Greetings! Question regarding a diamond

[DREW0120]

I have a 4.4c round cut S1 clarity color H. I've done research and I see it's going for 90k. Diamond traders are offering me between the range of 45-50K. Can I get more or has my research lacked information on a price reduction? Thank you all.

 

[distracts]

You are not a retailer, you will not be able to sell your diamond for retail prices. Half of retail is about right for a secondhand diamond from a non-retail seller being sold to a diamond trader.

 

[denverappraiser]

Obviously diamond traders are trying to make a buck here, and your objective is to try and keep that down to a minimum. That’s ok, that’s how the world works. It's very difficult to sell things in this price range without a pro involved and it's good to keep in check how much money you're leaving on the table. Zero is not usually a choice unless you're a diamond dealer yourself, and probably not even then. How hard that’s going to be depends a bit on the details. I have a few questions:

1) What’s your source of the 4.4ct SI1 H data? Do you know anything else about it? There's quite a bit more that will be important.
2) What are your terms and conditions? In particular, are you being offered a consignment deal, a cash purchase or some sort of trade in?
3) What’s your source for the comparable items you’re using at $90k?
4) How did you find these potential buyers who have made offers?
5) Where are you? (what country).
6) Is the speed of the sale an important issue?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

A lot will depend on your answers to Neil's questions, but I recently sold a diamond on consignment and definitely did better than 50%. How well cut the diamond is will be an important factor. It might even be able to have the cut improved if it is not excellent. Good Old Gold in NY is the vendor who sold my stone, and they have an online presence as well as a store. I would suggest speaking to Jonathan Weingarten there if you are in the US.

 

[denverappraiser]

There are 82 retail offers in the database here for stones claiming SI1 H round in the size range from 4.00-4.50.
Asking prices range from $26k-$87k.

Tiny details make BIG differences in this business.

 

[DREW0120]

denverappraiser The diamond is from an authorized dealer oversea's affiliated with the u.s military called "Aafes". They're pretty adamant about what they sell and if it's authentic, so I'm sure that what I have comes from solid resources. I honestly don't have any terms or conditions, I just want to see what it'll go for, and if the profits is substantial, I would like to purchase more of it. I'm also not asking for retail price, but I just want the trade to be fair, whereas if I had went to another appraiser, I could've received 10k more, you know? Yes, I am in the U.S. And the speed of the sale really isn't an important issue, as I said, I'm more curious to know what I can get it for.

Should I go to GIA for certification?
would they appraise it along with a certificate?
does it matter if it's certified or not? I'm sure some people would prefer to have it certified by another company.

 

[mandasand]

denverappraiser The diamond is from an authorized dealer oversea's affiliated with the u.s military called "Aafes". They're pretty adamant about what they sell and if it's authentic, so I'm sure that what I have comes from solid resources. I honestly don't have any terms or conditions, I just want to see what it'll go for, and if the profits is substantial, I would like to purchase more of it. I'm also not asking for retail price, but I just want the trade to be fair, whereas if I had went to another appraiser, I could've received 10k more, you know? Yes, I am in the U.S. And the speed of the sale really isn't an important issue, as I said, I'm more curious to know what I can get it for.

Should I go to GIA for certification?
would they appraise it along with a certificate?
does it matter if it's certified or not? I'm sure some people would prefer to have it certified by another company.

I'm confused....are you looking to buy the diamond through The Exchange for $90k...I wouldn't buy any jewelery from the BX. That's just my opinion. You'll get a better deal buying from an online retailer that specializes in diamonds, not the military department store.

 

[denverappraiser]

I"m confused too. Are you buying this or selling it? The PX is a reasonable enough outfit but they're not particularly inexpensive and they have no secret sources that aren't available to anyone else. They didn't grade it, and we still have no clue who did.

Resale prices are driven by 3 primary ingredients.

What it is.
Your skills at finding buyers and cementing deals.
Luck.

I don't know any of these for your situation so I can't really advise you beyond serious generalities.

If it's not graded by GIA already, and you are hoping to sell it to a buyer with sense, yes you should get GIA grading although a visit to a competent appraiser first likely would be a worthwhile education. If you bought it from AAFEX, you can probably get maximum money by asking for a refund from them. I think they're fairly cooperative, especially if this was a relatively recent deal. The chances that you can buy stones from them and sell them elsewhere at a profit is extremely unlikely and the task at hand is how to minimize your losses. Their competitive advantage as a merchant, to the extent that they have one, is that they are exempt from import taxes. In the case of diamonds, taxes in the US are zero anyway.

So far, $50k seems pretty reasonable. Generous even. Especially for a stone that doesn't have any pedigree, has seriously abbreviated data, and is being sold on the secondary market, but it's going to depend on your own selling talents and the actual details as mentioned above. Most sellers, and most stones with that description would not do that well. I'm guessing there's more to this story. Did you actually get a cash offer for this from someone who has actually seen the stone?