Truth or just a sales pitch?

[iceforme]

I was out looking for that special rock for a future E-ring and while at one of my local jewlers I got the typical "Hearts of Fire Pitch." I came out and said I was not interested in paying that much for the Name. So I asked for just a AGS 000 of similar size, color and clarity. Approx 1 ct, h, SI1; The price for the HOF was 12k!!! the AGS000 one was 9.5k. I thought that the hearts and arrows of the AGS000 was very nice. But the prices on both of those seemed to be WAY up there. Looking on both Good old gold and Whiteflash I can seem to find very nice diamonds for MUCH less. Here is a link to one that I think I like:

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/diamond_Details.aspx?itemcode=AGS-5285107#

Now Is there really a reason why my local store is trying to sell what on paper seems to be a similar diamond for nearly 2x as much? The sales lady tried to explain that small price differences were expected but when seeing such wide disparities that you were not really looking at two stones of similar caliber.

Any insight into this would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[rosy]

Hi $9500 for a 1 carat H SI1 is a total rip off! I also had a similar experience with a jewelry in a mall with the Hearts on Fire. They were asking $13,000.00 for one carat. Outrageous, its just a branded hearts & arrows. I''d go to a different jewelry store or would not hesitate to buy one of the hearts & arrows through one of the Pricescope vendors.

 

[Jennifer5973]

Forget it. You''ll do 1,000 times better here, like rosy said.

 

[ninasstar]

I absolutely love the Whiteflash ring you posted. I, too, recently purchased an ACA stone from Whiteflash, and I receive literally a minimum of 20 complements a day...whether I''m at work, at a restaurant, in a store, on the street....doesn''t matter....everyone notices. It''s so sad because when my girlfriends and co-workers compare their huge rocks to my 1.5 RB ideal cut H&A ACA stone, there is no comparison. Theirs look so dull, lacking any sparkle!!!

You will not go wrong at Whiteflash. I cannot say enough good things. Now I''m ready for earrings from there.....can''t wait.


In looking at your stone, the ideal scope view looks amazing. Since it''s an SI 1, you want to talk to Brian, the cutter, to see if it''s eye clean. He can totally share any information you would like to know about the stone. He spent over 45 minutes on the phone, describing my diamond to me. It was great.


Also, I''m not sure if you''re absolutely set on the "G" color or not....so I figure I''d mention that my stone is 1.54 cts, I in color, and SI1 in clarity, and it cost $9340 with the discount for paying by wire transfer / pricescope members.


My I color stone faces up VERY WHITE and everyone thinks it''s a much higher color grade. All you see is sparkle because of the amazing cut.


I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Whiteflash. I AM ONE VERY HAPPY CUSTOMER!!!!

Good Luck....and let us know what you decide on.

 

[perry]

ote>

I disagree in calling it a total ripoff; however, it is a lot more than what you find on the internet.


100% markup is farily typical of much store jewelry because of the low volumn of sales and the high cost of maintiaining the inventory, paying rent, and salaries for the people in the store (and in some stores it goes up to 200%).


Many of the internet businesses have structured their internet portion of their business differently so that they do not have such a high overhead. They also tend to move higher volumns of diamonds such that they do not have to make as much per diamond. Many of the larger internet vendors don''t even stock the diamonds they are listing - but are listing diamonds stocked at the wholesaler which eliminates inventory cost (and when you buy it - they get it from the wholesaler for you).


You are seeing the differences in marketing models.


However, things are not as they seem up front. A time honored tradition at a local jewelry store is to bargine the price down, and you may well be able to bargine it down considerably if you have the negotiating skills. The local jewelers can afford to do this on some diamonds because you will tell your freinds...


Some other local jewelers have taken the approach of smaller initial markups. A few have taken the approach of entering the internet business and maintaining almost a second set of diamonds that is targeted to the internet sales (at a separate price from much of their counter sales).


Something else to consider is that the local store will ususally toss in a free ring and set the diamond, and may offer such things as free cleaning for the life of the ring. These do add value that the internet vendors do not offer (you buy the diamond and the ring, no free cleaning and inspection, etc).


My personal rule of thumb is that you should consider the local store if it offers the same quality of diamond for up to 25% of the internet prices (others would argue 10% over internet prices). I would accept that range depending on the size of diamond involved (with the % going down for the larger diamond sizes). Keep in mind that being on good terms with a local jeweler has long term advantages.


Overall, I think that many local stores will loose so much business that 1/2 to 3/4 of local stores will not make it. The ones that do will have substaintailly more business and be able to have lower overhead markups and will be able to compete with the internet based on local service.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

ifferent business models and cost structures.

Most Internet vendors also carry little or no inventory that they actually purchase and own.




Even MacDonalds have different pricing in the same cities. And naturally the cost of a forzen hamburger, vs Mac vs a fine dining restaurant will all have markedly different prices.



But on Pricescope there is now a third way - select an on-line diamond and a local jeweler who can call the stone in for you - there is a search bar at the top of this page - select your stone and click the B&M search button - then enter your zip code and find a local jeweler. - it is new

 

[nicknomo]

I''m going to disagree with you here perry... That is extremely high for a 1 ct AGS000 H-Si1. I don''t even see prices like that in my malls.

Iceforme, I''d say she is most certainly lying to you. I don''t think there would be any quality lacking in whiteflash''s ACA, so at the very least they are the same caliber.


I''m sure there is a bit of bargaining room there, but it looks like they want some serious profit margin. You could always try to haggle...


It''s the same reason I went on the internet though... Jewelery stores often give rather bad prices. As perry mentioned, there is a lot of overhead.


Anyways, if you are trying to get information to barter out a price, that ACA is of excellent quality, with excellent specs. If she tries to pull the "Oh, it''s probably a much inferior diamond" bit, you can reassure her that the whiteflash is a premiere cut H&A AGS000 diamond.

 

[phoenixgirl]

1.068 H SI1 H&A for $5420

1.015 H SI1 H&A for $5795

1.03 H SI1 Superbcert H&A for $5875

1.01 H SI1 ACA H&A for $5538

1.01 H SI1 AGS0 for $5052

The question is whether the convenience of buying locally is worth an extra $4k.