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So, I need to sell a diamond.

C

cheesehead

Lifer
A friend of the family recently divorced her less-than-pleasant husband, and is now very much short on cash. She's hoping to pay the bills this month by selling her engagement ring, including the very large diamond stuck in it. As such, it needs to be sold by the first - and for a reasonable price.

While the rest of the ring isn't worth much, the diamond was recently appraised at $6400 by a local jeweler. The current owner has all of the paperwork, and the ring was bought from a local jeweler who will confirm proof of ownership.

How much should I ask for the ring? Is there a safe and sane way to allow someone far away to buy it, or is local pick-up only the way to go?
 
Pawn shop

That's pretty much the only way to get quick cash. She'd be able to get more if she was able to wait but since she's not and desperate she doesn't have many options.
 
Go to an independent jeweler and ask their advice. They may be willing to buy or they may know of someone that buys loose diamonds.
 
Originally posted by: Bignate603
Go to an independent jeweler and ask their advice. They may be willing to buy or they may know of someone that buys loose diamonds.
Click to expand...

They offered a whopping $2k for it.
$2k is not going to cover both rent and health insurance.

I figure that if I ask $4500 I can get at least $4k for it.
 
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Originally posted by: Bignate603
Go to an independent jeweler and ask their advice. They may be willing to buy or they may know of someone that buys loose diamonds.
Click to expand...

They offered a whopping $2k for it.
$2k is not going to cover both rent and health insurance.

I figure that if I ask $4500 I can get at least $4k for it.
Click to expand...

You can ask all you want but you're only going to get what they give you. Jewelers/Pawnshops will pay much below what you want so they can resale for a profit. When you're desperate you can't be picky.
 
Typically, diamonds don't lose their value, but you will surrender 10% of the purchase price unless you're trading up. That's at any reputable stores, do not take it to a pawn shop.

Do you happen to know the cut, clarity, color and weight of the diamond?
 
Originally posted by: SSSnail
Typically, diamonds don't lose their value, but you will surrender 10% of the purchase price unless you're trading up. That's at any reputable stores, do not take it to a pawn shop.
Click to expand...

I was thinking as much - $2k seemed stupid low. I'm going to try asking around - *someone* should know a good place to sell this thing.

I'll try and get the info on the diamond.
 
Without having more info on the diamond itself, it's hard to know whether or not that appraisal is accurate.

FWIW - a LOT of jewelers will inflate the value of a diamond, particularly if it's one they're selling.
 
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Originally posted by: SSSnail
Typically, diamonds don't lose their value, but you will surrender 10% of the purchase price unless you're trading up. That's at any reputable stores, do not take it to a pawn shop.
Click to expand...

I was thinking as much - $2k seemed stupid low.
Click to expand...

it was a pawn shop, they typically pay half of what they think they can sell something for, you cant really have expected to have gotten near what its worth there.

and arent diamonds notorious for having shitty resale values, regardless of the actual "value" of the diamond?
 
Originally posted by: xSauronx
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Originally posted by: SSSnail
Typically, diamonds don't lose their value, but you will surrender 10% of the purchase price unless you're trading up. That's at any reputable stores, do not take it to a pawn shop.
Click to expand...

I was thinking as much - $2k seemed stupid low.
Click to expand...

it was a pawn shop, they typically pay half of what they think they can sell something for, you cant really have expected to have gotten near what its worth there.

and arent diamonds notorious for having shitty resale values, regardless of the actual "value" of the diamond?
Click to expand...

I'm surprised they even offered $2k. That seems like extremely generous cash offer on a $6k appraised ring. I would've taken it.
 
Appraisals are elevated and diamonds are hugely marked up due to marketing.

Your best bet would be Craigslist, hoping a cheap groom-to-be bites.
 
your price point is way off. you cant assume that the appraised price is the value of the diamond. those things are usually used for insurance purposes and high. ie: my wife's ring cost me around 3.5k but it appraised for nearly 5k. look at it this way. the store sources it's diamonds somewhere. that value is probably 40-50% cheaper than what they sell it for. the only way they turn a profit by buying your diamond is to offer you a price below what they would pay to get an equivalent diamond from their source.
to get a relative value for the diamond, get the 5 c's from your friend. look online at bluenile/whiteflash/ pick another online diamond seller and average those three prices out to establish your retail value. on a conservative level, take 30% off for the store's source price, then take away another 20% as their profit for buying from you (difference between their source and you), total of 50% and that's a number that you would be lucky to get because this is a conservative estimate. the store is probably going to want to give you a price that's 60-70% off your retail value. going by this, if your diamond is worth 6k retail, the store offered your 33% of it's value.. which sounds reasonable. with some haggling you might get them to boost to 40% or $2400.

so store will get you 30%-50% retail value. only way you're gonna get more is to sell it privately to another person. you might be able to swing 60-80% to someone who is looking but it probably wont be fast and you'll take on all of the risks of carrying costs/theft/etc yourself to sell it.

you might be better off trying to use the ring as collateral for a loan or something and then plan on defaulting and losing the ring.
 
Originally posted by: Elbryn
your price point is way off. you cant assume that the appraised price is the value of the diamond. those things are usually used for insurance purposes and high. ie: my wife's ring cost me around 3.5k but it appraised for nearly 5k. look at it this way. the store sources it's diamonds somewhere. that value is probably 40-50% cheaper than what they sell it for. the only way they turn a profit by buying your diamond is to offer you a price below what they would pay to get an equivalent diamond from their source.
to get a relative value for the diamond, get the 5 c's from your friend. look online at bluenile/whiteflash/ pick another online diamond seller and average those three prices out to establish your retail value. on a conservative level, take 30% off for the store's source price, then take away another 20% as their profit for buying from you (difference between their source and you), total of 50% and that's a number that you would be lucky to get because this is a conservative estimate. the store is probably going to want to give you a price that's 60-70% off your retail value. going by this, if your diamond is worth 6k retail, the store offered your 33% of it's value.. which sounds reasonable. with some haggling you might get them to boost to 40% or $2400.
Click to expand...

I have a good friend that works in the jewelry business and the wholesale to retail markup on diamonds is very low. more like 5-10% rather than the 30% you suggest. online sources such as bluenile has made the diamond retail segment very competitive.

now source through wholesale has a HUGE profit margin on diamonds .. as does every other aspect of the jewelry business.


what everyone else said .. it's impossible to know the value of the ring without the 4 C's.
 
Appraisals generally value a ring 30-50% higher than they're actually worth. I assume it has to do with placing "sentimental value" on the ring - but I really have no idea.

Diamonds that are not considered costume jewelry (ie, something you'd find on an engagement ring) are typically sold with a markup of 5-10% (closer to 6-7%).

If it was given an appraisal value of $6400, I would assume it's actual value is around $4500. I would not want to sell it for less than $4000.

It would probably be better to take out a small loan and find a buyer looking for the specs of the stone you're looking to sell then selling it at a huge loss.
 
Count yourself lucky, if you get more than 50% of the appraisal value..
Appraisal value is mostly for Insurance purpose only.
If someone robbed her home and the rings disappears, then she might get full value from the home insurance.

I'm not saying have her home robbed, just saying..

 
Yeah... take the 2 grand.

But also, wth is she gonna do next month? What are the costs of her insurance and rent? Can't she get rid of insurance for now?
 
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