Your point of sale (POS) terminal from 2015 works fine, right? Or is that reliable old hardware costing you thousands of dollars?
Just like your iPhone 6 can still take blurry photos, your POS hardware can probably take payments and perform other basic functions.
But for your jewelry store to really thrive, you need a modern system that doesn’t bleed profit in ways you don’t see.
Imagine your POS hardware failing for a day during the holiday season. How many thousands of dollars would you lose? That’s the risk you take when you don’t update your equipment.
Let’s look into six hidden costs and help you avoid them.
Keeping old POS hardware feels like the cheaper option — until you factor in lost sales, wasted time, security risks, and missed data.
These six hidden costs show why “good enough” systems end up costing the most.
Imagine it’s 2 p.m. on a Saturday in December. Your store is busy — three couples looking at engagement rings, one customer waiting for a repair, and another picking up their anniversary gift.
Your POS freezes mid-transaction.
You restart it, but nothing happens — the screen goes black.
One couple leaves to “think about it.” Another says they’ll come back later. Within 20 minutes, your busy Saturday is over, and the repair company can’t come until Monday.
You lose more than weekend sales. Hardware failures create lasting problems:
How to avoid this: Invest in a modern, cloud-based system. If one device fails, you log in from your phone, tablet, or computer. Your data is in the cloud, not trapped on a dying hard drive.
If your 10-year-old POS terminal can’t run the latest security updates, you’re vulnerable. Imagine one day being unable to access customers’ records because the files are corrupted.
Or worse — you get a letter from your credit card processor: “We’ve detected a potential data breach. Your system may have exposed customer payment information.”
Data breaches can cost $10,000 or more, and that doesn’t include lost customers and reputation damage.
Old hardware is unpredictable:
Worse still, your insurance probably doesn’t cover breach costs when you’re running unsupported hardware. They may call it a “known vulnerability you chose to ignore.”
How to avoid this: Find a jewelry POS system that runs on cloud-based architecture. With a modern system, you get:
Modern cloud-based POS systems cost $100–$200 per month. One data breach or corruption incident can cost over $10,000. You’re paying for security either way.
With an outdated system, your end-of-day processes likely take 45 minutes.
You update inventory in a spreadsheet, transfer repair notes from paper to the system, and triple-check everything because your POS doesn’t talk to your accounting software.
It’s exhausting. And every error requires more time to fix. Imagine if your staff could spend less time managing your system and more time serving customers?
How to avoid this: With a modern POS system, like Jewel360, you can reduce or eliminate manual tasks:
These automations save time at the end of your workday and ensure sales and inventory information is accurate.
Related Read: From Pen and Paper to POS: Training Reluctant Jewelry Store Staff
You’re at a disadvantage if customers can’t pay how they want to.
53% of consumers now use mobile wallets, and many Gen Z and millennial shoppers prefer tap-to-pay. Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is also increasingly popular. In fact, average order value increases 30–50% with BNPL options.
Outdated terminals can’t process:
Every “We don’t take that” is a lost sale you’ll never recover.
How to avoid this: Jewel360 (through an integration with Affirm) lets you offer BNPL at checkout. You can also accept multiple payment methods (Apple Pay, Google Pay, tap-to-pay, chip cards, swipe cards, and manual entry).
It’s fast, and with integrated payment processing, you save on card fees, too.
Related Read: Jewelry Payment Options: How To Offer Credit, Financing, and Layaway
When your old POS terminal inevitably acts up, how much does your IT person charge to come fix it? Your receipt printer jams constantly, the card reader works intermittently, and three months later, something else breaks.
Every callout costs hundreds of dollars, and you can’t get replacement parts because the model has been discontinued.
How to avoid this: Modern, cloud-based POS software works on compatible hardware:
Work with a jewelry-specific POS provider to ensure your hardware is compatible and support is baked in.
Outdated POS systems generate basic sales reports, but what you can’t see is:
You’re running your jewelry store on gut feeling instead of data. And there are plenty of implications.
With a lack of inventory data, you might order too many pieces that don’t sell, or run out of bestsellers during peak season.
You might miss birthdays and special occasions without customer data. And it’s impossible to know which products have the best profit margins without detailed reports.
How to avoid this: Upgrade your POS to access detailed, easy-to-read reports. With a comprehensive POS, you can:
You’re not guessing anymore. You know which pieces to reorder, when to reorder them, which customers to follow up with, and what’s actually driving profit in your store.
Your old hardware isn’t saving you money — it costs you more every month. Sure, upgrading is risky, but only if you go with the wrong provider. It’s riskier staying put.
Jewel360 is a jewelry-specific POS system designed to help more jewelers manage their stores.
With Jewel360, your data lives securely in the cloud, payments are fast and flexible, inventory updates are automatic, and your store keeps running even if a device fails.
If your POS hardware is more than a few years old, the real question isn’t when it will cost you money — it’s how much it already has.
See how Jewel360 can help run your store, and use our Build and Price tool to create your ideal POS system today.