At Jewelers Mutual we truly hate to hear about a jeweler who suffers a loss and has no insurance because missed payments caused the insurance policy to lapse. In our experience this is rare … but it is nonetheless heartbreaking each time it happens.

You know the importance of taking your annual physical inventory in order to keep track of your stock levels and track any missing or misplaced items, but what effective jewelry inventory management practices do you employ for the other 364 days of the year?

At the end of a busy day, do you ever check your stock, or do you simply pack it up, lock it up, and then head home?

Jewelers’ Security Alliance (JSA) in the U.S. and Jewellers Vigilance Canada (JVC), two of the leading providers of security advice and services to the jewelry industry, regularly underscore their shared assertion that a jewelry business’s need to have appropriate types and adequate limits of insurance coverage underlies all of their loss-prevention and security recommendations.

The initial gold-buying frenzy may have passed, but many jewelers continue to buy estate and scrap jewelry from consumers on a regular basis.

If you’re one of those who continue to have success with purchasing scrap metals over the counter, know that it’s not without risk. Keep this advice for buying scrap in mind to help make all of your transactions as smooth as possible:

It’s something you do every day … many days without thinking. You go to work, unlock the door, and disable the alarm. You set about your business like clockwork, preparing for the day. When the day is done, you put your goods in the safe or vault, set the alarm, lock the doors, and leave. You could do this in your sleep!