Help Selling a Diamond for a Friend

[chicagohills]

Hello all... Long time no talky.

We have a friend who is interested in selling a 2.05 carat round brilliant, SI1 and G/H. She has no certifications or papers on the stone, so we're not exactly sure how she knows those stats. It's in a simple six-prong Tiffany setting.

Any thoughts on the best way for her to go about selling this stone? We're guessing that sending it off the be certified would be one way to go, but I'm not sure if she wants to pay for that. Money is very tight for her right now, hence her selling the stone in the first place. She also is selling an 18k band that was hand-carved in England.

Attaching photos -- I tried to get some good macros but this was the one that seemed to turn out best. It's very white and clean to the eye.

 

[chicagohills]

Photo of the band...

 

[Rhea]

The band looks gorgeous.

There are a few threads on selling items with ideas and websites recommended. You may want to do a search. I would like that the ring would need to have it''s stats confirmed before it could be consigned if that''s the route you go.

 

[oldminer]

There are many "buyers" of diamonds and gold these days. Your friend needs someone who will remove the diamond, weigh it and properly grade it. Then they should make her what they consider a fair offer without any obligation on her part to accept on the spot. This may be difficult to do where she lives, but it can be done. She can readily see what well cut diamonds of any particular weight, color and clarity retail for via the Pricescope search and she must lower her hopes to a fraction of such retail prices or she will not sell the diamond back into the trade. Dealers just don''t pay retail prices. The only bargain left in diamonds is in buying used, or unwanted ones, from consumers. I buy used diamonds if I believe I can get them resold, but most consumers just can''t settle for the hard facts of retained value in what is best called a distress sale.

If she is prepared to accept 25% to 40% of "retail" she may sell the diamond. The percentage is up to her, the dealer and the desirability of the individual diamond. If she is stuck on a higher percentage, then she will get to keep the diamond and not get the needed cash. It is a tough world and reality is all there is. Very few gold items will bring more than scrap value. It is easier to ascertain gold value than diamond value because there are basic intrinsic elements to gold pricing not found with diamonds.

 

[denverappraiser]

First, decide on your marketing strategy. Getting real GIA paperwork is going to be absolutely necessary before it lands in the hands of the next consumer but it may be your buyer or your broker who actually hires the lab. Any repair work needs to be done first or the lab money will have been wasted so it’s important to get an expert opinion of the current state of things. If you’re going to be selling directly to a consumer and you expect to get top dollar you have little choice but to do it but if you’re going to be consigning it through or selling it to a dealer you may want to wait. In general, I think an appraisal from a qualified appraiser is useful in this situation and well worth the money because it gives you a straight discussion of what you have and what you can expect but the next best thing if you just can’t or won't spring for professional services is to do some free legwork with the various dealers and commercial buyers. Most will give you free advice about what they can do for you and by comparing the advice from several you can get a feel for how that channel is likely to work. Talk both to places that want to consign it and places that want to buy it outright.

A word of warning. Some buyers will want to do destructive testing on the metal and I would NOT let them do it unless you’re on the brink of a deal. It’s fair for them to say that they won’t give you money until they do their test but it’s entirely reasonable for you to ask what price they would be offering assuming the test comes out positive and assuming that this is insufficient, stop the process prior to any damaging tests.

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