If I buy a loose diamond, would it be appraised for more?

[cali6869]

I remember buying a diamond ring from costco... and they always guarantee that their diamonds will appraised for atleast double... if not they will refund your money plus 100 for the inconvinience.

Now if I buy a loose diamond from one of the vendors here, will my stone appraise for more? Because I dont know if I want to buy a stone that will appraise for the same as cost.
Wouldnt it better to buy a ring at costco that would appraise for double?

 

[oldminer]

Your question is regrettably naive. People fall victim to the concept that an appraisal that is "high" means the value of what they purchased is better than reality. Truthfully, very little is sold for more than people would pay. What most people actually pay relates to a correct appraisal value.
What people hope for is that they bought the unheard of "bargain" that no one else found before them. While we use mark-ups in our appraising that relate to B&M store transactions, you'll find prices for diamonds on the Internet very nearly at the bottom end of possible pricing. Nearly every independent appraisal of such diamonds will be far higher.

Does the amount of the appraisal change the diamond in any way? No. Does the high appraisal make most consumers feel good. Yes. Do vendors and consumers all want to feel good. Yes again. Is anyone hurt by feeling good. No. Is it a little foolish? Yes.

In the end, the public must be pleased and vendors must make sales to make a living. When everyone is happy, then things seem to work out fine. If all appraising was at the bottom level of possible transaction prices there would be an endless flow of unhappy people. People who paid a little or a lot more than the minimum possible.

I hope you see the point of all this. We can easily predict actual transaction prices, but few people really want that. They want the feel good experience. I sometimes like to be made to feel good, too. Its more a human nature thing than anything tangible.......