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Whiteflash's Upgrade Policy- for owners of non-Whiteflash diamonds.

M

mikef

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Messages
5
Hello members,

I have been a member for a while, but have never posted anything before. I just wanted to give everyone a "heads-up" that Whitefish is not accepting non-Whiteflash diamonds for trade-in anymore. I was told that "it does not fit their business model." I just wanted to let everyone know who may be considering going this route so as to avoid any disappointment later!
 
Hi! I can confirm your statement. I am upgrading my earrings and have not decided on what to do with my old ones. WF is one vendor I am considering for my new earrings, and I read about their trade-in policy and was curious what they would offer me.

My current earrings are each 1ct, purchased loose, AGS super ideal. They said they were not interested in them.

So that seems to be consistent with what you experienced as well.

Thanks for sharing. I thought it was just me and my lousy earrings! =)2
 
Well that is too bad.
I know that MGR traded in her diamond in the past for an ACA, and then just recently upgraded that ACA to a larger one.
 
cflutist said:
Well that is too bad.
I know that MGR traded in her diamond in the past for an ACA, and then just recently upgraded that ACA to a larger one.
Click to expand...

Must be selective trade-in then as the website does say they do take trade-ins which is why I even thought about it.
 
They are selective with what they take in that is non-WF former inventory (not including ACA, ES, etc.). I talked with them about trading in one I had but it wasn’t something they were interested in or didn’t marry up with what they offer. No biggee ... it’s totally at their discretion, not a guarantee. I think that’s one of the values in buying from them (or BGD, HPD, etc) in the first place - they do take their own inventory back in trade.
 
I traded in my gia xxx for an aca in February. Maybe they have changed their policy recently or they only take stones that will be able to become premium select or expert selection.
 
interesting!
 
In case others are interested...
on HPD, they are the other vendor I am considering... to get a pair of CBI earrings.

The SA at HPD did offer me a trade-in value, but it was only to sell to another source. Obviously HPD CBI have strict requirements on their stones so they are not going to recycle my stone, but HPD was very nice offering to sell them for me.

I hope some of you find this info helpful. I never even thought about selling old diamonds until I read it on PS so you ladies gave me this idea. Seems quite common I guess.
 
ceg said:
I traded in my gia xxx for an aca in February. Maybe they have changed their policy recently or they only take stones that will be able to become premium select or expert selection.
Click to expand...

I was surprised actually as my two stones are both AGS 000 super ideal. But I think you are right... if they feel there is low demand for that clarity/color, they will pass.
 
cflutist said:
Well that is too bad.
I know that MGR traded in her diamond in the past for an ACA, and then just recently upgraded that ACA to a larger one.
Click to expand...
Yes, I traded in my AGS0 diamond for the first ACA in January 2017. I sort of figured that the program wouldn't last forever or that they might become inundated with requests. It was a nice gateway for me to own an ACA stone and I'm sorry for others that the program didn't last. You always have the option of consigning with some of the other companies or in the alternative, to try and sell a diamond on your own.
 
I am sure glad that I was able to use that program when it was available. I am known to be quite lazy about selling stuff so I may not have ever done it. I would check back every few months to see if they change their policy. It may just be that they have sufficient inventory right now.
 
MissGotRocks said:
Yes, I traded in my AGS0 diamond for the first ACA in January 2017. I sort of figured that the program wouldn't last forever or that they might become inundated with requests. It was a nice gateway for me to own an ACA stone and I'm sorry for others that the program didn't last. You always have the option of consigning with some of the other companies or in the alternative, to try and sell a diamond on your own.
Click to expand...

Hi! I was wondering who is MGR and was hoping the real MGR would respond! I am still learning who PSers are! I'm glad you were able to trade yours in.
 
Miki Moto said:
Hi! I was wondering who is MGR and was hoping the real MGR would respond! I am still learning who PSers are! I'm glad you were able to trade yours in.
Click to expand...
Hi Miki! It is me - takes awhile to learn all the names but you'll get the hang of it. Glad you are here with us!
 
I am sure they were getting many requests, and in the past they did this very rarely. They really don't need to purchase diamonds for their inventory this way, so it was certainly a courtesy for them to do so. I am very happy for those who have been able to do it, but I totally can see why this would be difficult for WF to have so many requests and possibly having to refuse some or make lower offers than some customers would be expecting due to various factors.
 
oh wow. I did this in October. so thankful I got in under the wire
 
mikef said:
Hello members,

I have been a member for a while, but have never posted anything before. I just wanted to give everyone a "heads-up" that Whitefish is not accepting non-Whiteflash diamonds for trade-in anymore. I was told that "it does not fit their business model." I just wanted to let everyone know who may be considering going this route so as to avoid any disappointment later!
Click to expand...

@mikef -

Did they explicitly say they no longer do it for any diamonds at all? A number of people have done trade-ins with WF recently, so I'm wondering if it was your stone specifically.

WF only offers this option rarely, so anybody thinking of this should be aware that WF reject more than they accept.
 
I believe they only take very select stones. I just traded in my studs for an upgrade to ACA studs. My stones were D VVS1 GIA XXX. They were very high quality stones. Therefore I do think they cherry pick stones and won’t accept just any Gia or AGS certified stones. I just traded them in last week, so I don’t believe they don’t do that trade in at all.
 
mrs-b said:
@mikef -

Did they explicitly say they no longer do it for any diamonds at all? A number of people have done trade-ins with WF recently, so I'm wondering if it was your stone specifically.

WF only offers this option rarely, so anybody thinking of this should be aware that WF reject more than they accept.
Click to expand...
 
Hello mrs-b! I can tell you that I was told by the lady that she can always ask for an exception to be made, but that it is not common. The discussion was initiated when I had questions (including if it was eye-clean) about a 3.267 ct. I-color SI-1 Expert Selection stone. I found out that it wasn't eye-clean. Then I explained that I had "accidentally and inadvertently" purchased a 3-carat Expert Selection stone through a diamond broker. I KNOW this is the case because I have the original Whitefish listing AND the SAME-NUMBERED AGS certificate which matches it! I was trying to find out if I had any trade-in options (I would like to go just a little bigger and MAYBE to an ACA)! This stone is a BEAUTY: very white, brilliant, and a lively fireball! The hearts kept it from being an ACA. I would have liked to get to be able to trade up, but I do not want to pay many thousands of dollars more when I already have a nice Expert Selection stone! Maybe she didn't go further because I let her know that I wasn't interested in the 3.267 because of the eye-visibles. My stone is super- clean! She seemed very nice though!
 
My stones were SI1 E and SI2 E, both are HOF AGS 000, 1.0ct each. WF said there is little demand for SI stones that are colorless.
 
They will only take a trade in for a stone that costs double the amount of the offer. For example, if they offer you $1000 for your stone, you must purchase a stone that costs at least $2000. I can see that this might limit the trade ins of higher priced stones.
 
I can certainly see where there could be confusion about the policy for taking trade-ins for non-Whiteflash diamonds! Since we have just made an important change to our policy, this is a good time for some clarifications.

We have always been open to opportunities to make these trades from a standpoint of getting customers into our branded diamonds. And up until about two years ago we did not publicly offer it, only considering it on a case by case basis upon customer inquiry. We found that we were doing these on a fairly regular basis, and it seemed to be popular, so the decision was made to make it a more defined and published part of our process, with certain restrictions and caveats made clear on our life-time trade up page. As you might imagine, at that point we began to get many more inquiries.

We recently reviewed the effectiveness of the program in view of two years history as a published policy and we discovered several things. First, we spend a lot of time analyzing potential trades and communicating with the customer about it. In the vast majority of cases, a transaction never materializes. There is a major rub in non-WF diamond process that is completely absent when we do trade-ups to our in-house diamonds at 100% of original value. With customer diamonds, there is often a perception that the offers we make are too low because of the original price paid or because of perceived value. We found ourselves many times offering MORE than we could expect to get back out, just to try to accommodate a trade and bring a customer over to a Whiteflash diamond which then has full lifetime 100% benefits. And then there is the PR effect. If customers engage with us, don’t get the offer they hoped for, and end up feeling disappointed for reasons over which we have no control, then that is a flawed business practice!

In some cases, we would find issues with the diamonds when they were finally sent in - Scratches, chips, haziness, significant light performance deficits that were not evident from the reports. That would result in a new round of ‘bad news’ communications. In short, the negatives outweighed the positives of the policy and within the last week we have removed the section regarding non-WF trades from our website.

Like other policies, we always want to be as flexible as possible. As is clear from some of the posts in this thread, some pricescopers have been happy with the trades we have managed for them. So we will continue to listen to inquiries, but we will be judicious in deciding when it makes sense (for both parties) to actually engage in the process. We need to be sure it’s a win/win.

If there are any additional questions about our policy I will be happy to try to address them.
 
mikef said:
Hello mrs-b! I can tell you that I was told by the lady that she can always ask for an exception to be made, but that it is not common. The discussion was initiated when I had questions (including if it was eye-clean) about a 3.267 ct. I-color SI-1 Expert Selection stone. I found out that it wasn't eye-clean. Then I explained that I had "accidentally and inadvertently" purchased a 3-carat Expert Selection stone through a diamond broker. I KNOW this is the case because I have the original Whitefish listing AND the SAME-NUMBERED AGS certificate which matches it! I was trying to find out if I had any trade-in options (I would like to go just a little bigger and MAYBE to an ACA)! This stone is a BEAUTY: very white, brilliant, and a lively fireball! The hearts kept it from being an ACA. I would have liked to get to be able to trade up, but I do not want to pay many thousands of dollars more when I already have a nice Expert Selection stone! Maybe she didn't go further because I let her know that I wasn't interested in the 3.267 because of the eye-visibles. My stone is super- clean! She seemed very nice though!
Click to expand...

That's certainly in line with my experience. I've had a stone accepted and one rejected by WF, but I consider myself VERY lucky. Since this service is a long way out of the norm for most diamond businesses, I think those of us who were able to take advantage of this program were all lucky!

@mikef - I really hope this works out for you and that you find your dream diamond. Hang in there - it's worth the struggle!

Good luck!
 
@Texas Leaguer the policy makes sense and your transparency is appreciated. One thought is if WF had a partnership with a company you trust to give fair offers to potential customers, that could some uncertainty/risk/friction out for people looking to switch to a WF stone. No idea how feasible that would be.
 
bludiva said:
@Texas Leaguer the policy makes sense and your transparency is appreciated. One thought is if WF had a partnership with a company you trust to give fair offers to potential customers, that could some uncertainty/risk/friction out for people looking to switch to a WF stone. No idea how feasible that would be.
Click to expand...
That is a good idea and that is actually what we do. In the cases where a stone would fit into one of our in-house categories (sometimes with a re-cut) we would simply offer the equivalent of our replacement cost including any fees to make the stone ready for sale. If it would not fit into one of our in-house categories, we would bid it out to this very reputable buying company. We would offer our customer the same price (or even more as I indicated above), to try to make the trade possible. In other words, we do not make any money on the purchase. And if we did, the problem with the program would be aggravated! That part is all done as a service to accommodate the customer's desire to trade up to one of our diamonds.
The reaction to the offers too often felt like the old saying 'no good deed goes unpunished' :|
 
Gotcha, well that is human nature i guess =P ...we think our things are worth more than logic might dictate aka endowment effect. I see how that would be untenable business-wise.
 
bludiva said:
Gotcha, well that is human nature i guess =P ...we think our things are worth more than logic might dictate aka endowment effect. I see how that would be untenable business-wise.
Click to expand...
On the flip side, you can certainly see why a trade-up benefit, like many of the vendors participating here offer and which provides for 100% stored value on a diamond purchase, is so popular. Even if you never use it, it's good to know you have it in your back pocket!
 
Texas Leaguer said:
On the flip side, you can certainly see why a trade-up benefit, like many of the vendors participating here offer and which provides for 100% stored value on a diamond purchase, is so popular. Even if you never use it, it's good to know you have it in your back pocket!
Click to expand...

And this is precisely why my dear son just purchased an ACA for his FF. Just in case. ;-)

Well, also because they are gorgeous for sure!
 
The change to the policy makes total sense. When my husband bought my ring, he did buy from a vendor jeweler that had an upgrade policy, but they went out of business a few years ago so we never got to use it! Im hoping that for a big birthday/anniversary, I’ll be able to get an ACA!
 
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