Sudden Increase in Prices! What triggers this?

[GDTRFB]

I have been searching for a stone on a retailer''s site over the last few days and all of the sudden all of the prices went up by ~$100. Does this happen often, or what triggers this and does it happen usually across all retailers typically at the same time?

 

[FB.]

Diamonds are a commodity. Prices move periodically due to supply and demand (and some other factors). However, diamond prices are usually nowhere near as volatile as other commodities (or shares) and sometimes diamond prices barely move at all for weeks on end. Some dealers are hyper-active and are regularly adjusting prices. Others adjust them only about once every week or two. I've seen one dealer who raises online prices most weekends!

 

[Cehrabehra]

If you are referring to whiteflash, alj said in another thread that they are making some changes so that if you get to the WF website from a pricescope link it will have the ps discount... or something to that effect.

 

[nissan]

I think it was mentioned on another section of the forums, and based on my personal experience, that the price of rough has gone up dramatically in over the past month+. I was looking at a stone in July, waited, and would have had to pay $500+ more for it in the beginning of Sept. because the dealer had to pass on some of that increase in rough onto the customer. While they did me a favor and swallowed a large portion of the increase b/c they quoted me a lower price before and to match the significance of a certain number, it still made me think about how waiting isn't always a good thing.

 

[Todd Gray]

I have no input regarding price changes on the web sites of various vendors, however the trade magazines have been indicating that prices are firming up due to increases in the price of rough which have occurred over the past few months which are beginning to trickle down to the consumer level. Most of the discounts which consumers have seen over the past few months were not initiated at the cartel / trade level, but rather by individual dealers / cutters trying to reduce their inventory and free up operating capital - as the supply of in-stock diamonds held by those companies dwindles, I expect we will begin to see prices return to "normal" - especially as we head into the holiday season which normally accounts for 70% of the average retail profits for most traditional brick and mortar jewelry stores... Minor price fluctuations amongst internet dealers are usually a reflection of adjustments being made at the cutter level since many online retailers merely republish the diamonds listed in the multiple listing service (MLS) subscribed to by the trade...

The reason that prices often change over the weekend is because the Rapaport Diamond Price Report is published Thursday night at midnight, thus the cutters make adjustments to their inventory on Friday and the online dealer listings re-publishing those MLS listings update accordingly when the script used by those dealers to publish the MLS holdings updates... Easy-Peasy.

 

[yssie]

I''ve been following the price of my diamond - it''s very interesting, though not a trend statement by any means (sample of one, anyone?). I purhcased from WF, but it was a virtual stone, and it''s still listed on the BN website.

I bought early July. About a month after I bought the list price went down by 24$. Sometime since last Friday, the list price has gone up 470$!

Due to a series of family events we really only had late June/early July to do this custom project, and it apparently couldn''t have been more perfect timing..

 

[haagen_dazs]

do consumers get to view this "multiple listing service (MLS)"

what does a virtual stone mean?
does it mean that the stone is not in company A''s inventory ?
When the diamond is bought, company A will get the diamond from company B and ship the stone to the buyer?
How does this work?
A gets to sell B''s diamonds at a commission? Are the prices fixed by B ? (since if A undercuts B, it will not make sense)

 

[Todd Gray]

Date: 9/16/2009 6:07:14 PM
Author: haagen_dazs
do consumers get to view this 'multiple listing service (MLS)'

what does a virtual stone mean?
does it mean that the stone is not in company A's inventory ?
When the diamond is bought, company A will get the diamond from company B and ship the stone to the buyer?

How does this work?

A gets to sell B's diamonds at a commission? Are the prices fixed by B ? (since if A undercuts B, it will not make sense)

The public can not view the MLS directly, however it is easy to determine which diamonds are listed in the MLS by running a search for diamonds via the diamond search engine here on PS - if you see the same diamond offered by several different vendors, it is likely being republished off of the MLS.

"Virtual" means that the diamond is off of the MLS and is generally not in the possession of each vendor offering the diamond, although it might be in the possession of one of them and/or it can be called in for evaluation by the vendor upon request.

Different virtual vendors have different models for conducting their virtual business... Some will offer stones off of the MLS and then have the diamond drop shipped directly to the customer upon purchase; others will offer diamonds off of the MLS and then call those diamonds in for physical evaluation (of varying levels of detail) when a customer expresses an interest in the diamond - some dealers charge for this service and others do it as a cost of doing business.

Each vendor tends to set their own price point, which is why you can often see the same diamond being offered at different prices by different vendors - sometimes the price difference is due to the level of service, options, being offered by the various vendors. Shop around and ask the reason for the price difference...

Don't worry about asking questions, it's how we all learn and if you're taking the time to ask, the odds are that somebody else lurking on the forum was wondering the same thing, so the answer helps quite a few people!

 

[Bosie]

I always get a laugh about price changes.
The supply of diamonds is not based on true demand and supply, the prices are controlled by big guys, like DeBeers.
Over the last year it was reported that DeBeers shut down all their mines in Africa, this certainly is effects supply.
You might say it is "manipulated". Dealers are not hoading or sitting on supply, they want to sell to stay in business. Lots of stores have gone out of business, 800,000 jobs lost in India alone.