quick search I found this option that can build on your table top. http://www.displaycasecorp.com/glass_displays.php. This looks really nice too - http://www.kc-store-fixtures.com/counter_top_display_case.php
Comments
I work at a store and on occasion have had people return things that they mistakenly walked out wearing. We get talking and they forgot they tried it on. I guess I would have just been happy to get the ring back and given her the benefit of the doubt. If she did steal it, she did get caught and that is enough for me.
I don't have my work in cases at shows and feel that people being able to touch and feel my work increases my sales. I work the booth alone and if everyone had to wait for me to take pieces out from a case they may walk away without buying. I know that it makes me vulnerable, but the loss of a piece or two over the season outweighs the sales I believe I gain by having my work accesable. In my mind, the people who are stealing are pros. They are going to get me know matter how vigilant I am. And funny, it happens when I am in the booth and not when I have walked away (yes, artists need to use the restrooms too!) and I think it is the thrill of stealing something from under my nose! Someone mentioned that they take the earrings off the cards and puts them on stands that make it harder to get off and therefor harder to steal. I have found that any earrings I display this way rarely sell. The ones on cards that they can easily walk to a mirror and see how they look are the ones that sell. I stopped putting any on stands. But that is just me and my customers buying patterns.
I think it really depends on your price points (use of cases) and also the shows you do. I know that there is a show in the city that we all get hit. I am more aware of people at that show and where I display my more expensive pieces. At the show this year I lost a necklace in the same palette that I had a ring, bracelet and earrings lifted last year... apparently they needed to complete the set! FYI, my pieces range from earrings: $45-60 and necklaces: $80-200. If I had ones in the "fine jewelry" price range I would have a diff response than above and keep them in cases. Oh, and yes I have also had that ugly feeling that something was stolen and I found that I had moved the piece! But I don't panic and say something was stolen which would distract customers from buying. Just me... I feel karma will get them and it is the cost of doing business.
Thanks Kristin I tried the first link in doesn't open ,but I will look in to the other two I appreciate your help.
By the way I like your work I had a look on your Etsy store it's very nice.
Good luck at the shows.
Kristin thank you for the advice. do you know where can I find a portable glass displays?
I might try it.
Thanks again
Matana
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