? How many vendors to make appt.s with for stone?

[Ann]

Would it be wise or unwise to make appts. with, say, 3 different vendors in the same city to pull stones for me to see?
I plan to go to NYC and hopefully find the stone I want. But, if I asked 3 different vendors for the same stone specs, would I be making a mistake? Just select 1 to work with? Is late June, early July a bad time for this visit? I don''t know why I am thinking it might be - vacation time for most dealers?

 

[RockDoc]

I would suggest consulting with the vendors you have chosen.

I would also tell them that you are going to visit with other dealers, then go meet with them, see who you like and which stone you like the best.

Then after you''ve seen them, make a choice. If after seeing them you feel confident about the choice you made then get it, if not, have it sent to an expert to check it for you. It is always wise to have someone guide you that isn''t an interested party.

Rockdoc

 

[AChiOAlumna]

When we went into the LA Jewelry District, I contacted several vendors that came recommended to me and told them what I was looking for. Some were honest and told me that they didn''t have my preferred specs. With those who did, I made appointments on a specific day. Each of them even called me the day before to confirm the appointments and confirmed what I was looking for!!

The benefit of doing this was that I knew when I walked in that I wouldn''t have to play the waiting game as they ran across town trying to find me a stone that was sub-par to what I was looking for. They knew I was serious and that I would buy the right stone if it was what I was looking for...

When I got there....I wasn''t disappointed. I even found MY perfect stone and bought it that day!! I don''t think I could''ve done that if I had just walked into the District and asked any vendor off the street!

 

[Ann]

If 3 different vendors were calling in stones for me to see, would that be a problem?

 

[AChiOAlumna]

Date: 6/5/2005 11:27:52 AM
Author: Ann
If 3 different vendors were calling in stones for me to see, would that be a problem?

I don''t think so....the more diamonds they can get in your preferred paramenters, the more you have to choose from!!!

 

[belle]

it would be a good idea to meet with the vendors before you have stones called in, that way you can determine ahead of time who you are most comfortable working with. i think it would be unfair to have 3 vendors working to bring in stones when you will only be buying from one of them.

 

[icekid]

yeah, i don''t know that you can ask three vendors to call in stones for you, given the size you''re looking for. they would likely all be coming up with the same stones. i don''t know how that will work out.

as belle suggested, maybe you should start talking with a few on the phone and then decide which you would prefer to work with.

 

[solange]

I contacted several Pricescope vendors by phone before I bought my stone. l had a few send me reports on stones. I then selected one vendor (Whiteflash) that I chose to work with.

The stone I wanted was hard to find and I told Lesley that I was going to work with her and wait until she found something for me although I continued to look at the stones on the web and on sites from various vendors. I even inquired about listed stones at higher prices and she told me they were not for me.

I waited a while and she came up with the perfect stone at a great price. I think there is more of an incentive for a vendor to spend the time searching for a stone for you if they feel there is a good chance of making a sale. They do get many inquiries, many of which are not serious.

Also, if you are dealing with three vendors and you have something very specific in mind, they may all be calling in the same stones.

You do have the advantage of buying a diamond from a Pricescope vendor in the Diamond District in that you can see exactly what you are getting.

In my case, I live in Manhattan and I had Whiteflash send it to an appraiser where iIcould see it before I paid.

If you have no one else in mind, I found Jason Kroll(listed under appraisers} to be excellent and very knowledgable and patient. Several people on Pricesc ope have written to say they were very happy with him. Best of luck.

 

[WinkHPD]

I too would urge you to only work with one vendor to bring in stones. Depending on where we are and the value of the stones it can cost between 0 - $50 or more per stone. If they are all in the NYC area and you want to use more than one then please be courteous enough to let them know that so that they restrict themselves to pulling in stones from the NYC area where they will not have postage and insurance costs. (Or perhaps they will have them in inventory so that they have NO additional costs.)

It does cost us vendors a lot more than most of you would think to bring in stones which we does as part of the business, but to knowingly cost three people money when you only intend to do business with one is not really fair. Most of your "looking" can be done with telephony and email communications with little to no expense, then you can have the vendor bring in the final selection. If they are not satisfactory then you may/should move on to the next vendor.

Just my opinions as a Vendor...

Wink

 

[Ann]

Thank you all. I know that I had read somewhere that if a person had several dealers working to find 1 stone it would cause problems.

Wink, thank you for your professional insight on this. I knew it cost $ to get those stones in.

Just a little story to share along with this discussion. Last summer I asked a local jeweler who was the only rep in my area, for a certain branded diamond to pull some stones in for me. We had several phone conversations - I detailed exactly what I was looking for. To my surprise when I went in to see the stones - he only brought in 1 from the company of whose diamond I wanted to see, and the rest (6) where pure crap! (sorry) Enhanced stones - filled, you name it! I was so disappointed. He tried so hard to sell me the garbage he was describing as heavenly bling. After I declined (very nicely), he asked me to refund his cost of getting the branded stone in! Of course, I didn''t. But if I asked a jeweler to bring in numerous stones to view, you bet I''d help out on the cost!

 

[WinkHPD]

Your actions were entirely correct in my opinion. I expect to pay to bring in a stone when necessary and you came in to give him the opportunity to do business, that is totally fair and it is an expected business expense. For him not to have what you asked for was entirely his fault, and his costs are his reward for doing such a poor job.

Wink