(IDEX Online News) – After climbing since Mother’s Day in May, retail prices of jewelry in the U.S. market dropped sharply in October. 

 

The full analysis of the jewelry sales data is available to IDEX Online Research subscribers and IDEX Online members here.

 

In part, this is a seasonal trend.  Jewelers mark up their retail prices through the summer, so they can discount them beginning in October, in advance of the all-important November-December holiday selling season.  Retail prices of jewelry are forecast to continue to decline through the end of the year.

 

As for the Jewelry Producer Price Index (JPPI), after dropping sharply early this year, jewelry suppliers’ prices in the U.S. market leveled off from March through August. 

 

Suppliers’ prices began dropping again in September, a trend that continued through October.  This price weakness is being driven both by falling precious metals prices and declining polished diamond prices.

 

Polished diamond prices were down 3.6 percent on the year last month, while gold prices fell by 7.1 percent, platinum was down 10.8 percent, and silver dropped by 21.6 percent.

 

 

Slight Rise In October JPPI

For October 2014, the Jewelry Producer Price Index (JPPI) came in at 213.3 compared with 215.0 for the month before. Here’s what this means:

 

 

The graph below shows the change in monthly retail jewelry prices on a year-to-year basis, and how it has declined sharply since 2011.

 

 

Outlook – Will Declining Prices Attract Customers?

Retail jewelers can be expected to reduce prices in order to attract customers during the Christmas sales season.

 

The U.S. economy appears to be in reasonable shape and improving consistently. With inflation under control and housing and stock prices rising while gasoline and heating oil prices decline and unemployment figures falling, American consumers have extra cash to spend. Meanwhile, online retail sales for the all-important U.S. Christmas season are forecast to show a 16-percent rise on the year to $61 billion, according to digital metrics firm comScore Inc.

 

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