What is the Best Way to Sell My Ring?

Including 

What paperwork do I need to sell my ring?

Should I sell my ring near me or online? 

Do I sell my ring quickly or with patience?

How to get the most money selling my ring?

Across our publication, The Diamocycle Dispatch, we discuss the many places you could sell your ring and how to get the most money selling your ring. Our family legacy in diamonds and jewelry was founded in 1857, over 164 years ago. We take pride in giving you the advice we would provide a valued customer. In this edition of the Dispatch, we discuss the best way to sell your ring. 

What paperwork do I need to sell my ring?

The paperwork you need to sell your ring varies based on the ring. For this article, we will assume your ring is a diamond ring. The advice we give here also is valid for a natural colored stone ring. If you are selling a natural diamond ring, the best paperwork is a GIA certificate. We recommend you have one for a diamond over 1 carat or over $1000.00 in value. Some diamonds in clarities less than S2 are certified with other diamond certificates. While these will be helpful in your selling process, they do not provide the same level of comfort for buyers. For natural colored diamonds, a GIA colored diamond report is the pinnacle in diamond certificates. With the GIA certificate, a wholesale buyer can give you a very close estimate of what they can pay for your ring. Some diamond rings cannot get GIA certificates as they are antique rings that were not sold with them. If your ring is antique, a diamond appraisal from a GIA-trained gemologist would be appropriate paperwork to sell your ring. Diamonds have to be graded loose, so it is not always feasible to take apart a ring to get a GIA diamond certificate. If an antique ring has one, it means it was taken apart, and the center stone may or may not be the original center stone in the ring. If you have a natural colored stone ring, you can get a Colored Stone Report from GIA.

The report will tell whether your colored stone is natural or synthetic, and it will tell if there are indications of treatments. Colored stones are often heated to improve color or fracture-filled to improve clarity. Colored unheated and untreated stones are far more rare and valuable if they are desirable colors and clarities. Let’s assume you have neither an appraisal nor a diamond certificate. It would be helpful to have a bill of sale to show a buyer what the original retail price is and what brand the item is. Lastly, if you have no paperwork, you might decide that it is worthwhile to invest in paperwork if you have a diamond ring, colored stone ring, or antique ring over $1000.00. The more paperwork you can bring to the selling table, the better, and as previously mentioned, the GIA diamond certificate is the most universally accepted form of validating the authenticity of your ring for buyers worldwide. 

Should I sell my ring near me or online? 

At Diamocycle, we are advocates of selling your ring online. We believe online buyers are experts in their trade and are often the purchasers of rings sold locally. Therefore, we recommend avoiding the following local buyers. 

Local Buyers of Rings to Avoid and Why?

Pawn Shops-pawnshops do not have the distribution to be in the business of buying rings and paying a fair market price. Instead, pawn shops are in the lending business.

Gold Buyers- Cash for gold buyers, can pay a fair price for an inexpensive gold ring but are not the source to sell a colored stone ring, antique ring, or diamond ring worth more than $500.00. 

Local Jewelers-Local jewelers do not have the distribution channels to purchase diamonds at a market price and have expensive overhead. Therefore, local jewelers usually sell your ring to wholesalers to help with cash flow. However, it could take years to sell a ring to a local retail customer. 

Online Buyers of Rings and Marketplaces to Avoid and Why?

Overnight Diamond Buyers- A overnight ring buyer might pay a fair cash price for a certified diamond, but they will be reselling it to another wholesaler. The price you receive and the final price will likely be about 35-50% of the original cost of the diamond ring. 

Diamond Ring Auction-Auctions for rings have become more popular online, and this venue is where multiple wholesalers complete for your ring. The advantage is that you get multiple wholesale bids, but the disadvantage is that you are still selling to a reseller and will have to pay an auction fee. 

Online Non-jewelry specific Auctions- These auctions sell jewelry and collectibles and everything in someone’s house. The advantage here is that you are selling to wholesalers and retail consumers shopping here. 

Craigslist- There is the risk of fraud and safety for consumers with an in-person transaction.

eBay-There is the issue of potential fraud from credit card chargebacks from sellers, and you are unlikely to be successful unless you have an eBay store. 

Do I sell my ring quickly or with patience?

The sad truth of selling a ring or any asset is that the longer you can afford to wait for a qualified buyer, the more money you will receive. Our preferred marketplace is a diamond and jewelry-specific online marketplace online. The advantages of this type of marketplace are below. This marketplace is a platform for selling a ring 2x more than a local buyer, overnight diamond buyer, or online jewelry auction. 

Advantages of a vetted marketplace for pre-owned rings. 

• A secure platform for sellers protecting their funds

• All listings are verified for authenticity.

• There is a higher selling price for sellers as buyers are retail customers, not resellers. 

• The convenience of selling and listing online. 

• Guidance with market price of pre-owned rings. 

• The marketplace and the sellers are aligned, wanting the highest value for the item as fees are a percentage of the sale price. 

• Insured shipping

How to get the most money selling my ring?

The way to get the most money selling a ring is to sell it to a retail buyer. A reseller needs to make money selling your ring and is not the final buyer. We believe the best and most secure space to sell a ring is in an online marketplace for rings. At Diamocycle, we have a vetted marketplace for rings online. Feel free to submit your listing here. Submit a Listing — Diamocycle

 While it may take longer to sell a ring to a retail customer, those that can afford to await will receive at least 2X more for their ring.