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Where and How to Sell an Engagement Ring For The Best Price

Diamocycle

BUY IN OUR MARKETPLACE
SELL IN OUR MARKETPLACE

Where and How to Sell an Engagement Ring For The Best Price.  

Including

What to Think about before selling?

  • Should I sell my engagement ring or Keep it?

  • What paperwork do I need to sell my engagement ring

  • How do I get the appropriate paperwork for selling my engagement ring? 

  • What is the appropriate paperwork for my engagement ring?

  • What to do if I lose my paperwork? 

  • Do I clean or repair my ring before the sale?

  • Do I sell my diamond loose or mounted in the engagement ring? 

Where Should I sell my Engagement Ring?

  • Local Diamond Buyers’ Pros and Cons

  • High-End Auction House Pros and Cons 

  • Online Diamond Buyer Pros and Cons

  • Online Marketplaces Pros and Cons

  • Online Jewelry Auctions Pros and Cons

  • Online Auction Non-specific 

  • Online Diamond Specific Marketplace for Pre-owned Engagement Rings

Our Preferred Selling Method.

Across our publication, The Diamocycle Dispatch, we discuss the many places you could sell your engagement ring to get the most money. Our legacy in diamonds and jewelry was founded in 1857, over 164 years ago. This piece discusses where and how to sell an engagement ring for the best price. 

What to Think about before selling?

Should I sell my engagement ring or Keep it?

Whether to sell an engagement ring or keep it is highly personal. The process of selling an engagement can be emotional, and the steps of letting go of your ring are similar to moving on after a relationship are over. In most cases, the reason to sell an engagement ring is to monetize the ring and use the funds towards improving the quality of your life. An engagement ring can also be gifted or repurposed as another piece of jewelry. We encourage you to be patient and fully assess why you are selling your engagement ring, and if you are ready to sell your ring, what are your best options. 

What paperwork do I need to sell my engagement ring?

Diamond Certificates

When selling your engagement ring, you will be asked if you have a diamond certificate. The diamond certificate is essential paperwork for your engagement ring. If you do not have a diamond certificate, do not worry. We will help you go through the process of what you should do in this event. The gold standard in diamond certificates is from GIA. With this diamond certificate online, local buyers can provide you with the price they would pay for your engagement ring. The certificate has a number that is often laser engraved on the edge of your diamond. Sometimes the hard copy of the certificate was never supplied, and you may be able to recover the laser number with the help of a local jeweler who will look with a jeweler’s loupe or microscope. You can verify your diamond certificate online at GIA’s website. Diamonds in lower clarity than S2 or lower colors than J are often certified with another diamond grading report. These reports are not considered as universally accepted as GIA. This is because they do not adhere to the same grading standards as GIA. However, these other diamond certificates will be helpful when selling your diamond. 

Jewelry Appraisal 

Often an engagement ring will have a jewelry appraisal for insurance. A graduate GIA gemologist ideally does these appraisals. The price on the appraisal reflects the retail replacement value at the time the ring was sold. Unfortunately, these appraisals do not reflect the price you will most likely receive for your engagement ring. Nevertheless, they are a high market replacement value if your ring is lost and needs to be replaced by an insurance policy. 

Bill of Sale

If you did not purchase the ring, it is unlikely you have a bill of sale, but it may be in the documents you retained. The bill of sale is helpful when talking to online buyers, local buyers, private buyers, and listing your engagement ring on a marketplace. The price you receive for your engagement ring will most likely be far less than the original bill of sale as engagement rings have high channels of mark-ups and depreciate. 

How do I get the appropriate paperwork for selling my engagement ring? 

You can get a diamond certificate from GIA by having your diamond removed by a local jeweler, and you can submit the diamond to GIA. We recommend this for diamonds over 1 carat, which will help get a fair market value for your diamond. The diamond can be either sold loose or remounted in the engagement ring. A wholesale buyer would prefer the diamond is loose, as would a diamond auction. A mounted engagement ring is easier to sell in a marketplace with a GIA-certified diamond. If unmounting the diamond is inappropriate, the next best piece of paperwork is a diamond appraisal by a local GIA-certified graduate gemologist. This would be appropriate for an antique ring that cannot be unmounted. 

What is the appropriate paperwork for my engagement ring?

Here’s a Quick Guide to the most appropriate paperwork.

Modern Diamond over .50 carat-GIA Diamond Certificate, or other Diamond Certificate

Natural Colored Diamond-GIA colored Diamond Report

Natural Colored Stone-GIA colored stone report. This would make sense for colored stones over $2000 in value.

Antique or Bespoke Ring that cannot be unmounted-Bill of Sale, Appraisal from GIA Graduate Gemologist.

Commercial Diamond Jewelry from Brick and Mortar Chain- Bill of Sale. Company supplied jewelry appraisal. 

What to do if I lost my paperwork?

If you lost your paperwork, your diamond might have a laser number inscribed on edge, and the diamond certificate can be looked up. If it does not, and it is an item above, you may be served to use the guide above to get either a diamond certificate or an appraisal from GIA certified graduate gemologist. We have included this link to our guide on diamond appraisals. https://www.diamocycle.com/a-guide-to-diamond-appraisals

Do I clean or repair my ring before the sale?

Often the value of the engagement ring is in the diamond center stone. If you are selling at an online diamond auction or a wholesale buyer will likely recycle your setting as it has little value. If you are selling to a private buyer or listing in an online marketplace, repairing your ring or cleaning it will help you get top dollar. So, in summary, a wholesale buyer will likely not pay you more than the value of materials, and a retail buyer is interested in an engagement ring in good condition. The less the retail buyer has to do to the ring, the better. Think of your engagement ring like a house. A cash buyer might tear down the house, buy it for the lot, or fix it up before resale. A couple buying your home wants to be able to move in. This is the same as selling an engagement ring. What you need to do with your engagement ring depends on whom you want to sell it to. We recommend selling to the retail customer, not the wholesaler, to get the best price. So, cleaning the ring, at the very least, could be an excellent first step. 

Do I sell my diamond loose or mounted in the engagement ring? 

The choice to sell a diamond loose or mounted in an engagement ring depends on who the buyer is. A wholesale buyer prefers purchasing loose diamonds, so they can be weighed, inspected, and evaluated. A retail buyer wants to give the engagement ring to their partner. We think you will get the most money by selling an engagement ring in good repair mounted online to a retail buyer. 

Where Should I sell my Engagement Ring?

Local Diamond Buyers’ Pros and Cons-(pawnshops, gold buyers, jewelers)

Pros 

  • You can get cash today

Cons

  • You will likely get far less than if you sell your engagement ring online.

  • Local buyers to avoid are pawnshops and gold buyers. 

  • Local buyers often sell online to diamond merchants or put your item in a jewelry auction for wholesalers.  

  • You are selling to a reseller, not a retail customer. 

  • You will receive approximately 50-60 % of the amount should you sell to a retail customer. 

  • Brick and mortar businesses have high operating costs of business. 

High-End Auction House Pros and Cons-( Example Sotheby’s)

Pros

  • Potentially an excellent way to sell an expensive engagement ring quickly. 

  • Network of high-end retail buyers. 

  • Relatively fast way to sell an expensive ring. 

Cons

  • You are selling for a lower value than a retail price

  • You will have to pay a fee on top of the sale price.

  • The price you receive depends on what buyers bid and the level of interest. 

  • Only appropriate for expensive rings. 

Online Diamond Buyer Pros and Cons( Example WP Diamonds)

Pros

  • If you have a GIA certified diamond, it’s a fast way to sell 

  • Online buyers have lower overhead and will be able to pay more

  • Online major buyers can be well funded and have good distribution channels. 

  • Likely a higher price than a local buyer will pay for your engagement ring. 

Cons

  • You are selling to a reseller, not a retailer

Online Marketplaces Pros and Cons( Example Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, eBay)

Pros

  • You are selling to a retail customer

  • A higher price than a reseller

Cons

  • Risk of buyer fraud

  • Risk of staged robbery for a locally executed transaction. 

  • The time it may take to market your item online.

  • If you do not have a store in the marketplace, it is more difficult to sell.

Online Jewelry Auctions Pros and Cons ( Example Worthy)

Pros

  • A relatively fast sale

  • Multiple buyers

  • Often the auction will have the diamond certified in your engagement ring or graded by their in-house appraiser. 

  • The auction is doing the work selling

Cons

  • You are selling to a reseller and will have to pay an auction fee on top of the listing.

  • Your price will be less than if you sell to a retail customer. 

Online auction Non-specific -(example, Everything but The House)

Pros

  • Retail buyers and Resellers

  • A relatively fast sale

  • A secure selling method with reduced fraud. 

  • The auction markets your engagement ring. 

Cons

  • You sell at a relatively low price unless a retail customer wants your item.  

  • Many resellers buy on these auctions types and sell to retail customers

  • You have to pay an auction fee.  

Online Diamond Specific Marketplace for Pre-owned Engagement Rings ( Example Diamocycle)

Pros

  • You are selling to a retail customer

  • Low fees of service

  • A secure selling platform

  • You are in control of your engagement ring until a buyer sends funds

  • Your item is inspected before sale.

  • A secure and safe way to sell an engagement ring

  • Potentially 2x more money than many other selling methods

Cons

  • Take longer than a local sale, overnight online transaction, or auction. 

Our Preferred Selling Method

At Diamocycle, our preferred selling method is a diamond-specific marketplace for pre-owned engagement rings. The reason is that this is a secure transaction, and your engagement ring is sold to a retail customer and not a reseller. As a result, the price can be greater than 2x many of the other selling methods. While this is not an overnight transaction, it bypasses the resellers and reaches the final customer. If you have an engagement ring to sell, please start here. Submit a Listing — Diamocycle.

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