How to sell a Diamond

Below is some email correspondence between the public and our staff, which discloses good information (via questions and answers) about selling an unwanted diamond or item of jewellery. The name of each person making the enquiry has been removed for privacy reasons.

Note: The "Enquiry" is the question to us and the "Reply" is the answer from us.

27/08/10 > Enquiry: I have a 18ct white gold bridal set and a 9ct gold mens wedding ring. Can you tell me the average selling times of items on your website i am not really wanting to wait up to 12 months to sell the items they are brand new never worn purchased from michael hill jewellers.

27/08/10 > Reply: The engagementrings.com.au classifieds is one of the highest ranked jewellery classifieds and directory sites, so items advertised will get good exposure. Sometimes an item is advertised and sold within days and other times the advertiser never gets any enquiry in 12 months. We cannot predict success as it depends on the item, how the ad is presented, worded and how much the asking price is.
If you are after a guaranteed fast sale then the only way is to sell it to a pawn-broker or a gold buying business, however these type of businesses usually offer a fraction of the price of what an item is worth. For example: I have recently been told by a lady that she was offered $300.00 by a pawnbroker for her ring that she bought for $4500.00. If she decided to sell it privately she could reasonably ask 5 times more money.
Hope this information was useful to you.

19/09/10 > Enquiry: I have recently divorced and wish to sell my engagement ring.  I came across your details on an internet search.
My engagement ring was purchased from Paul Bram in Melbourne CBD in December 1996.  It is a brilliant cut 0.5 carat diamond G-H/VS hand mounted in 18ct gold rubbed in setting ring with two gold beads on the shoulders.  I have the original valuation certificate and original purchase receipt.   I also have the matching wedding ring (also Paul Bram) which is cut to fit the engagement ring.  The engagement ring was valued at $4750 in 1996, and from my enquiries a wholesale price for a diamond of this quality today would be somewhere in the vicinity of $1500 - $2000.
I have tried selling the ring on ebay with no success and simply want an assurance that it will sell for around the price I have indicated.  Is your
service able to do this for me? I am able to forward some photographs of it including of the valuation.

21/09/10 > Reply: We don't purchase any rings or jewellery. We do broker certain loose diamonds only. We do not do valuations, however you can find a local gemmologist / valuer by searching here: http://www.engagementrings.com.au/search_jewellers.php
There are many businesses out there that will buy your ring, however they usually offer scrap value, which is a fraction of what the item is worth when was new. If you would like a better price then I recommend that you either ask a reputable jeweller to sell it for you on consignment or sell it yourself privately.  We have a classifieds service, which you may be interested to advertise your ring in.
Please click here:
http://www.engagementrings.com.au/jewellery_classifieds.php
Even though you have two rings, you can just do 1 ad for the engagement ring and include the wedding ring in the same ad. We do not take any commission for this service. We only charge a once off $49.50 fee for a 12 month listing. To get some further selling advice please click here:
http://www.engagementrings.com.au/jewellery_selling_tips.php

04/10/10 > Enquiry: i have a diamond for sale measure:6.55x3.8mmweight:1.032ct cut:good, color G, clarity s11, fluorescence strong blue. how much would it sell for? how much comission? how long would it take to sell? are you interrested in listing this item?

09/10/10 > Reply: The competitive market price (online diamond dealers selling at the minimum price) averages around $5000 for your diamond. If we were to sell it to a dealer we will price it for $3000.00 (Strong fluorescence makes it harder to sell. If it had nil - medium fluorescence I could ask the dealer around $3500.00+.) Our commission would be 10% if we sold it for $3000.00, however we can reduce our commission down to a minimum 5% if the price had to be reduced further in order to make the sale. If we advertised it in our classifieds section we will aim to sell your diamond to a private buyer, so we will then ask for $4500.00. Our commission will be 10%, so you would get $4050.00 after the sale takes place. This method is best, however it can take a long time. For example we have an advertiser that had his diamond listed with us for around 6 months and it's still not sold and recently one of our other advertisers sold her diamond within 3 days after it was listed in our classifieds.  (The price you list the diamond for will play a big part on how long it takes to sell.) If you prefer we can list your diamond to sell it privately and get a higher amount and in case it doesn't sell we can then try and sell it to a dealer. This at least will give you a chance to get more money, but it's entirely up to you as it's your diamond. If you don't want to pay us any commission we can still list your diamond, however buyers will have to deal with you directly. We cannot act as a middle-man unless we take a commission.

Please note: The prices I am recommending above are minimum prices that should be appealing to dealers and private buyers. There is a lot of competition and prices on the internet so to have an advantage you need to list the diamond lower than what diamond dealers sell online, otherwise why would someone pay more for a pre owned diamond than a new diamond?
Please see this form for some information on the advertising process:
http://www.diamonds.com.au/sell_my_diamond.php