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Is this common knowledge?

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Diamondseeker007

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 4, 2013
Messages
37
Need opinion from veteran pricescopers and diamond dealers.

Is "shopping around" frowned upon among diamond dealers/wholesalers? Because I went to multiple (4) jewelry stores and I received a rude email from one of the dealers I went to saying "essentially stop wasting people's time...bottom line is NO store has inventory...so they call dealers who stop what they are in the middle of to give to them to show someone..."

On top of that this dealer didn't even have the diamond I wanted. 3 of the 4 jewelry store had the diamond on the spot and I never saw the same diamond twice at different store.

Im new to diamond shopping, so should I have only gone to one dealer to buy my diamond? Are you not supposed to shop around when searching for a diamond. And is it true dealers dont hold their own inventory?


Thanks for your input.
 
it is true, but doesn't help to be rude.

what are you looking for?
 
which part is true? I am looking for an approx. 1.75 GIA Ex, H/I, VS2/SI1.
 
Are you saying 3 out of 4 stores had diamonds in their store like you were looking for?

Edit - IMO there is nothing wrong with shopping around however having someone that you have no intention of buying from
Bring in stones would be wrong (my opinion...again). Doesn't sound like you were doing that.
 
What is your budget? It is FAR easier to compare prices on here and choose a vendor to work with.
 
In my experience ( went looking late last rear and early this year for diamond studs. )so I went to a bunch of stores. They B&M have limited stock.

What they did in my case was asked for my specs they looked up in the Rappaport price guide gave me a ball park idea of what GIA stones in that size, quality and cut would be then said they would bring in stones for me to look at.

I think if you work with too many stores they must get annoyed . I didn't care as I was doing research so that I could figure out my price range and what I really could afford in cut color, size and clarity.

Now that you have joined PS you will find that buying an ering is so easy and you can pick your own stone within your price range within the specs you want. There are several wonderful vendors that PS ers use


Good old Gold, Whiteflash, James Allen, blue Nile B2c.

If you let us know exactly what you are looking for and an idea of budget we will help you find your stone. and setting
 
I think I'm a little confused as well. Perhaps they meant (and I'm not sure) that since you have some very specific specs maybe these different jewelers are pulling from the same pool of diamonds to call in and getting crossed wires trying to pull the same stones for you...but if you saw diamonds at 3 different stores that were not the same stone, then that doesn't make sense either.

I do agree with Diamondseeker that if you want to do price comparisons, it's going to be much easier here with online vendors.
 
I think browsing is not fair if you are using an online vendor - they are calling in diamonds and sometimes paying for it. It is easier to browse by going to a B&M store which holds inventory. If you are looking for something specific and ready to buy, I would stick to no more than 2-3 vendors. You don't want to waste your time or theirs.
 
Okay well I shouldn't say 3/4 store had exactly what I was looking for, they were able to show me stone somewhere in that ballpark, but none appealing to me (I may be considered a hard costumer lol). One dealer showed me some stones and also said he has stone in my range at his other store and that he would let me know. I was never told that they would be calling in stones from other dealers in the area. I was under the impression they all held their own inventory. I figured jewelry stores were in competition with each other. I walked into each store cash in hand wanting to buy if they had what I was looking for.

Searching on pricescope it looks like I can get what i'm looking for in my budget (upto 17K including setting). approx 1.75-1.9 Ex, H/I, VS2/SI1 (eyeclean), HCA <2. Setting is a simple solitaire 14K WG. I would like to buy from a local vendor than online just because I get to see the stone and have never made a purchase like this online. I feel like its like buying a used car based on the ad and not test driving it :).
 
The usual way stores (and websites) sell diamonds is through a consignment system known in the trade as 'memo'. Most of what they sell is not in inventory. You tell the jeweler what you want, they shop around to their suppliers to find something suitable, quote you a price and you can buy it or not as you see fit. If you buy, they get a cut, if you don't they send it back and it waits for the next customer. It's quite common to have several dealers selling the same stone. That means that the competition is on the 'value add' of the jeweler. Why should you buy it from THEM? Reasons range from the convenience of the store, the 'free' coffee, the tradein policies, their reputation, access to their bench jewelers, financing or whatever it is that they are offering. To call this process a waste of his time is completely absurd. It's what jewelers DO. If he doesn't like it, he should get a new job. What that tells me is that he's adding nothing to the deal, he knows it, and he knows that sensible customers will end up elsewhere. Good plan. Shop elsewhere.
 
Denverappraiser, I loved your explanation!
 
Thanks for the response denver! Definitely makes me feel better that I did nothing wrong by going to different dealers in my area. His last email to me, after I apologized for other dealers calling him for stones, he actually said "Not worth it for the 500 margin."
 
All I can tell you from my own search was that it was FAR easier (and safer) to buy an ideal cut stone by identifying the stone I wanted to buy from an online vendor who provides pictures of the stone and idealscope images, etc. than it would have been from anywhere else.
 
diamondseeker2006|1365132059|3420633 said:
All I can tell you from my own search was that it was FAR easier (and safer) to buy an ideal cut stone by identifying the stone I wanted to buy from an online vendor who provides pictures of the stone and idealscope images, etc. than it would have been from anywhere else.
Click to expand...
now we have two DS on PS... :lol:
 
if you are a first time consumer shopping for big money item as an analogy. Do you not take the car out on a test drive or look around and consider other models first before making the commitment? If you are buying a house, do you not look around first or are you Supposed to buy the first house you visit?

It's the same with diamonds with can possibly cost more than a car. Having a jeweler to tell you that is plain rude. Chances are, the post sale support from the jeweler is going to be horrid with this kind of mindset.

Move on, there are no lack of other jewelers who want your business.
 
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