AF,
Depending on what you mean by cheap prices, this is easy and almost any diamond dealer will be able to help you out. Commodity type diamonds with lab grading reports are easy to find and there is a built in margin of several percent for moving them from the inbox to the outbox. Most jewelers find that this margin isn’t sufficient and long for the ‘good old days’ when it was higher. This is what causes the pressure. It’s a competitive world out there. Read through the discussions on the forum and you’ll see an interesting trend. Almost everyone would like to work with a local jeweler but find that they can’t find one that meets their requirements. It’s very much like the relationship between you and your suppliers. You would like to support your local wholesalers if they could meet your requirements but you need to attend to your business too. Compromises must be made. This is why I thought people would find it interesting to hear what a small retailer has to say.
The wholesalers, especially the local and regional ones are dying over this. Their customers, meaning retailers, are becoming less and less willing to pay for the services they offer because they can’t pass these costs through to the consumer and their margins are shrinking as a result. I suspect that this is why you''re here. It’s just like what’s happening at retail. If your question is “Are there wholesalers out there who can offer me the kind of margins and services that I enjoyed 10 or 20 years ago?”, no, there aren’t. If your question is “Are there wholesalers who can work with me to make a living running a retail jewelry store?”, yes, many of them. I would encourage you to be more specific about what you expect from your wholesaler and what value you are adding for your customers. The business is changing rapidly and both the wholesalers and the retailers need to adapt. It’s not all about the prices. It''s about value.