5% PS discount

[Phoenix]

Do you know if ERD, Icestore and James Allen (all of who, I think, advertise on PS) offer the 5% discount?

Thanks.

 

[Regular Guy]

Though discounts come in all shapes & sizes, ACAs may get that specific figure alone.

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

the JA discount is not given in % but by looking at a few and discussing it with them it generally runs about 3.5% off the bat WITHOUT a money wire transfer. Then they offer an additional 1.5% for money wire transfers (I think that was the money wire transfer, I didn''t do it myself because I got 1% cash back and 20k Bonus miles with my credit card

) but On asking them you could probably get them to raise it to 4-5% or so without any money wire transfer at all. That of course would depend on that particular stone and exactly what their profit margins are on it specifically.

I don''t know about the others.

 

[Phoenix]

Thanks for your replies, Regular Guy and WHFSR.

That''s great to know that abt James Allen, WHFSR. I was given different answers by different people and am currently waiting for their final answer. The stone I am looking at is this:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-896789.asp

 

[Ellen]

Date: 8/1/2007 9:40:23 AM
Author: lienTN
Thanks for your replies, Regular Guy and WHFSR.

That''s great to know that abt James Allen, WHFSR. I was given different answers by different people and am currently waiting for their final answer. The stone I am looking at is this:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-896789.asp

Holy moly Lien.

I take it you''re getting an IS on that?

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 8/1/2007 9:53:29 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 8/1/2007 9:40:23 AM
Author: lienTN
Thanks for your replies, Regular Guy and WHFSR.

That''s great to know that abt James Allen, WHFSR. I was given different answers by different people and am currently waiting for their final answer. The stone I am looking at is this:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-896789.asp

Holy moly Lien.

I take it you''re getting an IS on that?

Yes, I''ve requested it from JA and am awaiting that infor, amongst others.

 

[lauralu]

This is what I was told yesterday by Dave taylor on a diamond I am considering at James Allen. The online price is 5650


"This is an awesome SI2. 100% eye clean. We can sell this diamond to you at the Pricescope price of $5,500. The only magnified image we offer is already on the website. An additional photo we offer is an Idealscope (which you can use to evaluate light return) at a cost of $30.00 per diamond.
James Allen has a 30-day money back guarantee if you are dissatisfied with this diamond after purchase."

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 8/1/2007 10:12:47 AM
Author: lauralu

''This is an awesome SI2. 100% eye clean. We can sell this diamond to you at the Pricescope price of $5,500. The only magnified image we offer is already on the website. An additional photo we offer is an Idealscope (which you can use to evaluate light return) at a cost of $30.00 per diamond.
James Allen has a 30-day money back guarantee if you are dissatisfied with this diamond after purchase.''

Seriously? James Allen is *charging* for IS images now?

I reallly hope that''s not the case.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 8/1/2007 10:21:32 AM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 8/1/2007 10:12:47 AM
Author: lauralu

'This is an awesome SI2. 100% eye clean. We can sell this diamond to you at the Pricescope price of $5,500. The only magnified image we offer is already on the website. An additional photo we offer is an Idealscope (which you can use to evaluate light return) at a cost of $30.00 per diamond.
James Allen has a 30-day money back guarantee if you are dissatisfied with this diamond after purchase.'

Seriously? James Allen is *charging* for IS images now?

I reallly hope that's not the case.

They didn't tell me that, so am assuming there will be no charge for the IS image or additional infor. After all, all this infor is to enable the consumer to make their decision.

 

[chrono]

I''m thinking the stone is probably a virtual database stone, so the charge is the shipping to bring in the stone from the broker to take IS pictures. If you like the IS and purchase the stone, JA may not charge you for the shipping since JA is not incurring any cost to ship the stone back to the broker. Please clarify this with JA.

 

[Stone Hunter]

WOW that''s some diamond. That didn''t fit into the photo window on the JA site. I''m looking forward to more photos of this one!

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 8/1/2007 10:28:35 AM
Author: lienTN

Date: 8/1/2007 10:21:32 AM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 8/1/2007 10:12:47 AM
Author: lauralu

''This is an awesome SI2. 100% eye clean. We can sell this diamond to you at the Pricescope price of $5,500. The only magnified image we offer is already on the website. An additional photo we offer is an Idealscope (which you can use to evaluate light return) at a cost of $30.00 per diamond.
James Allen has a 30-day money back guarantee if you are dissatisfied with this diamond after purchase.''

Seriously? James Allen is *charging* for IS images now?

I reallly hope that''s not the case.

They didn''t tell me that, so am assuming there will be no charge for the IS image or additional infor. After all, all this infor is to enable the consumer to make their decision.

I wonder, then, if the diamond Lauralu is considering is a brokered stone?

I can understand charging when it comes to brokered stones; in those cases, a vendor has to bring in the stone before they can make those images, and that involves shipping costs. Totally get that.

Lauralu, was the stone you were considering represented as an in-house stone?

 

[Phoenix]

I am also looking at this and have asked for additional infor:

http://www.icestore.com/search/certified_diamond_detail.asp?ID=11354

Unfortunately, I don''t think Icestore offers any PS discount, which is surprsing given it''s advertised on PS. To be honest, I wouldn''t know the existence of these vendors if it weren''t for PS. Does anyone know anything different?

 

[Phoenix]

Wow, I just had an email from a SA at JA who denied what had been said to me by her colleague who had previously said that they would "honour" the 5% discount when I had asked him specifically about the "5% PS discount".

Well, JA will for sure NOT get any business from me, EVER!

I'd like to also add that I don't care for her tone, very unprofessional and rather aggressive.

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

wow. Well now, I understand if you were miss-treated you would feel that way. However, it is possible that they are already making a VERY small percentage profit on the diamond already, I believe I read that on average online stores make something like 9% profit on the price of the stone itself? Not sure about that, I am probably wrong, but I understand it to be very small on the actual price of the diamond pre business expenses. I also believe there was a recent thread on how small diamonds actually yield larger % profits than very large ones which would mean that online large diamonds yeild VERY small % profits. I was also told by the head gemologist at JA during my shopping that they DO NOT do % pricescope discounts, but set actual numerical values per diamond, which in the diamonds I have checked out for myself and other people (ranging from 2-15k) it is generally about 3.5-5%, but when you are talking about a 90k purchase 5% is a massive monetary discount...especially, like I said, when % profits are already VERY low.

So it may well be that it would be totally ridiculous for them to take 5% off of the price on that particular stone, which I def would have thought about myself if I had realized the quality diamond you were looking at! congratulations by the way! Also, if you spoke with someone who said that they would honor that 5% discount and that person didn't realize what the actual profit margins were for that diamond for one reason or another, then you can imagine the panic and yelling that would occur when the mistake was realized and that a number of people would be very upset, angry, and in trouble.

I think its worth finding out more information anyway and not just giving up on it all together.


As to the IS images they offer Ideal-scope images on their in-stock hearts and arrow diamonds. Other than that they would treat it just like anyone else, WF included.

 

[YoungPapa]

lienTN,

Thank you for sending me an email and making me aware of this thread. I want to apologize for any miscommunication that may have taken place and very briefly clarify our Pricescope discount program.

We value the members of the Pricescope community and extend to them the best possible price that we can for all of the diamonds listed on our website. This discount is not a flat percentage off the cost, but is rather a percentage of our profit. While it does "average" out to around 5% for many diamonds, it is actually much smaller for diamonds of high value.

Regardless, this does not change what may have been stated to you over the phone by one of our sales representatives. If you were told that the discount was 5%, I apologize for the erroneous information and will have a sales meeting *immediately* to prevent this from happening again. I will also contact you personally, offline, to see if there is any chance to iron out this issue.

I hope this information is helpful in a general sense to the community as well, and appreciate (as always) Pricescope and its members.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 8/1/2007 11:12:34 AM
Author: WorkingHardforSmallRewards
wow. Well now, I understand if you were miss-treated you would feel that way. However, it is possible that they are already making a VERY small percentage profit on the diamond already, I believe I read that on average online stores make something like 9% profit on the price of the stone itself? Not sure about that, I am probably wrong, but I understand it to be very small on the actual price of the diamond pre business expenses. I also believe there was a recent thread on how small diamonds actually yield larger % profits than very large ones which would mean that online large diamonds yeild VERY small % profits. I was also told by the head gemologist at JA during my shopping that they DO NOT do % pricescope discounts, but set quantities, which in the diamonds I have checked out for myself and other people (ranging from 2-15k) it is generally about 3.5%, but when you are talking about a 90k purchase 5% is a massive discount...especially, like I said, when % profits are already VERY low.

So it may well be that it would be totally ridiculous for them to take 5% off of the price on that particular stone, which I def would have thought about myself if I had realized the quality diamond you were looking at! congratulations by the way! Also, if you spoke with someone who said that they would honor that 5% discount and that person didn't realize what the actual profit margins were for that diamond for one reason or another, then you can imagine the panic and yelling that would occur when the mistake was realized and that a number of people would be very upset, angry, and in trouble.

I think its worth finding out more information anyway and not just giving up on it all together.


As to the IS images they offer Ideal-scope images on their in-stock hearts and arrow diamonds. Other than that they would treat it just like anyone else, WF included.

Thanks for yr reply.

It'd have been ok if 5% eats into their profit margin substantially and if they had either 1) NOT made that promise to me in the first place (which they did and it was essentially a verbal contract, which I understand is enforceable) or 2) admit that someone had made a mistake and apologise and offer to appease me in some way. I'd have been happy to accept no 2 (I don't think I am an unreasonable person).

Neither of those happened. Someone -let's call him Mr B - did actually tell me yesterday during a telephone conversation that they (JA) would honour the 5% PS discount when I mentioned the exact stone I was looking at (admitedly, this person was a different person from the one - let's call him Mr A - who received my initial email with the written details of the stone) but I did tell Mr B what stone I was looking at and I did mention to Mr B the "5% PS discount" - my exact words. A third person - a Ms C - emailed me today to say she was following up to Mr A's initial response to my initial email and said that there was no 5% PS discount. Upon further enquiry from me, which included my telling her about my telephone conversation with Mr B and the exact words that had been said by me to Mr B and vice versa, Ms C proceeded to say that she'd " overheard your conversation with [Mr B] yesterday and his words were that we would honor the Pricescope price listed not 5% discount". So essentially, not only did they go backc on their word, she also called me a liar!

I have neither the time nor patience to deal with people like this.

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

also, on reading my post in conjunction with James Allen''s I have to say that it almost looked like I am advertising for them

NOT THE CASE. just a satisfied customer that asks A LOT of questions when making a purchase. Though now that I see the quality stone you are getting I almost feel silly to have offered up any words at all

worlds away from me I am afraid!

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 8/1/2007 11:37:08 AM
Author: WorkingHardforSmallRewards
also, on reading my post in conjunction with James Allen''s I have to say that it almost looked like I am advertising for them

NOT THE CASE. just a satisfied customer that asks A LOT of questions when making a purchase. Though now that I see the quality stone you are getting I almost feel silly to have offered up any words at all

worlds away from me I am afraid!

Not at all!

I never thought you were doing anything of the sort! No worries

. Thanks for yr response. I always appreciate feedback.

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

Ah well, lots of other beautiful stones. I think somebody is in trouble though

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 8/1/2007 11:39:02 AM
Author: WorkingHardforSmallRewards
Ah well, lots of other beautiful stones. I think somebody is in trouble though

Eh, yeah. I can see the discount being miscommunicated by a sales associate simply because it''s probably rather uncommon that a diamond in that price range is inquired about.

 

[luckystar112]

Lien, I hope you don''t let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch.

I''m sure that woman is going to get a stern talking to, especially since she potentially lost such a large purchase for the company. I hope that James Shultz will make it right, and I hope you keep them in the running.

I think it''s kind of funny how the discount gets smaller the bigger the purchase. Seems like it would be the other way around, right? lol. But I can see why they do that.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 8/1/2007 11:48:38 AM
Author: MC

Date: 8/1/2007 11:39:02 AM

Author: WorkingHardforSmallRewards

Ah well, lots of other beautiful stones. I think somebody is in trouble though

Eh, yeah. I can see the discount being miscommunicated by a sales associate simply because it''s probably rather uncommon that a diamond in that price range is inquired about.

I agree. I''m sorry lien for the misinformation and that you were treated disrespectfuly. I''m sure JA will handle what they need to in house. I do think though that to expect a 5% discount on a stone that is already hugely discounted compared to what you''d pay at a B&M or a high end store like Tiffany''s is a little unfair to them too. From frequent searches here JA stones are very competitively priced in the online world without any discount at all. I do hope that you can find the right vendor and the right stone for the right price

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 8/1/2007 11:50:14 AM
Author: luckystar112

I think it''s kind of funny how the discount gets smaller the bigger the purchase. Seems like it would be the other way around, right? lol. But I can see why they do that.

Smaller stones have bigger markups, they have to to cover the costs to stock and to deliver them. Larger stones have smaller percentage markups.

Just for a talking point, let''s assume a 10% markup on a 900 stone. $90. Not a lot of margin to pay a salesperson and shipping costs, let alone the time and expense to take photos etc. It will probably get marked up at least 15% or even 20 depending on the vendor, and up to 500% in a credit jeweler. (You know the kind, if you can crawl to the counter and put down 35% and are still breathing you get instant credit at 21% per year, every town has them and college kids are their most common prey.)

Now a 10% markup on a 100,000 stone is $10,000. In today''s internet world that is probably about 5% more than you are going to get, so if you put such a stone up with a $5,000 profit and someone wants a 5% discount, you have a problem. Hense the smaller discounts on the larger pieces.

(legal disclaimer) These are just potential examples and do not represent actual figures of anyone that I know, they are not industry guidelines, they are not meant as a statement of anything other than an explaination of why discounts on larger pieces are smaller percentage discounts. They have normally a smaller percentage markup, leaving less room for discounting.

Wink

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 8/2/2007 12:30:21 PM
Author: Wink

Date: 8/1/2007 11:50:14 AM
Author: luckystar112

I think it''s kind of funny how the discount gets smaller the bigger the purchase. Seems like it would be the other way around, right? lol. But I can see why they do that.

Smaller stones have bigger markups, they have to to cover the costs to stock and to deliver them. Larger stones have smaller percentage markups.

Just for a talking point, let''s assume a 10% markup on a 900 stone. $90. Not a lot of margin to pay a salesperson and shipping costs, let alone the time and expense to take photos etc. It will probably get marked up at least 15% or even 20 depending on the vendor, and up to 500% in a credit jeweler. (You know the kind, if you can crawl to the counter and put down 35% and are still breathing you get instant credit at 21% per year, every town has them and college kids are their most common prey.)

Now a 10% markup on a 100,000 stone is $10,000. In today''s internet world that is probably about 5% more than you are going to get, so if you put such a stone up with a $5,000 profit and someone wants a 5% discount, you have a problem. Hense the smaller discounts on the larger pieces.

(legal disclaimer) These are just potential examples and do not represent actual figures of anyone that I know, they are not industry guidelines, they are not meant as a statement of anything other than an explaination of why discounts on larger pieces are smaller percentage discounts. They have normally a smaller percentage markup, leaving less room for discounting.

Wink

Simple solution the vendor gives everyone their best price and luvs all clients not just ones from one board.
classism sux