Questions About Selling a Diamond

[Girls2ndBestFriend]

A little over a year ago I purchased a marquise solitaire ring from an aquaintance. My intent was to eventually have the stone taken out and mounted in something else for my wife.(No need for another engagement ring

) As luck would have it, I now have my eyes on something else for her so I''m looking for a quick avenue in which to sell it. I''ve contacted Lippincott, which gave me a quote about equal to what I paid for it, and Bullock in Texas, which said they weren''t buying stones under a carat.

Back when I bought the stone I had taken the stone to a jeweler friend of mine who gave me a quick appraisal of the stones attributes. He said it is about a K color and .84 carats and about SI2 clarity. At the time he said that he would put the ring in his estate jewelry cabinet and sell it for me if I wanted but I wasn''t looking to sell then. Now that I am, I don''t know that I want to wait the months that it would likely take to sell it. I''m tempted to take Lippincott''s offer but was curious to know if anyone knew of a business that would likely offer more for it than them. How would you approach selling the stone if you wanted to sell quickly?

 

[pqcollectibles]

I dunno about a better price, but I am familiar with the company you mentioned. Lippincott's is a big time seller on eBay. Chances are you would do better for price with a new appraisal and some good pics on eBay yourself.

Just my $0.02 worth

 

[Mara]

Take the money that Lipincotts is offering, little hassle and you get the money back you paid for it. eBay is sketchy at best on selling stones--everyone is looking for a bargain. Let Lipincott handle the customers. All that should matter is you get your $$ back, which is pretty impressive when reselling stones. Many people end up with maybe 50% of what they paid, if they are lucky.

 

[Girls2ndBestFriend]

I considered the Ebay route but, from what I've seen, people seem to steer clear of stone and solitaire rings that don't have GIA or EGL certification. If they do buy it seems as though they are pretty heavily discounted. I considered putting it on Ebay along with a written appraisal. I also considered getting the GIA or EGL certification, although I'm not sure how to go about doing that, not to mention the cost I expect one would have to pay. If the cert. will get me more out of the sale than I paid for it I should probably do it.

 

[Girls2ndBestFriend]

I probably should clarify that the acquaintance that I purchased the ring from originally was not a dealer. The ring was therefore "used" when I bought it but I got a good deal and was mainly only interested in reusing the diamond in something else anyway. I do this quite often, when the opportunity presents itself. This is the first time, however, that I have had an interest in reselling such a purchase.

 

[fire&ice]

Geez, getting your money out of a diamond - take the money from Lippincott's & run.

They may not be interested if you run it on ebay. I will not buy anything from someone privately if they run it on ebay first. ...takes the mystery out of the piece....and I have to deal with ...didn't I see that on ebay & it didn't sell.

 

[Hest88]

Sell the ring. You *could* get more on eBay, but I'm assuming Lippincott has enough eBay feedback so that people trust them. If you don't, then the odds are you won't get near what they can for it.

 

[pyramid]

I would take Mara's advice and get the money from Lippincote. I am in the UK and have heard that people usually only get about 50% of the money back and 30% if they resell to a jeweller. I would say you are lucky to break even. What if you go to the hassle and wait 2.5 weeks for a GIA certificate and pay money for it and then cannot get the diamond sold.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Guess I missed the break even part. Definitely,.... Take the money and no hassle!

 

[Girls2ndBestFriend]

Just curious, how does one go about getting a GIA certificate and how much does it cost?