Advice on selling engagement ring

[khouri86]

Hi, So I have a 4-5 carat engagement ring in my possession that has a major inclusion in the middle of it according to family jeweler. I would like to sell it for cash since I would never give it to my significant other. Way too big and I am going to give her a much nicer rock of exceptional quality. I live in Philly and was wondering how much I could get for it and how best to go about selling it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[chrono]

It depends on the colour and clarity grading. In general, diamonds in the secondary market priced are around 30 - 40% of a comparable brand new diamond if one is selling. You can ask your jeweller if he/she is willing to consign it on your behalf or accept it as trade credit towards the new diamond.

 

[denverappraiser]

Seek out a competent appraisal. You need to know what you have in order to design a sensible marketing plan. How much you can get for it depends on 4 basic variables.

1) What you have. Tiny details make a huge difference in this business both in terms of what you can get and what the best avenue is for selling.
2) Your skills at selling things.
3) Work, either by you or someone else (or both).
4) Luck.

None of those can be answered easily and without a fair amount more information. Professional assistance would be very helpful. There's a list of appraisers under the resources tab at the top of the page.

 

[proto]

that is a huge stone.

I'd get it appraised and then send it to GOG to sell on consignment.

I am not an appraiser.

 

[khouri86]

Had the stone looked at today. It is J color, I1, 5+ carats. The jeweler said he would consider buying it outright for 20-25k, but consignment could get up to 30-35k. Is this accurate?

 

[chrono]

Does that figure include the consignment fee, which is typically percentage based?

 

[danielxlin]

Had the stone looked at today. It is J color, I1, 5+ carats. The jeweler said he would consider buying it outright for 20-25k, but consignment could get up to 30-35k. Is this accurate?

I think you're getting lowballed. 5 carats is huge. A 5.0+ carat J, I1 might retail for $60K if its cut well.

If it's not cut well let's say consignment for $50K, after a 10% consignment fee (Jewels by Grace fee for jewelry worth 15k or more), that still nets $45K.

It's a lot of money to make a mistake. Pay for an independent appraiser. That $200 fee could save you thousands (what if it's not an I1?). Or send it to a reputable place like Jewels by Grace for a free evaluation and consideration for consignment.

http://www.jewelsbygrace.com/consignments

 

[chrono]

I think you're getting lowballed. 5 carats is huge. A 5.0+ carat J, I1 might retail for $60K if its cut well.

I've noticed that diamonds have 2 prices, the selling and buying price. As a private seller in the secondary market, expecting a full retail price or even anything close to it is impossible. One can usually expect to recoup around 30 to 40% of the current selling price so I think $30K sounds reasonable. JbG's consignment fee is 15%, which is at least $4K for a $30K diamond.

 

[danielxlin]

I think you're getting lowballed. 5 carats is huge. A 5.0+ carat J, I1 might retail for $60K if its cut well.

As a private seller in the secondary market, expecting a full retail price or even anything close to it is impossible. One can usually expect to recoup around 30 to 40% of the current selling price so I think $30K sounds reasonable. JbG's consignment fee is 15%, which is at least $4K for a $30K diamond.

Let's get the facts in order. From JbG's website: "Sale price up to $15,001 and up - 10% of the sale price." Consignment fee is 10% in that price range.

 

[danielxlin]

Also when you list with a dealer like Good Old Gold your consignment is priced closer to retail. Check out their website. http://www.goodoldgold.com/ecommerce/jewelry/steals-and-deals.html

GOG has a 3.2 carat platinum eternity ring on consignment for $9375. Maybe not quite full retail, but it's surely not cheap.

If you're listing by yourself (on DiamondBistro or Ebay) then you should expect to get the 30% to 40% of retail, because you haven't been vetted.

 

[chrono]

I'm confused. This is taken directly from the link you shared:
http://www.jewelsbygrace.com/consignments
We advise people that in some cases, unless your jewelry has a fair market value of at least $3,000, it may make more financial sense to try to sell your goods yourself as a first step. Our minimum consignment fee is $375 or 15% (up to $9999) so you need to ask yourself if this service is worth it.

 

[danielxlin]

Not confusing at all. That's for jewelry up to $9999. For more expensive jewelry the consignment fee is lower (12% or 10%).

 

[chrono]

Not confusing at all. That's for jewelry up to $9999. For more expensive jewelry the consignment fee is lower (12% or 10%).

So wouldn't the 15% apply, rather than the 10% you are insisting because no matter what, his diamond is worth at least $10K?

 

[danielxlin]

No, higher sales price leads to lower percentage consignment rate. Which makes sense.

 

[chrono]

No, higher sales price leads to lower percentage consignment rate. Which makes sense.

Duh! I get it now.

 

[khouri86]

so do you people think I can do better than 20-25k?

 

[chrono]

If you need/want the money right away, you can consider his offer (a counter offer never hurts). If you have time on your hands (possibly years), you will get more money through consignment. The market for a 5 carat diamond with those specifications is small. When I consigned my diamond, it took a year to sell even though it was more in demand 1 ct-ish size.

 

[RockyRacoon]

so do you people think I can do better than 20-25k?

If someone is willing to offer you that on the spot, it is worth exploring other options.

If, in the end, that is the best offer, the jeweler who made the offer will still be happy to give you that price.

Seems like a win/win for you.

 

[danielxlin]

I think it's possible to do better. But it will require extra effort, time, and possibly money (getting a proper appraisal). $25K is fair if the diamond is actually a J, I1, and you feel like being done with the matter.

If the dealer is wrong in his evaluation in his favor (if the diamond is actually I color, and SI2, for instance) then he will have stolen a great deal of money from you.

Why play that game? Get the independent appraisal.

 

[VRBeauty]

Don't do a thing until you have an independent appraisal - i.e., get an appraisal from someone who has no financial interest in the outcome. Since you're talking about a fair chunk of change here, the additional money you spend to get an independent assessment will very likely pay off in the long run.

If I had a 5-carat diamond of unknown quality, I'd have it removed from the mounting and send it in to GIA or AGS for certification. Why? Those labs are the most reputable, and their assessments of cut, quality, color etc. are considered the standards against any other assessment will be judges, somewhere down the line. There's also the possibility that the stone could be re-cut to improve its optics or clarity grade, either of which could improve its value even though the re-cut stone would weigh slightly less.

 

[VRBeauty]

If you need/want the money right away, you can consider his offer (a counter offer never hurts). If you have time on your hands (possibly years), you will get more money through consignment. The market for a 5 carat diamond with those specifications is small. When I consigned my diamond, it took a year to sell even though it was more in demand 1 ct-ish size.

Chrono's making a great point - if you're planning on selling this ring to fund a new engagement ring, you might not want to wait for your diamond to sell on consignment. Nonetheless, it would be worth your while to get an accurate assessment of the diamond, whether that takes the form of an independent appraisal or a GIA or AGS certification. And if you're set on selling it right away, at least take it to several jewelers to see what other offers you can get.

 

[danielxlin]

Summing up: Khouri86 has

1) A 1 carat family diamond of relatively high quality

2) A 5 carat family diamond of possibly I1 quality

while his girlfriend wants what many girls want

3) A 1.5 carat diamond ring from Tiffany's

Tough choices!

Edit: I think I'd plop the the 5 carat in a spectacular $10k setting by Steven Kirsch. The GF would learn to love the celebrity size bling.

 

[khouri86]

Hello, So I have gotten the diamond independently appraised as a J-I1 5.13 ct diamond. Wholesale buyers are offering $15,500 for it. Am I getting low balled? I don't want to be taken advantage of here. Where is the best place to sell it? I want to sell it rather soon. Also, one guy told me it was drilled and filled but no one else has, including the appraiser who is legit. Any advice you all can give would really help

 

[denverappraiser]

Hello, So I have gotten the diamond independently appraised as a J-I1 5.13 ct diamond. Wholesale buyers are offering $15,500 for it. Am I getting low balled? I don't want to be taken advantage of here. Where is the best place to sell it? I want to sell it rather soon. Also, one guy told me it was drilled and filled but no one else has, including the appraiser who is legit. Any advice you all can give would really help

Isn't this the very set of questions you asked of your appraiser?

Fracture filling is a big deal but I would ignore the outlier. That's an attempt to lowball. It's not that hard to spot and missing it in a 5 carater would be a major screwup on the part of the appraiser.

 

[khouri86]

Neil, Is the valuation accurate in your professional opinion?

 

[danielxlin]

Neil, Is the valuation accurate in your professional opinion?

You're out of bounds. Neil can't give an accurate appraisal without have your stone in his hands. And he most likely wouldn't give you an appraisal without getting paid.

If your independent appraiser is reputable then why are you questioning his or her judgment?

 

[denverappraiser]

I haven't seen the stone.
I haven't seen the grading or know the first thing about who did it.
I don't know what marketplace you're talking about.
I haven't even seen the report.

The primary purpose of seeking out an appraisal as a seller is to empower you with useful information. It's not to provide an advertisement and if you're selling to wholesale buyers they aren't going to care. This was for YOUR benefit. You went into the appraiser with a set of questions in mind. Things like how to sell it, how to price it, what are the market options, how long do the options take, what do they cost, and so on. That's why you went. Did you ask these questions? Did they even know this is what you wanted?

Comparing bids from potential buyers with some benchmark of what you can expect is a giant piece of the point. You can't know if you should accept an offer enthusiastically or keep on looking without it. The appraiser provided that benchmark. For the reasons above, I can't begin to comment on whether or not their grading and/or conclusions are correct but you hired them, presumably because you counted them as reliable, and they have none of the problems I listed above.

The problem here is that there's a huge difference between a borderline I1/I and a borderline I2/K, as with the difference between an ideal cut MRB vs. a damaged old miner. Tiny details matter.

 

[VRBeauty]

If you want to sell it "rather soon" then your price is going to be determined more by what people are offering than by what it's "worth". Your potential buyers, all of whom are dealers of some sort rather than consumers, are tying up their money on the chance that some consumer will come along and allow them to recoup their investment and make some profit off of the stone. If you consign the stone you may get more money for it, but it could take a long time before the right customer comes along.

So - take it to a lot of dealers, and then take your highest offer. If the appraiser gave you more details about the stone than you provided here you might try Pricescope's "sell your diamond" option. It's possible that potential professional buyers who can't see the stone in person would want an actual GIA or AGS certificate, but that's just conjecture on my part. https://www.pricescope.com/sell-your-diamond Be sure to include all the information the appraiser included in the report in the "comments" box.

 

[khouri86]

Neil, Is the valuation accurate in your professional opinion?

You're out of bounds. Neil can't give an accurate appraisal without have your stone in his hands. And he most likely wouldn't give you an appraisal without getting paid.

I'm out of bounds! You're out of bonds! This whole thread is out of bounds! I will ask whatever I want to whoever I want.

 

[Ella]

Enough everyone, posts have been removed that aren't in the spirit of PS. If you don't have anything constructive to say, stay out.