Guidence needed: upgrade dilemma

[Bron357]

It’s hard (and sad) to lose so much money from buying new tonreselling as pre loved. Unfortunately that’s how it is.
Me, seeing as an upgrade will cost so much when you add in the loss you’ll take selling your oval diamond, I’d consider revamping your existing oval.
You could add a decent size diamond halo and diamond band and that would give you more finger coverage and a “new look” to enjoy.

 

[Weecam]

I don’t know if this will help you but to give you an idea of resale value...I sold a 1.18ct G VS1 Tiffany solitaire ring with all the paperwork on eBay last year for $8700. I had it listed for about 3-4 months....I probably could have been more patient and got closer to $10,000 but I wanted to upgrade and took a loss even though I purchased it preloved. There are so many Tiffany rings on the secondary market so you have to make the price attractive to buyers. Also, G VS1 are desirable specs.
I would definitely put the Tiffany diamond back into it’s original setting if you want to sell it.

Good luck with what you decide.

 

[motownmama]

Reset the Tiffany ring. Ones around that size are on eBay for $10k, of course that doesn’t mean they’ll get that, and there’s the eBay fee.

 

[sledge]

Excellent points, Paul!

Another way to look at and consider the potential ‘loss’ is that the owner/wearer also got X number of years’ enjoyment out of the diamond. I think about it like a car (c’mon @sledge ... help me out here LOL). You buy a brand new car for X amount, and you drive it for a couple years. Then one day you’re itching to get something newer, faster, bigger (or smaller/sportier), etc. Do you expect to sell your ‘used’ car for exactly what you paid for it upon buying it? Of course not. The caveat being that some vehicles do tend to hold their value better than others, and therefore will do better come resale time assuming you’ve maintained it, no wrecks, etc.

I think diamonds are the same in a lot of ways. Buying a diamond that ‘holds its value’ (and taking care of it) is a great idea so that - when it’s time to upgrade - you stand a better chance (note, I didn’t say ‘guarantee’) of getting more return on that transaction (note I’m not calling it an ‘investment’) to go toward the next one. It’s for this reason I wholeheartedly agree with the prosumers on here who encourage new diamond buyers to start ‘small’ if need be for their budget with a great vendor like HPD, WF, etc. who offer outstanding upgrade programs for their buyers for the outstanding quality diamonds they offer. Good luck finding THAT kind of upgrade program with a car dealer!

Sorry for the late response. I wasn't on much over the weekend.

It's funny you called me out on this @the_mother_thing as I frequently see threads like this and always compare it to cars. Of course, I've done quite a bit of buying, selling and swapping too. I stopped counting a few years back but was around the 60+ mark. Keep in mind, these are personal vehicles and I've slowed wwaayyy down. Talk about a good way to piss money away, lol. And that doesn't include all the upgrades, etc.

But I'm the outlier. Most folks won't own that many cars in their entire life. The point remains. If you are buying a new car, you are paying retail price. No matter how strong of a negotiator you are, when you leave that lot, that car takes a significant punch in it's resale value because it's now "used" vs "new". Just the way the world works. The actual loss in value varies from vehicle to vehicle, but some can be pretty significant.

This makes perfect sense actually. When John Doe gets an itch to trade a vehicle, he goes into the local dealer and finds his new obsession. The dealer makes him an offer for his current ride, and no matter the number, Mr. Doe will normally want or expect more. Reality is at this point in the game, two choices exist -- either take the trade deal (rather or not he is able to negotiate a little more trade value) or walk and sell the vehicle on his own. There's a good possibility selling on his own will reap a higher value, but when you factor in the time, frustration, advertising, financing intricacies of your potential buyers, etc it's not always worth it to be honest.

Over the years I've had some cool and ordinary cars. Selling stuff like my Corvette, Challenger, Camaro and Jeep (Wrangler) were stupid easy and commanded higher premiums (think your Tiffany diamond). One of the toughest I sold was a Nissan Xterra. Great vehicle, just shy of 100k miles, 4x4, etc. Popular with some offroad enthusiasts. The real issue was the age and price point was right inline for the high school or college kid, who hasn't got credit to get a loan or cash to plunk down. It probably took me 6 months and at least half a dozen SERIOUS buyers before I got a deal finalized. And then it only worked because a college kid and her dad bought the vehicle using HIS credit. When all was said and done, I think I netted around $1,500 more than if I had taken a trade offer. Considering I sold the vehicle for about $9,500 total, this was a significant amount proportionate to the total dollars but was a drop in the bucket compared to the time I wasted. I could have focused my time and energy differently and probably yielded more money doing something else. Hence the term, lost opportunity costs, which is the money you lose by choosing to invest (or save) one way vs taking another option.

Sometimes when trade offers don't go our way, we tend to blame the dealers. But if we try to step outside our own personal world for a second, it's easy to see why some of those offers are made. In the car world, the bulk of trade-in's go to a car auction where other car dealers go and place bids on them. What each dealer buys is based on what they need, rather that's just to fill their used car lot with what they know sells or are looking for something particular.

Why does this matter? Because these auctions are tracked very closely and black book values, or auction values, are established, published and made available to car dealers. This gives them a ballpark idea of what to expect at auction for a particular year, model & make of car in a certain condition. When buying from auction, you don't get much time to analyze the car so they are never fetching premium prices. And guess what prices they are offering on trade-in values? Yup, those auction values as they are more reliable to specific regional market data of what they can get for the car should they choose not to keep on their lot for resale purposes.

That last statement is also key. If you have a car that a dealer wants and finds valuable, they may wish to keep and not send to auction. In those cases, you can negotiate a stronger trade in value. Especially if said car has always been maintained at that dealership, has records, perfect condition, etc. Buyers find value and confidence in buying a used vehicle that was bought new from a local dealership, maintained properly and has records to prove so.

What I personally hate about "barely used" cars just a few years old is you sometimes pick up rental car fleet vehicles. Having countless drivers with a variety of driving styles is not something I want to purchase as I think people tend to be more laxed in their driving habits of a rental.

Guess what's in part of the auction values? That's right, rental cars.

Car dealers, just like diamond dealers, are in the business to make a profit. If the dealers can't make a profit, they eventually die. With cars, trade-in's are a vital part of their business. But they have to make offers that allow them wiggle room to move the car (auction value) if it doesn't sell on their own lot, or isn't something they want to put on their lot in the first place. Most likely that value will be less than what John Doe paid or expects.

Hopefully it's more than what he owes as well, assuming he has a loan. But that's a whole other can of worms. Generally speaking, if you have a loan it takes about 50-60% of the loan period before you can break even on a trade in situation. If you put money down, it changes the equilibrium of the principal/interest balance so it will be less % of the loan period in those situations. Also, depending on interest rates and terms (number of years) it could slightly alter the equilibrium. Shorter terms with lower rates will put you in a break even position faster. Many people do financing today on 72 months, but if people find themselves wanting to trade in 2 years they will likely be upside down. Most likely it will be the 3-4 year mark before they can break even.

At least with diamonds, the purchase is made up front. So you don't have the negative equity (oxymoron term, lol) of dealing with an upside down trade. At that point, it's just lost money for the luxury and enjoyment of owning the diamond for as long as you did. If you ever trade, it's likely you won't get full value of the diamond that you originally paid, unless you have a killer trade in program like WF, HPD, BGD, VC, etc offer. Alternatively, you may have timed the market right and/or a considerable enough amount of time has passed that the equilibrium switched to your favor.

Short version -- don't buy lots of cars, and buy used when possible. And when you buy diamonds, try to get an excellent trade in policy so you are always on the right side of the trade.

 

[sledge]

Good advice offered here. And OP's story clearly underlines how important and valuable upgrade-policies and buyback-policies are. Even if you do not intend to use them, they indicate how much that vendor values the product they are selling to you.

I would beg for one important realization though. Many people wishing to upgrade or sell-back are negatively surprized when they realise they will get less, sometimes far less than what they originally paid. And they translate that as if they are losing a lot of money there and then, now actually.

The reality however is that they did not lose these sums when they started enquiring about an upgrade or a buyback. Not going forward with the upgrade is not going to take away that loss, either. In reality, they lost that money at the point in time of making the initial purchase. When they walked out of the door of the jeweler, with no upgrade-policy in hand, with no buyback or just a limited one in hand, that is the point in time where they lost the money.

That should probably serve as a wake-up-call to not repeat that mistake.

Live long,

Paul I am curious, is the 80% buy back exclusive to HPD or is this a CBI sponsored policy?

 

[pearaffair]

I really love that oval. It’s gorgeous!

 

[Dancing Fire]

The Tiffany ring was given to me a very long time ago. There is no GIA, nor an inscription number on the diamond itself, but only the paperwork provided and certificate from the store. Its a real dazzler, but... i did reset the diamond in a different setting and so i am unable to sell it as a Tiffany diamond ring (although i also have the setting), only a Tiffany diamond.

How long ago? I'm surprised there is no inscription on the girdle and no GIA report. Do you have a closer pic of the Tiff. stone?

 

[sledge]

The Tiffany ring was given to me a very long time ago. There is no GIA, nor an inscription number on the diamond itself, but only the paperwork provided and certificate from the store. Its a real dazzler, but... i did reset the diamond in a different setting and so i am unable to sell it as a Tiffany diamond ring (although i also have the setting), only a Tiffany diamond.

How long ago? I'm surprised there is no inscription on the girdle and no GIA report. Do you have a closer pic of the Tiff. stone?

I find this odd too.

Since you have the original Tiffany setting, I'd just reset it back to the original. Make sure it is in the special blue-green box and has all it's documentation as well.

Not having an inscription on the GIA girdle will be a red flag to some buyers. For this reason, it may be beneficial to you and your potential buyer to let a trusted and reputable 3rd party appraiser complete the transaction on your behalf. The appraiser will have the added benefit of being able to confirm the stone matches the certification, and also give them an appraisal for actual insurance and confidence they are getting a good deal.

You'll likely spend a few hundred bucks to do so, but you are spending that in an attempt to gain confidence so the buyer pays the premium for a true Tiffany setting and diamond.

 

[Dancing Fire]

You'll likely spend a few hundred bucks to do so, but you are spending that in an attempt to gain confidence so the buyer pays the premium for a true Tiffany setting and diamond.

But I don't think OP still have the original Tiff setting.

 

[sledge]

But I don't think OP still have the original Tiff setting.

Makes sense. Maybe I misinterpreted @shicara, but based on the following I thought she still owned the original Tiffany setting, but simply had the Tiffany stone set in an alternate setting at this time.

Its a real dazzler, but... i did reset the diamond in a different setting and so i am unable to sell it as a Tiffany diamond ring (although i also have the setting), only a Tiffany diamond.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Makes sense. Maybe I misinterpreted @shicara, but based on the following I thought she still owned the original Tiffany setting, but simply had the Tiffany stone set in an alternate setting at this time.

I see, then OP should reset the stone back into its original Tiff setting.