Advice for selling?

[boxersbabe]

You all have helped me with advice regarding the painful decision I had to make to sell my ring. I am now just selling the center stone and Wink is sending me a close replica (great advice!!) so I''ll still be able to enjoy wearing it. I also met with Ms. Larson, the Independent Appraiser that one of you suggested. Thank you, she was wonderful!
Now comes the selling. Can anyone suggest where to go in the Phoenix area to sell this stone and how to go about it?
From investigating online here and many other sites (and Ms. Larson''s opinion), low wholesale is about $6200+ per carat. I stopped at a local jewelry store (they buy also) and asked the jeweler if he would make an offer. He looked at it for some time, told me what he thought the color and clarity were, and then offered $4400. I was horrified and left rather quickly.
This is a 2.15 Oval. Am I crazy to think I can get more for this stone or is this a fair offer for 2.15 G SI1? I got the impression that I would be offered about 30% down from wholesale or Rapaport. Worse case scenerio, and I''d have willingly negotiated @ $10K. But $4400? Please tell me that this was one of those people that want to take advantage and I''ll keep my chin up and keep trying. Otherwise...
Any advise would be welcome. It''s a scary world out there for us newbies!

 

[boxersbabe]

No advice? I'm disappointed. I really need to know how to sell this diamond and am afraid to keep walking around with it. I don't want to advertise in the paper; so is an auction house a good idea? Jewelry store? Are there brokers I could deal with in this area? I can't wait for consignment. And what price do I put on it? I have all the details...can someone here please help?

 

[alexah]

Use the PS search engine & type in "how to sell" - it will give you a lot of feedback from others who've posted similar queries to yours. Good luck

 

[boxersbabe]

Thank you Alexah. I read through some of the selling info. I'd like to get more specific advice for the Phoenix area if anyone has information.
Regarding the stone price...if someone could guesstimate a price I could expect, it would be deeply appreciated. The Measurements etc. are as follows:
Oval Brilliant-Cut
Diam: 8.97 x 6.80
Depth: 5.04
Weight: 2.15 (Carats)
Depth %: 74%
Table of Diam.: 55.9%
Girdle: Med. to V. Thick, Faceted
Cutlet: None, Med. Keel Line
Symmetry: Good
Polish: Good
Enhancements: None
Ultraviolet Fluorescence: None
Color: G
Clarity: SI1
Can someone give me an idea as to what I could expect to be offered?
Thanks.

 

[WinkHPD]

I will not get into the price issue with you, I have only a few minutes and do not wish to spend them checking on prices, so let's assume that your numbers are correct as given to you by others. Here is how I would do it at my office, and it is my suggestion to you.

If you brought me a stone and I did not particularly want it, I would offer you one half of the wholesale price, in this case, assuming your numbers are correct about the low wholesale price of $6.200 per carat I would offer $3,100 per carat. (Assuming that I wanted it at all or I would offer very much less or nothing)

However, if you are not in a hurry and I do not have to invest my money I would then suggest to you that I would pay you the $6,200 per carat at the time of sale if you left the stone on consignment with me.

You must understand that the oval is not a popular shape at this time and it may take a lone time to sell it at a fair price, but that is no reason for you to give it away at an unreasonable price unless you are truly desperate.

Also, please understand that I am not offering to buy your stone at the price above as I have not sold an oval from my office in about three years, so it would fall into the category of stones that I would not make an offer on, nor could I recommend that you leave it with me on consignment since it is not something that I sell very often.

I would suggest that you talk with some of the upper end stores and tell them that you are willing to give them LONG TERM MEMO on your stone at a very favorable price. You might even sweeten the pot a little by offering them the stone at something a little below fair low wholesale, say $5,800 a carat or so. Someone in your area will be smart enough to know a good deal when they see it.

Wink

 

[pearcrazy]

As Wink stated above, he didn't want to get into numbers for the wholesale price of your diamond. I did plug your stats into the vendors database to see about what they were charging retail for a similar stone G SI1. Their prices were around $5300 per carat. That is their retail, meaning there is probably at least 8-20% markup. The deepest cut stone that came up was around 71% on Pricescope. Your stone is 74% and graded as a class 4B, which could drive the price even lower than $5300 carat. Since your diamond is deeper than average it probably looks smaller than 2.15 as most of the 2 carat ovals are over 9mm in length.

Before anyone jumps on me, I am no expert, I only made my deductions on the numbers that came up on the search. I realize that her diamond may be absolutely gorgeous, sparkly and full of fire. Does the diamond have a certificate from one of the grading laboratories? That would give me more confidence as a prospective buyer. I know that time is of the essence to you in selling the diamond. If you had the luxury of time, you could probably do better in a consignment shop.

Best of luck to you, I hope that you can get a substantial offer on the diamond.

 

[boxersbabe]

Thank you Wink! I appreciate your input...and look forward to getting the oval you are sending me! If I understand correctly, I could expect about half of wholesale give or take. That is better than the $4400 offered from that jeweler. Could I assume that # would be negotiable if a jeweler wanted it or even had a buyer/customer in mind?

 

[boxersbabe]

Thank you for offering information. The stone does look 2+ carats, as it is wide too. It is rated 3B. I talked to Wink about the depth and agree that it is above average (which may, as you pointed out, lessen its value). At $5300 x 2.15 carats, it comes to $11395. So if I understand correctly, I could be offered 30-50% less.
Ouch...

 

[eyesoftexas]

I have used www.selljewelry.com and they were legit. Prices they offered seemed fair but obviously not ideal since they need to make a profit as well. Signedpieces.com will buy designer label stuff if you have as well (just FYI).

 

[pearcrazy]

Please forgive me. I wasn't implying that the final grade of the diamond is 4B just the grade for depth. All factors are plugged in to determine the final grade. So final grade 3A is much better. If you consider a conservative 10% markup by pricescope vendors then $5300-530= $4700 per carat would be closer to a vendor's wholesale price that Wink was saying a jeweler might use to calculate price for you. Then you're talking $10105. At 30- 50% below that--- OUCH is right!! Still, 50% of that is $5052- more than the estimate given by your local jeweler.

As far as size, I found two diamonds that were graded premium or ideal by the PS vendors. One measured 9.7 by 6.7 and equalled 1.77 carats. The other measured 8.99 by 6.92 and was 1.86 carats. A premium to ideal cut 2.12 carat stone on PS was measuring 10.14x 7.19 All 3 had depths below 64%. That's why I said that your oval seemed like if was facing up smaller than its actual weight because of the larger depth.

There are lots of online companies that claim to pay top dollar for diamonds like E of T suggested. Perhaps you could contact a few of them to see if they can do better than your local jeweler. You can at least get some averages that are being paid for stones like yours if you sell outright rather than consign.

 

[researcher]

Have you considered an auction (online or other)? You can always place a minimum bid price and keep your fingers crossed that it goes higher....

 

[boxersbabe]

Pearcrazy, no offense taken! It's not you, it's me, and all these odd terms! I had no idea what 99% of the words I read used for diamond descriptions before finding this site... (And still don't understand them!)
Thank you, as well as E of T, Wink, and Researcher. I was out today and went to many places. Finally got a nice offer that I feel is one I can live with. After checking with a few more places on Monday (unless a miracle occurs!), I will go back and accept their offer. Thank you one and all for your help; I couldn't have done this without your help!
Kathryn

 

[WinkHPD]

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On 6/12/2004 11:15:28 AM boxersbabe wrote:

Thank you Wink! I appreciate your input...and look forward to getting the oval you are sending me! If I understand correctly, I could expect about half of wholesale give or take. That is better than the $4400 offered from that jeweler. Could I assume that # would be negotiable if a jeweler wanted it or even had a buyer/customer in mind?----------------

Sure, that is what consignment is all about. If he wants to put his cash on the line the price will be lower, if he only pays when he sells then he should pay you the same or close to the same he would pay any other supplier. You will have to bear the cost of a new GIA or AGS cert on the stone if he takes it on consignment, I usually let that be payable upon sale of the stone or upon you taking possession of the stone after I have tried to sell it.

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

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On 6/12/2004 6:41:28 PM boxersbabe wrote:

I was out today and went to many places. Finally got a nice offer that I feel is one I can live with. After checking with a few more places on Monday (unless a miracle occurs!), I will go back and accept their offer. Thank you one and all for your help; I couldn't have done this without your help!
Kathryn ----------------

Persistance often prevails! Good job.

Wink

 

[researcher]

Glad you found something you can live with It's got to be tough parting with your diamond, and worse when you aren't feeling you're being treated fairly in the purchase of it. So, I'm happy that you've found someone who will make an offer that sounds, if not great, fair