Sometime back, I was referred to a gentleman who came to me after he went to Tiffany’s to shop. He hadn’t bought yet.

He said, “Gary, this is what I want. And I understand that that has the blue box and the Tiffany stamp. I get it. I don’t care about that. That’s the style.”

So I asked him, “Do you mind if I ask how much Tiffany?”

He said, “I’d rather not tell you. You tell me how much you are going to charge me for this.”

Fair enough.

I looked at what he wanted, figured out what it would take to make it, and gave him my price.

He was willing to spend $136,000.

I quoted him $84,000.

I was going to make the piece he wanted and I was going to make a nice profit.

He just saved 50 grand.

He understood what came with the blue box and the Tiffany stamp. He just knew that wasn’t the part he cared about.

If what you care about is the piece itself, it helps to know what you’re actually paying for.

That was the decision he wanted to make.

Once he had the information, he made it for himself.