STOP! DON’T TRY ON THOSE EARRINGS!

Finding the perfect gold hoops or diamond earring studs is not easy.

And, the law prevents it…

The LAW?

A lot of state laws make earring shopping a difficult process…

Because earrings are different than any other type of jewelry purchase.

You can’t try them on.

Some people know this, others don’t. And some simply don’t give a hoot.

I totally understand why it’s a law in most states. I know it’s to protect consumers from diseases (who else has tried those on?) and ear infections and all that crazy hygiene stuff, but it’s still insane.

And it’s true, I have seen some customer’s ears before, they aren’t pretty. Some are just down right disgusting.

Read: gross earrings posts.

I also know that it makes it almost impossible to buy earrings if you can’t try them on, though.

It’s the fit!

All earrings, hoops, studs, dangles and huggies fit differently. Earrings have different weights. They look different. Hang different. Feel different. It’s something you don’t know until you try them on.

It’s hard to tell if the earring will pull down on your earlobes. It’s tough to tell if the earring will lay right on the ear or twist. Some earrings are heavy and like to tilt down. Some roll in and point towards your head. One earring may also hang lower than the other earring and be noticeable. It’s not something you can really guess either.

You have to try them on.

But what can a customer do when the law says you can’t?

How are you supposed to know if you really like the earring?

You can’t.

There isn’t much you can do about it either. And even if you bought them, took them home and tried them on, and didn’t like them, you still couldn’t return them.

They’ve been worn.

You could play dumb…

Now I will say, that many customers play dumb and act like they can’t read the consumer warning labels on all the earring stands and jewelry display counters. And even if they do read them, they ignore them. It doesn’t pertain to them, does it?

Laws are for other people.

(People with dirty ears.)

So what do most people do then?

Try them on anyway.

They put them on to see how they fit. And what’s a salesperson to do at that point? Rip them out of their ears? There’s not much you can do after the fact. And you can’t force a customer to buy them either. There’s really nothing anyone can do if they did happen to test them out.

I normally just smirk, smile, and let them try them on.

I do inform them that they really shouldn’t put them in their ears (I don’t know where they’ve been)…

“It’s the law you know!”

But by now, I’m used to it. People like to test drive products. I know customers are going to pop them in their ears no matter what I say or what the law says.

I know they’re going to have ear jam on their ears, and dried white gook in the holes. I know all that. I’ve seen it. But ladies try them on anyway.

Some end up “popping” their ear hole open again because it closed up. That’s GROSS!!!

Sometimes they even draw blood. Even grosser. It about makes me gag…

Sanitary?

No.

So I just made it a habit to sanitize the earrings after every customer. I put them in the ultrasonic cleaner to sanitize them again. But really, most people don’t go through this trouble. They probably just stick them back in the showcases and you’d never know…

Sucks to be your ears!

Word of caution:

For everyone involved…

It’s a state law for a reason.

If you don’t know it, or simply don’t care, then who am I to stop you?

Just realize, that you may find the perfect hoop or diamond earring for your particular earlobes, but you may also find a little something, something as well…

A little ear goodie or glob or blob on those earrings posts.

Surprise!

Oh well. They’re your ears.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

So, do you try on earrings at the store?

Let me know in the comments below…

Cheers! :)