Qualifying a Trade Customer

Sometimes a buy customer wants to get more for their merchandise than we can give for an outright buy, but they might be willing to trade it for other jewelry or watches. Sometimes the retail side can offer more for a trade-in (but not always). It’s necessary to carefully qualify the buy customer before referring them to the retail side in order to avoid upsetting them further if it turns out that we can’t do a trade either.

If a buy customer is interested in a trade they will usually let you know right away if you ask the right questions. The buyer shouldn’t suggest a trade unless the customer brings it up. That way they show serious interest. If a seller wants more cash, then bringing up a trade value is not going to help anyone.

The buyer shouldn’t say anything about trade value other than, “You can possibly get more in trade. Trade values are done on the sales floor.” The buyer should never give a specific amount such as 10%-15% more, especially after working with the seller. Just politely refer them to the sales floor.

On occasion a customer will ask about trade in values at the end of a buy. In these cases, again qualify to see how serious they are. One way to qualify is to ask if they have a specific item in mind to purchase. If they do, then obviously they’ve thought about it seriously. If someone is semi-serious and the buyer wants to secure the deal, then one way to do that is to write a check for the buy price, then walk the customer and check to the sales floor if they want to shop. The check goes to the salesperson. If the seller wants to buy something, then we keep the check and give a trade bonus. If not, then the salesperson gives them the check when they leave. That’s a low-risk way to send extra traffic to the sales floor.