What is this worth?

[becauseican68]

I am a complete amateur as it relates to diamonds. I have an old diamond that I would like to try to sell or trade for a new stone. The diamond that I would like to sell on eBay, Craigslist,etc... is:

GIA, Round
1.57 Carats
VS1, I Color
Very good polish, good symmetry
Measurements 7.55- 7.63x 4.56mm
Depth 60.1%
Table 62%
Flourescence = none

I really don't have any idea what this stone is worth and would greatly appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.

 

[stone-cold11]

Can you list down the GIA numbers?

 

[becauseican68]

Is this what you are looking for? 10256347

 

[stone-cold11]

Hmm, not working for me. When is the report dated? What I am trying to do is determine the cut grade of the stone.

Since I am not sure of that, a rough search on the pricescope database, the price for a stone of exact same carat, color and clarity goes for about 9-11k depending on the cut. From the big table, I am assuming this is a VG/G cut on the GIA which will put the price closer to 9k. Selling it to a vendor will probably net you max of 3-4k.

 

[becauseican68]

Not sure if this helps but the GIA report is dated Dec 4th, 1997

 

[HopeDream]

Hi Becauseican68

here is a thread about selling diamonds:

resale price percentages

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 9/5/2009 7:06:25 PM
Author: becauseican68
Not sure if this helps but the GIA report is dated Dec 4th, 1997

Ok, that''s why. Much too early for the online GIA database. Good luck.

 

[becauseican68]

Thanks to both of you for your help.

 

[denverappraiser]

Hi Becauseican68,

Setting ebay pries can be tricky. A lot of success there has to do with the credibility of the seller which includes your own feedback scores, your terms and conditions, your ability to write a decent advertisement etc. These are way outside the realm of what you’ve provided so I’m going to assume you do well on these issues but be aware that they are important topics.

Setting prices is a matter of looking for ‘comparable’ sales and then adjusting as needed for your own situation. The folks at ebay have made this difficult and at craigslist it’s virtually impossible but the first place to look is at completed auctions on ebay. Try to find completed sales of similar goods that have actually sold. (there’s lessons to be learned from people who didn’t get their price as well but you need to be very careful what you read into this. It may be the price was too high and it may be something else entirely). The more the comps the better and the more similar they are to yours the better. Ebay will allow you to look at sales within the last month or so.

The next tricky part is deciding what is ‘comparable’. In your case, a 12 year old GIA is a good basis for weight, clarity and color but your cut is likely to be a problem. The ‘good’ symmetry means that you’re likely to be either ‘good’ and at best ‘very good’ but the lack of documentation means any sensible buyer is going to assume good. Search through the database here for offers from the dealers and it’s likely you’ll find something close. You won’t find an old GIA like that but aim for the mid-range of the EGL’s.

There’s your competition. If you’re a top shelf sort of ebay seller and you get a bit of luck, you’ll be able to get somewhere on the order of 75%-85% of what you see things being offered for here. If you’re feedback is sparse, you have difficult terms and conditions, your ad makes you look like a scammer, you have bad luck or whatever, it’s going to drop to as low as 50%.

Craigslist makes it effectively impossible to hunt for comps in order to set prices but you can use the same general approach with ebay and pricescope for data.

Watch out for scammers yourself. There’s sharks in these waters and it’s easy to get eaten if you’re not careful. If you don’t have a bit of experience with these things, seriously consider hiring a pro to help you to sell it. They’ll charge a commission but they’ll also usually be able to get a higher price at the end. Often the end result is more money for less grief. There really is a talent to this and you need to take a hard look at yourself to decide if you've got it or not.

It’s worth noting that a professional dealer would probably get that GIA report updated and, if the cut is expected to be ‘good’ or less, they might do some recutting first in order to upgrade it. Recutting to maximize salability is another area where I wouldn’t recommend going without professional assistance.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[denverappraiser]

Ignoring the outliers, 1.55-1.59/VS1/I/EGL seems to go here for between $6500-7000.

In 1.50-1.99 round, VS1/I and VS2/I ebay isn’t showing a single successful sale at the last 30 days (and more than a hundred that didn’t sell.) There are 11 currently listed, none with a single bid.


Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[becauseican68]

Thank you Neil! One final question.... would your estimated be considered "wholesale"?

 

[junebug17]

FWIW, you can email IGA for the complete report (crown and pavilion angles). That''s what I did.

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 9/7/2009 12:27:20 PM
Author: junebug17
FWIW, you can email IGA for the complete report (crown and pavilion angles). That''s what I did.

You mean GIA right?

Do they have those numbers for such an early report? This is dated 1997. I believe GIA only started measuring angles around 2005. When is your stone graded?

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 9/7/2009 11:49:00 AM
Author: becauseican68
Thank you Neil! One final question.... would your estimated be considered 'wholesale'?

I didn't give you an estimate, I gave you a procedure for setting prices using incomplete information and some suggestions on where to hunt for data.

‘Wholesale’ isn’t a very useful word when describing the diamond business but no I don't think it applies here in any case. Dealers don’t all pay the same prices for things or use the same sources and there are often complicating issues to the transaction like financing, consignments and advertising assistance. It’s rarely a simple cash transaction that stands in isolation. Add to this that at least half and probably far more of the jewelry retailers out there call themselves wholesalers and self describe their selling price ‘wholesale’.

The prices you see listed in the database here are retail offers, that is to say these are dealers who are trying sell them one at a time directly to the end consumer. The prices you see in completed ebay auctions are, in general, the result of retail sales or at least an agreement to do a retail sale (with ebay, even if you find a comparable completed sale you don't know if the deal really went through so you have to take it with a grain of salt). Presumably the reason you're considering selling through ebay, Craigslist et.al. is because you want to make a retail sale and thereby enjoy the higher prices that retail customers generally pay. If you can get as much from the local pawn shop or other professional buyer for less risk and less trouble, surely that's preferable, no?


Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[denverappraiser]

duplicate post. sorry

 

[junebug17]

Date: 9/7/2009 12:33:21 PM
Author: Stone-cold11

Date: 9/7/2009 12:27:20 PM
Author: junebug17
FWIW, you can email IGA for the complete report (crown and pavilion angles). That''s what I did.

You mean GIA right?

Do they have those numbers for such an early report? This is dated 1997. I believe GIA only started measuring angles around 2005. When is your stone graded?

Oh my gosh, yes, I meant GIA, so sorry. My report is dated Nov. 18, 1998. The full report included crown angle and pavilion depth percentage, and I found a formula here on PS to convert it to pavilion angle.

 

[stone-cold11]

Ok, interesting.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 9/7/2009 12:45:02 PM
Author: junebug17

Date: 9/7/2009 12:33:21 PM
Author: Stone-cold11

Date: 9/7/2009 12:27:20 PM
Author: junebug17
FWIW, you can email IGA for the complete report (crown and pavilion angles). That''s what I did.

You mean GIA right?

Do they have those numbers for such an early report? This is dated 1997. I believe GIA only started measuring angles around 2005. When is your stone graded?

Oh my gosh, yes, I meant GIA, so sorry. My report is dated Nov. 18, 1998. The full report included crown angle and pavilion depth percentage, and I found a formula here on PS to convert it to pavilion angle.

junebug
can you post your GIA,cuz my wife''s stone is dated July 29,2003 and it doesn''t include those informations.

 

[junebug17]

Date: 9/7/2009 3:43:25 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 9/7/2009 12:45:02 PM
Author: junebug17

Date: 9/7/2009 12:33:21 PM
Author: Stone-cold11

Date: 9/7/2009 12:27:20 PM
Author: junebug17
FWIW, you can email IGA for the complete report (crown and pavilion angles). That''s what I did.

You mean GIA right?

Do they have those numbers for such an early report? This is dated 1997. I believe GIA only started measuring angles around 2005. When is your stone graded?

Oh my gosh, yes, I meant GIA, so sorry. My report is dated Nov. 18, 1998. The full report included crown angle and pavilion depth percentage, and I found a formula here on PS to convert it to pavilion angle.

junebug
can you post your GIA,cuz my wife''s stone is dated July 29,2003 and it doesn''t include those informations.

The crown and pavilion info was not on the actual GIA report that I received with the diamond. I got the info by sending an email to GIA and asking for additional stats, and was given the info in a reply email. Hope I explained this ok!