A Diamocycle Guide to Selling Your Diamond
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
While we often hope that diamonds are forever, there are moments when selling a diamond may be the best emotional or financial decision for you or your household.
To start, we just want to say it is always 100% okay to sell a loose diamond or your diamond jewelry.
The diamond industry has long dissuaded consumers from reselling their diamonds in an effort to keep supply low and demand (and prices) high. That said, there is truly nothing wrong with reselling your diamond when it is the best move for you to make personally.
With that said, here is our Diamocycle Guide to best equip and educate you as you embark on your personal diamond selling adventure.
What to Do Before Selling Your Diamond
Before you sell your diamond, you need to know some basic information to ensure you are getting the best and safest deal.
-
The Basics
What basics should I know about my diamond?
As you embark on the selling process, we strongly recommend that you have a sense of how much your diamond is worth. Having a benchmark will allow you to set your expectations realistically and make prudent financial decisions regarding the sale of your stone.
What Kind of Stone Do You Have?
It’s also always invaluable to understand what kind of diamond your diamond is. Is it real, fake, synthetic or natural? To learn more about diamonds and how to tell what your diamond is, visit our Diamycle Guide: How to Tell if a Diamond is Real.
Diamond Basics The 4C’s
As always, we encourage all of our diamond buyers and sellers to have strong working knowledge about the 4Cs of diamonds: color, cut, carat, and clarity.
For those of you who are new to Diamocycle, here’s a quick overview of what makes up a diamond:
Carat: A carat is the unit of weight for a diamond. The higher a diamond’s carat value, the heavier and more valuable the diamond. 1 carat is equal to .2 grams.
Color: Diamonds can vary and are rated by their color, which is measured on a scale from D (void of color) to Z (yellow in tone). The clearer a diamond, the higher its rating in the alphabet, and the more valuable it is.
Cut: The way a diamond is cut determines its shape. Where there is no value scale based on cut, the way a diamond is cut impacts its appearance and how it shines. A diamond’s value is often determined by the current trends and the execution of the cut.
Clarity: A diamond’s clarity is determined by the presence of blemishes, scratches, flaws, or clouds found on the stone. The fewer the inclusions and marks, the more clear and higher value the stone.
Diamond Price Indicators
Along with the 4Cs, several other indicators might affect the original sale value of your loose diamond or diamond jewelry and what you might be able to ask for its resale:
Overall Item Quality & Condition
While a gemologist will absolutely take the 4Cs into consideration, this also includes the condition of your loose diamond or diamond jewelry and its appearance. The best way to get a great value for your diamond ring is to have a quality item. The higher the quality of materials, components, and the diamond itself, the more your diamond will be worth.
Place of Purchase
As brick-and-mortar jewelers have large overheads and markups, the price you pay for the diamond might impact the perceived value of your diamond jewelry. While you may have paid a significant price tag for your item, please keep in mind the chain of mark-ups inherent in the jewelry industry as you compare what you originally paid with the potential value of what your diamond may be worth. ‘
Item Brand
If your loose diamond or diamond jewelry has a brand name designer, such as Tiffany & Co, it might be possible to sell your engagement ring to a jeweler for a higher price. While you’re usually truly selling your jewelry piece for the resale value for the diamond – some luxury brands are able to fetch a premium price in the selling.
That said, it is worth considering that luxury brands also charge a very high mark-up on their rings, such that unless the brand makes a difference to your buyer, you may incur an even greater loss in the event that you are unable to recoup any of the significant brand markup you may have paid in the purchase of the item.
Item Provenance
The provenance of a loose diamond or diamond jewelry is its history of ownership: who has owned it previously and how its current owner acquired it. A storied history can deeply affect the value of an important, large, or rare diamond, much like a piece of art. In addition, knowing the provenance of your diamond can help reassure buyers that the diamond was never acquired by unscrupulous means, and is not a “Blood Diamond.”
Given the strong legislation around the mining of diamonds, a clear provenance saves buyers from worrying about authorities later confiscating the piece. Whenever the seller can supply the provenance of the diamond, it’s always helpful in reassuring the worries of the buyer.
Unique Features / What Makes Your Stone Special
If your loose diamond or diamond jewelry is incredibly unique, it will be able to demand a higher price tag. That said, if its desirability is based on a certain trend or style, the current standing of that trend may positively (or negatively) affect the price of your diamond.
Is the setting unique or does the setting (not the stone) have a value on the secondary market? As most commercial ring settings are recycled (not resold), their value is solely dependent on the value of the metal. The value of the metal is based on its gram weight and what material it is made from (10kt, 14kt, 18kt, gold or platinum). The value of the setting will absolutely affect the value of the jewelry piece in the secondary market.
While settings often demand a high price when bought, this hefty price tag often covers the labor to make the setting along with the retail mark-up charged by the manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retailer. While your setting may have been marked-up by three distinct entities covering their costs and factoring in a profit, you can truly only charge for the base value of the metal when you sell your setting.
That said, if your piece is a signed important piece of jewelry, an antique, or an original vintage piece, you may be able to receive a higher offer for the setting than the market value of the metal.
-
THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY SUPPLY CHAIN
While diamonds are often constant in their pricing and a good investment, we encourage all of our clients to fully understand the diamond supply chain to appropriately temper their expectations regarding selling a diamond and making a profit.
While market diamond prices have stayed relatively consistent, the significant retail mark-up of any diamond will completely overshadow any small appreciation in value that you can reasonably expect over time.
Before you bought a diamond – your diamond moved through the following supply chain:
Diamond Mine: Where the Diamond is Found, Extracted from the Earth
Diamond Manufacturer: Cut and Polished, Sold with 20-30% Mark-Up of Base Purchase Price
Diamond Wholesale Market: Where Stones are Bought, Sold, and Traded / Each
Diamond Exchange: Trade at a 20-40% Mark-Up/Stones Can Be Sold Various Times on the Market Before Making Their Way to a Jeweler
Retail / Jeweler: Where the Diamond Finally Reaches Consumer/Mark-Up of 30-100%
Given the significant mark-up across each link of the diamond supply chain, it becomes clear that the commercial price you may have paid for your diamond will be hard to recoup on the second-hand market.
The Power of Social Capital in Industry Trades
Many of the prices agreed upon in the supply chain are based on decades-long business relationships. The trustworthiness of these relationships allows sellers to charge prices that accurately reflect the stone’s value and allow buyers to know that they’re getting exactly what’s advertised. As a first-time seller or someone not in the industry with little to back up their offering, you will likely have to sell your stone at a discount, given the lack of social capital to support your sale.
The Long Term Trends of Diamond Prices
While we’ve been conditioned to believe diamonds are a strong investment over time, besides a small selection of specialized and rare color diamonds, the vast majority of commercial diamonds have actually decreased in value over time.
While graphs make it seem that diamonds have gone up in value, that increase in value is often outpaced by inflation and a small fraction of the growth that your money might have accrued via traditional investment means. In addition, the pressure from synthetic diamonds in the marketplace has also contributed to a lower price of natural stones when you’re looking to sell an engagement ring.
When selling a diamond or engagement ring, it’s important to keep these long-term trends in mind to temper your expectations of how much your diamond is worth.
-
As you begin to consider your options of where and how to resell your pre-owned diamond, we encourage you to take into consideration the following truths:
THE FEWER PARTIES INVOLVED, THE HIGHER THE PROFIT.
Wherever possible, we encourage you to cut out the middle-man. If you can sell your pre-owned stone directly to another consumer you’re far likelier to take home a higher price than if you’re selling to someone who is then going to sell the stone to someone else.
The fewer people standing between you and the final destination of the ring, the better. As you evaluate processes and potential options of where to sell an engagement ring, we strongly recommend that you cut out as many middle men (or women!) as possible to end up receiving the highest offer for selling your engagement ring as possible.
FASTER SALE, LOWER PRICE.
Time is a luxury. The longer of a sale timeline you have, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to fetch a higher price for your pre-owned diamond. If you’re in a time crunch to sell your used diamond ring, you may have to accept one of the first offers that comes your way.
TAKE YOUR TIME TO MAKE THE SALE.
Given that the best way to maximize your profit is to sell without your social network (see below on Where to Sell Your Diamond), the more time you have to wait for the perfect buyer, the more likely you are to actually sell your diamond ring for a price that feels good for you.
Of course, waiting forever results in never making a sale. That said, the less pressure you feel to rush your sale, the more likely you are to be able to wait until the perfect buyer (and sale price) comes along.
-
Mentally Prepare
Are you ready to sell your diamond?
EMOTIONALLY DETACH
As you contemplate selling your diamond, it is crucial to make sure you are truly ready to say goodbye to your loose diamond or diamond jewelry. While your diamond may have accrued sentimental as well as financial value over time, your selling price can only reflect the actual financial value of the stone.
Any sentimentality about selling your diamond or emotional attachment to your jewelry may hinder your judgment and cause you to walk away from a strong buyer offer. Unfortunately, diamond buyers will not take your emotional investment in your diamond into account as they search for a reasonable price from a calm and detached buyer.
REFRAME THE SALE
As you prepare to sell your diamond, the main thing to keep in mind is that you are focused on minimizing your loss. Keeping in mind the mark-up inherent in the diamond industry, we remind you that it is very unlikely you will make a profit off the commercial price at which you bought your diamond. While incredibly discouraging, we offer you this small piece of insider wisdom so that you are able to approach the sale realistically and with confidence.
For reference, the resale value for diamond jewelry or for selling an engagement ring is usually somewhere between 20% and 60% of their original sale value.
Evaluate Your Item
What is your diamond worth?
To best understand the range at which you’ll be able to sell your diamond jewelry or loose diamond, we encourage you to “sell around,” which is to say, to receive a few quotes from various industry buyers.
We encourage you to remember that most quotes are only good for “day of,” so returning to the same establishment might land you a different quote – but “selling around” can help you understand the market and the estimated value of your loose diamond or diamond jewelry.
Use Our Diamocycle Tools
To help you better understand the resale value of your diamond, check out our Diamond Weight Calculator – which offers a gentle estimate of how many carats your diamond might be and, in effect, how much you should sell your engagement ring for.
GET YOUR DIAMOND APPRAISED FOR A SALE
As every diamond is different, the best way to understand the value of your stone is to get an appraisal. As there are a variety of different types of appraisals, we encourage you to be clear with your appraiser regarding your ultimate goals for the stone.
Similarly, if you have already received an appraisal, but for a different purpose, it is worth having your stone reexamined with these new goals in mind, as the value of the diamond can vary significantly based on the type of appraisal. (While it is obviously non-ideal, it is simply the truth of the appraisal industry. Appraisers often shift the value of the appraisal to satisfy their customers based on the other individual on the other end of the transaction, be it a potential buyer or an insurance company.)
Lastly, we encourage you to remember that an appraisal is never a promise of a sale price, but simply a benchmark opinion of what your diamond is worth.
A Word of Caution: Understanding the Appraisal Market
Diamond appraisals, even when specifically done for a resale value, often overestimate the value of the stone and ultimately create high expectations for the seller of the diamond.
Given that the appraiser is not purchasing your stone, they have little incentive to give you a realistic quote and would rather leave with a happy customer than a customer disputing the legitimacy of their appraisal. However, in the end, this overestimation only hurts you, the seller, as sellers often then think (and hope!) that they can sell their engagement ring for more than they actually can get.
As a word of warning, we encourage you to consider your diamond appraisal as an upper boundary (but not a guarantee!) of what how much your diamond jewelry or loose diamond is worth.
To learn more about appraisals, check our Diamocycle Appraisal Guide.
ACQUIRE A GIA REPORT
We strongly recommend having a GIA report for diamonds over 1 carat, and you should never buy a diamond that does not have a GIA report. Your GIA report will help you receive a fair price for your loose diamond or diamond jewelry.
If your diamond does not have a GIA report, we strongly recommend you investigate options to acquire one prior to continuing with your sale. The presence of a GIA report will absolutely be a determining factor in you receiving the best possible price for your stone.
As you consider whether or not to pay the $250-400 for a GIA report, a good rule of thumb is to definitely get a GIA report if your diamond costs more than $5,000-$10,000 in retail.
-
Where is the best place for you to sell your diamond?
There are various places and ways to resell your used diamond or diamond jewelry. Each method of sale has its own advantages and disadvantages. While we’re happy to offer guidance on sale methods that we’d recommend and discourage you from, ultimately, this is your used diamond, and you must pick a process and resale option that works for you.
While you might not get as much as you like, we encourage you to remember you can always go somewhere that will pay you a fair price and make the experience of selling your diamond ring for cash a simple and low-stress experience.
RESEARCH YOUR BUYER
Before going to see a potential diamond buyer, do your research. We recommend researching any establishment you might sell your diamond to on the internet to ensure they have a worthy reputation and a strong business model.
You can learn more about How to Sell Your Loose Diamond or Diamond Jewelry with Our Diamocycle Guide: Where to Sell Your Diamond Jewelry
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A LOOSE DIAMOND BUYER
Make Sure Your Diamond Buyer Has a GIA-Certified Gemologist on Staff
We strongly recommend that you only sell your loose diamonds to establishments and businesses with a GIA-certified gemologist available for an appraisal. The GIA certificate will allow the gemologist on staff to ascertain value, and you will have a better chance of obtaining a fair price for your loose diamond. While a GIA certificate does not guarantee you a fair price, it does make your loose diamond a commodity that will be easier to trade at a fair market value.
While all businesses have their own model of calculating a buying price for a loose diamond, having a GIA Report on your diamond allows you to advocate for a price that you feel is fair, knowing the 4Cs (color, cut, clarity, and Carat) of your stone objectively.
Work with Someone with Whom You Feel Comfortable
Selling a diamond is an emotional decision. That’s why we always advocate that you work with someone with whom you feel comfortable. You should always feel free to ask questions of your diamond buyer. They’re the experts in the industry and should answer any questions with expertise and kindness. If you’re not treated with care and respect, they’ll likely view your sale with an equal lack of care of respect. With that in mind, we always encourage you to work with buyers who care about their customers and the industry’s overall reputation.
Work With Someone Trusted by the Industry
Given the longevity of the diamond industry, we strongly recommend working with someone who has a long-standing reputation. This long-proven track record will put you at ease and will also likely signal that your buyer has a strong and fair business practice. In addition, companies with a long history of success in the industry are able to ride out the short-term changes in the industry and will be able to provide you with a better recession-proof price. We strongly encourage you to work with someone like Diamocycle, who’s been in the diamond business for decades.
Look for a Diamond Buyer Who Values Their Customers
While we know the value of getting a good price on your diamond, we also encourage you to note your diamond buyer’s attention to customer service. This will likely create a more pleasurable selling experience, and in our experience, it often also results in a higher buying price.
It is absolutely worth requesting and demanding a transparent and clear transactional process. Not the care your buyer takes with you at the beginning of the transaction will reflect the care and thoughtfulness with which they’ll treat you throughout the consultation and sale.
At Diamocycle, we know your satisfaction is essential to our business. We take pride in our processes and providing our customers with luxury service as it befitting the diamond industry.
Where to Sell Your Diamond
There is a truly a range and diversity of places where you can sell your loose diamond or diamond jewelry. Below, we’ve attempted to list the most popular and easiest ways to sell your used engagement ring or items with a fair assessment of the trade-offs and advantages of going each route.
Is it better to sell your stone online or in your area?
As you decide to sell your loose diamond or diamond jewelry, the first decision is whether to look online or in your community. We encourage you not to approach selling a stone or preowned engagement ring as a zero-sum game. In fact, you can pursue both in-person and online options.
As you’ll read below, selling your stone to a mutual friend is obviously a slower route to selling your diamond, but one with potentially higher returns and profit. While certain in-person options listed above may offer advantages in immediacy, you may be at a disadvantage in terms of price or community reach. While you wait to see what options your personal network may yield, we encourage you also to entertain and follow some selling routes (likely online) that best speak to your parameters and selling style.
As always, the choice is yours, and we simply encourage you to make the decisions and select the sale process that feels best for you.
Selling in Person
As mentioned, in-person brick-and-mortar stores may be an easy and obvious option for where to sell your diamond jewelry.
If you have a pre-existing relationship with the owner of a jewellery shop or other establishment, you may be able to get a favorable offer for your stone. In addition, being able to simply drive to a store and make the sale today might align with the immediacy with which you need to liquidate your assets. That said, selling in person may also hamper the amount you can get for your stone based on the clientele and inventory available in your immediate community.
-
As jewelry stores have a rather stagnant inventory (especially in COVID times) and often hold their inventory for a very long time, many jewelry stores may not have the cash flow to offer you a fair market price.
The advantage of selling your diamond to a jewelry store is the immediate pay-off of same-day cash-in-hand.
That said, if you’re your loose diamond or diamond jewelry to a jewelry store, we strongly recommend working with a trusted jeweler and getting multiple (at least three!) sale quotes to ensure you’re getting a fair value for your loose diamond or diamond jewelry.
Please note that jewelers may not want to honor a previous quote or offer from another institution and may commit to less if you return after having received other quotes. It’s also worth knowing that jewelers will often take your loose diamond or diamond jewelry and sell it to a wholesaler overnight to get their working capital.
With all of this in mind, we strongly recommend that you know who you’re working with and that you know the value of the jewelry piece or loose diamond that you have, especially if it’s over 1 carat.
For more on knowing the value of your diamond, please see our pieces on diamond inheritances.
Inheriting a Diamond: How to Make Decisions in a Time of Grief and diamond appraisals
Diamond & Jewelry Appraisal 101
A Diamocycle Guide to Diamond Appraisals
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 2/10
-
To start, pawn shops are in the business of giving loans. When considering a Pawn Shop as a place to sell your loose diamond or diamond jewelry, we strongly recommend you remember that pawn shops are in the loans business, not in buying diamonds.
Pawn shops make money not by evaluating and reselling diamonds but instead by offering loans on valuable items. With that in mind, they do not have the staff or the business orientation to evaluate your stone or pay you a fair market price.
While some pawn shops have retail jewelry departments and trained gemologists, and may, as a result, be able to offer you a slightly higher offer, this type of pawn shop is rare and by no means a guarantee that you will get the best price for your diamond. In addition, these shops, at best, employ a very basic formula based on the size of your loose diamond or diamond jewelry and do not take into consideration the variety of conditions and attributes that should be considered when selling your diamond and getting a fair offer for your loose diamond or diamond jewelry.
Overall, we seek to discourage you from selling your diamond to a pawn shop, unless you have very limited options in your area and need the benefit of immediate cash that brick-and-mortar businesses offer.
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 1/10
Recommendations For Navigating Pawn Shops
While we strongly discourage you from selling your loose diamond or diamond jewelry to a pawn shop with jewelry, sometimes it is the only option available to someone in need of quick financial relief. If you do decide to take this route, please keep the following Diamocycle Recommendations in mind:
Be Prepared
Look Online at Online Sources: Buy online on places such as eBay and Etsy to understand the resale value of your diamond. We also recommend looking at online pawnshops to understand the potentially standard pricing of your item. In addition, we recommend looking at the current market value for diamond jewelry that has similar specifications as your diamond. You might also visit a jeweler to understand and better understand your loose diamond or diamond jewelry value.
Conduct a Personal Audit. If you truly are going to sell your diamond to a pawn shop with jewelry, how much money do you need to make sure your base or current need is covered? We strongly recommend coming up with an exact amount.
Also, know how much time it’ll take you to pay back a pawnshop jewelry loan of various amounts. And whatever you imagine being likely, we recommend adding a few extra days onto the length of your loan to make sure you’re well-prepared.
Examine Your Options
While pawning a loose diamond or diamond jewelry may seem like the obvious choice, we encourage you to look around your home and see if there’s anything else you might be able to pawn. Antiques, electronics, and power tools are all other high-value items that would be welcome at a pawn shop.
Prepare Yourself To Negotiate: with your pawnshop owner to get as close as possible to the value of the item. Employees and owners often start low, hoping to take advantage of consumers who are unprepared to negotiate.
Your strength for negotiating will be greatly enhanced if you know the true value of your diamond, the lowest you’ll be willing to go and if you’re willing to walk away. We also suggest letting your pawnbroker make the first offer and, from there, slowly working towards the number you want.
Know Your Pawn Shop
Visit various pawn shops with jewelry to see who might be able to offer you the best price. Based on their understanding of diamonds and the diamond resale market, various pawn shops may be able to offer you better prices.
Also, we recommend visiting local jewelry stores. While they won’t offer you a market price for your ring, they may be able to offer you a better price than your pawnshop for jewelry selling.
Deal only with pawn shops with jewelry that check IDs on every customer. Likewise, only visit pawn shops that work with local law enforcement to ensure that they are not purchasing or dealing in stolen property.
Read reviews of the pawnshop for jewelry selling to better understand the ins and outs of that specific place of business.
Rely on trusted relationships. If you or a friend or family member has a pre-existing relationship with a pawnbroker or with a pawnshop for jewelry selling, we encourage you to rely on the strength of that relationship. The pre-existing trust and relationship may allow you to get a better deal for your loose diamond or diamond jewelry.
Understand Your Terms & Conditions
Check that all fees are clearly stated and be aware of any hidden or contingent charges.
Read the fine print concerning annual interest rates. Before you sign anything, be aware of the true cost of your pawn shop jewelry loan. Make sure you understand all conditions regarding extra fees and your potentially high-interest rate. If you’re unsure of any condition or language in your contract, make sure you ask and clarify before signing.
We strongly encourage you to remember that if you miss your deadline, the pawnshop for jewelry selling has no obligation to take your money, even if you have the funds to pay back your pawn shop jewelry loan. Please make sure you agree to terms that you truly believe you can meet, if you decide to pawn your diamond.
-
While this is a much better open than selling to a pawn shop, be warned that the sales process often takes a significant amount of time. In addition, as it is a brick-and-mortar store, the business will also need to cover its overhead, which is deducted from your selling price.
As you navigate your local consignment shop, we encourage you to consider all of the pieces of advice listed above as they pertain to your consignment shop of choice.
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 3/10
-
If you have a truly exceptional piece of high-value rare diamond jewelry (something in the appraised value of $100,000), we would say that pursuing the fine auction house avenue is not a bad idea. Diamond dealers have been known to buy large and important loose diamonds or diamond jewelry at these auction houses.
The pros of an auction house such as Sotheby’s and/or Christie’s, are that you are exposed to wealthy buyers. The auction house will handle appraising, certifying, and marketing the sale of your diamond, creating the potential of selling your diamond for a high price.
If you’re approaching an auction house, we strongly recommend having a GIA Certificate, a detailed record of provenance (box, purchase receipt), and any past appraisals handy to help you get the full value of your loose diamond or diamond jewelry.
Generally, auction houses can charge both the seller and the buyer of the piece a fee, depending on the sale value of the diamond. We strongly recommend researching past auction house sales for pieces similar to your diamond to get an idea of what your item might sell for.
As you may know, large and important diamonds are similar to art pieces. They can be sold and handled by auction houses for a well-facilitated trade in a quite distinct market from commercial diamond jewelry. That said, if your piece merits the attention of a fine auction house, we recommend you proceed with caution.
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 7/10
-
SELLING IN-PERSON: THROUGH A MUTUAL FRIEND
If you have a friend or a friend of a friend getting married or in search of a loose diamond or diamond ring, this could be an amazing way to sell a diamond ring, loose diamond or piece of diamond jewelry.
We strongly recommend getting your loose diamond or diamond jewelry appraised for a fair secondary-market price. At the diamond appraisal, we recommend asking the gemologist what they would sell the loose diamond or diamond jewelry for were it in a consignment case, which will often be less than the new piece of jewelry.
A Quick Reminder: You are unlikely to ever recoup the cost of a new loose diamond or piece of diamond jewelry. While unfortunate, it’s the sad truth of modern commercial diamonds. The best thing you can do is simply try to limit your loss.
With this in mind, a private individual can be a great way to move a loose diamond or piece of diamond jewelry on and maximize your sale value. When selling to a private individual, make sure that you are not liable for charging or reporting sales tax, or, if you are, make sure you do so accordingly.
In addition, we again warn you to be careful in regards to your personal safety. As well you can imagine, it can be potentially dangerous to sell a high value piece to someone you don’t know. That said, we estimate you should be safe if you are selling a diamond within your social circle to a friend of a friend.
While seeing a piece of jewelry from a divorce worn by a close friend may be socially complicated, we imagine that selling a diamond to a friend of a friend (or someone who has a degree of separation from the event that might lead you to sell a diamond) is hopefully far enough removed to spare any social friction and close-enough to guarantee you a great price and a simple transaction.
Overall, selling a loose diamond or piece of diamond jewelry within your social circle is a strong and fairly safe way to get the most for an item in the resale market without paying a middle man, auction house, jeweler, or pawnshop. While it may take some time and a bit of legwork, we think this is a strong way to sell diamond jewelry with a high potential for recouping the cost of the diamond.
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 8/10
Selling Online
Given the variety of online marketplace and access points to sell your diamond online, we believe that seeking to sell your stone or jewelry online will give you the largest variety of options and the highest sell offer.
Simply put, selling your loose diamond or diamond jewelry online offers you a level of exposure and expansion of a selling audience that simply cannot be matched by a brick-and-mortar store. By sharing your stone or item with an online audience, you’re increasing the exposure of your stone beyond your immediate community and increasing the inherent demand for your stone.
The increased exposure your item receives with an online audience and the ability to share your stone beyond the confines of your current geography are two compelling reasons you should strongly consider selling your pre-owned diamond jewelry or engagement ring online.
Lastly, given the in-person selling options, our highest recommendation is to sell to someone you know – this type of personal network connection isn’t excluded when you sell online. In fact, you can even expand your reach by selling to your personal network by making an online post.
What to Look for in an Online Buyer
That said, no matter where and how you sell your diamond online, we recommend you to aim to sell with an option that offers the following things:
1. Free & Insured Shipping and Return Shipping
Not all online diamond retailers are created equal. We encourage you to look for an online diamond retailer who will insure the shipment of your diamond, cover your incoming diamond shipment, and also offer an option for return shipping should you decide not to sell your diamond, engagement ring, or diamond jewelry to them.
2. Top Quality Customer Service
While diamonds grace the shelves of a variety of merchants – from Pawn Ships to Tiffany & Co. Jewelers, you can decide to what type of online merchant you’d like to sell your diamond, diamond jewelry, or engagement ring. While sentimental value, unfortunately, cannot factor into the amount you’ll receive for your loose diamond or diamond jewelry, you can at least make the decision to work with a vendor who treats you with respect and offers a confidential, luxurious selling experience.
3. The Option to Work with a Gemologist / Years of Experience in the Industry
It’s always essential to know the 4Cs of your diamond (color, cut, clarity, and Carat) and beyond that, we strongly recommend selling your diamond to an online diamond buyer that likewise has the capability to likewise align on the specifications of your diamond jewelry or loose diamonds. Whether it’s by offering a GIA evaluation, having a gemologist on-site, or having decades in the industry – the more your online diamond buyer knows and understands the value of your diamond, the better a price you’ll be able to receive for your loose diamond or diamond jewelry.
4. A Clear and Transparent Process
We absolutely agree that dropping a diamond in the mail to an online diamond buyer you’ve never met can be a daunting prospect. With that in mind, we strongly encourage you to only work with online vendors who offer a clear and transparent process. Along with insuring your package, you’ll want to understand what happens should you decide not to sell your diamond. Beyond that, we encourage you to fully understand any and all fees or charges that may arise through the diamond evaluating and selling process.
5. A Respectful and Timely Exchange
Beyond that, we encourage you to enter into a conversation with your online diamond buyer. Be clear with them about your hopeful price range that you’d be willing to sell your diamond and their anticipated timeline you’d prefer for receiving your funds. By making sure all parts of your online selling process are clear, you’re not only establishing trust but setting yourself up for success.
-
The most profitable way to sell your stone is through your own community and network.
To increase your sale awareness and exposure, we encourage you to make an online post and share it with your community. By creating your own post, you don’t have to worry about any overhead or bureaucracy in selling your diamond. However, we do encourage you to take the utmost caution in the transfer of your diamond to its new owner. Whether you’re doing so by mail or in-person, as you’re conducting the sale yourself – your own safety and the safety of your stone are truly in your own hands!
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 9/10
-
The value of selling online to your personal network is that you have previously accumulated social capital to keep create trust and support a high sale price of your preowned diamond jewelry or stone.
When you sell via an online peer-to-peer marketplace that includes an online audience outside of your immediate network, you no longer have the social capital and trust to ask for the highest price for your used stone or diamond jewelry.
While we strongly encourage you to consider selling your used diamond jewelry online, we recommend you proceed with caution when using a peer-to-peer marketplace. Unlike online retailers and diamond resale businesses, an online peer-to-peer marketplace allows you to interface directly with your buyer. While this affords you the advantage of eliminating any user fees or middlemen, you are also directly responsible for your safety and the process through which your diamond is sold.
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 4/10
OUR DIAMOCYCLE CHECKLIST FOR AN ONLINE DIAMOND SALE POSTING
Have you listed your item with a Credible GIA Report?
Do you have multiple, real, clear, high-quality photos from a variety of standard angles?
Have you clearly indicated whether your selling price is firm or negotiable?
What will you say about your item in the listing to attract potential buyers?
Have you priced your item reasonably based on your research?
In addition, as always, make sure that you must be safe and responsible in your online dealings. If you must meet in person to exchange the stone, please make sure to do so in a public place and let a loved one know about your transaction details.
-
While E-Bay may seem like an amazing intersection of accessibility and reliability, we recommend E-Bay to the average user with several large caveats.
E-Bay has over 1 million pieces of the jewelry listed. Many of these listings have the backing of specialized companies or accounts with their own offerings of professional photos, strong sales track records, and often the ability to offer an appraisal or GIA report with purchase. While this might signal that E-Bay is the perfect place to sell your diamond online, we strongly recommend remembering that all these sales and professional-looking listings are now your direct competitors. Since fraud is an issue on E-Bay, especially with online diamond sales, most buyers feel more comfortable buying loose diamonds or diamond jewelry from a vendor with a long track record of success. Likewise, if you’re a first-time seller, we would also caution you to be on the lookout for fraud via your buyers as well!
This is to say, if you already have an established track record of selling on eBay, this could be a great option. Otherwise, we think your chances of successfully selling your diamond online on E-Bay will, unfortunately, be slim, given both the newness of your account, the high value (and potential of fraud!) for your item, and the fact that your limited history will make selling your loose diamond or diamond jewelry extraordinarily difficult.
While E-Bay does sell everything, it doesn’t mean it’s always the easiest to sell anything on it.
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 4/10
-
While selling a diamond online on Craigslist is possible, we do not recommend it. Like E-Bay, our top concerns are your own safety in selling your loose diamond or diamond jewelry, the time spent marketing and selling on the platform, and getting an independent appraisal to offer the piece for sale.
Beyond that, if you’re not in the diamond trade, setting a price that honors the value of your diamond and also makes it accessible on Craigslist might be rather challenging. When setting a price, we suggest asking a jeweler, assuming you trust them and feel they have no conflict of interest.
Given that Craigslist purchases often happen in person, we strongly recommend that you are wise and take the utmost precaution if you take this route to sell your loose diamond or diamond jewelry.
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 4/10
-
Online diamond auctions for consumers are an interesting way to connect diamond sellers and diamond buyers. Please note that this section is addressing not E-Bay but rather more specialized diamond-specific places to sell your diamond online.
In these contexts, we recommend keeping the following options in mind. Often, the seller or online-auction space will remove the diamond from the piece and have the loose diamond independently certified to assure its quality. As removing the jewel from its setting can often damage the setting of the jewelry piece, we recommend understanding what happens if your loose diamond is removed and your diamond jewelry piece is not sold.
In addition, we strongly recommend that you understand the auction site’s fee structure, how they have served past clients, and their procedure if any damage is incurred in the removal of the diamond or if, after removal, the piece is not sold.
While these are some of the obvious cons of selling your diamond online via an online jewelry auction, it is also a beneficial space as it connects a seller to multiple buyers. That said, it is absolutely worth keeping in mind the site’s fee structure, the time it might take to find a seller, the inherent fluctuations in price depending on demand and who sees your listing, and the fact that there is always the uncertainty that a bidder may not be able to meet the price they have bid. A question worth asking the auction site is what happens if a buyer cannot commit to their stated auction price for your loose diamond or diamond jewelry.
Lastly, we’d also like to remind you that buyers are coming to an online auction price to get a good deal, which means it is unlikely you will receive the full market value for your stone, despite potentially having an accessible way to share your loose diamond or diamond jewelry with multiple sellers.
While many online diamond auctions are seen as highly reputable, insured, and have long track records of exposing buyers to sellers worldwide, these sites are generally not open to the public unless you are a member of the jewelry or diamond trade and have been vetted by the company conducting the auction. With that in mind, auctions in theory are lovely, but in practice, they offer as much pitfall as they do potential.
DIAMOCYCLE SELLER SCORE: 6/10
-
Unsurprisingly, we believe the best place to sell your loose diamond or diamond jewelry is to sell your diamond online with Diamocycle. We offer fast payment, have an expert appraiser on staff, and have a family legacy in the diamond trade since 1857.
Unlike brick-and-mortar stores, we have the advantage of being a digital business with no pressure to resell your loose diamond or diamond jewelry immediately. Likewise, our family legacy in the business makes us a trusted business partner and a diamond expert for all delicate transactions. Our legacy in handling diamonds gives us access to various resources that allow us to offer you a market-rate value for your diamond. At the same time, our appraisal process promises a smooth and efficient process to ensure you are paid quickly and fairly.
Unlike exclusive diamond auction sites, we are accessible to all customers and sellers of loose diamonds or diamond jewelry. We also differ from peer-to-peer networks. Our mediated and facilitated process promises buyers an excellent selection and sellers’ fair prices and vetted, confirmed buyers through a safe and efficient sales process. Lastly, we are insured through JM Shipping Solutions to offer you security every step of the way.
We take pride in taking care of our customers, and our hands-on customer support is there to help you every step of the way. Our vetted and insured process makes sure that you are always protected and can truly get the best value for your stone.
What to Remember on The Big Day
When it comes to the big selling day, it can be nerve-wracking, but there are a few things to keep in mind when selling:
-
You never have to sell your diamond. If your potential buyer pressures you into a transaction or makes you feel uncomfortable, we strongly encourage you to walk away. The diamond buyer who pressures you is not an ethical or fair buyer, and likely, is also not offering you a full or truly competitive price.
Selling a loose diamond can be an emotional experience, and you never want to work with someone who may take advantage of your emotional vulnerability.
-
No matter how you’re selling your stone – don’t forget to bring or include the supporting documents to help you fetch the price you’re hoping to seek. This may include GIA reports, insurance apprisals, or original receipts.
By bringing and including this documentation, you’re helping your potential buyer understand the value of your diamond and that you know the value of your diamond. By offering this context to your diamond buyer, you’re helping to set the stage to get a strong sales offer for your loose diamond.
-
GIven that you are conducting a high-value transaction – we encourage you to always operate with your personal safety and the security of your stone as your highest priorities.
If You’re Mailing Your Diamond:
Insure the Stone with Your Insurance Agency
Insure the Shipping Of Your Stone with USPS
Enable Tracking & Delivery Signature
Communicate to Your Seller the Steps You’re Undertaking to Ensure a Successful Sale
If You’re Meeting In-Person:
Meet in a Public Place
Ensure That Someone Knows Where You Are
Never Give Your Address to a Stranger
Only Accept Cash
Make Sure You Test or Can Identify Counterfeit Bills
-
As mentioned, selling a diamond can be a daunting and emotional experience. As always, we encourage you to trust your gut, stay focused on your priorities, and choose the process that feels the best to you.
While selling a diamond absolutely has its challenges it can be a rewarding and liberating experience that allows you to pursue opportunities and live the life you’ve imagined for yourself.
We wish you luck in your diamond selling process.
~Diamocycle