Guy goes undercover to show markups at major jewelers

[Danny83]

http://m.worldstarhiphop.com/apple/v...9g16Ab4yG12B3d

[1William]

Interesting.

[Watchflair]

I'm surprised more people wouldn't already know this. They may select top end diamonds quality wise but their diamonds are the same diamonds available on the open market.
The only thing the video is flawed is that he didn't get a GIA or EGL report on the diamond or know all of the specs on the diamond, which I can't imagine are 100% visible on the tag.

[Watchflair]

.

[Maxy]

Its same as any other business but diamonds are different as they are based on clarity, precision cut and type of diamond etc. There are so many variations thats the reason Jewelry stores use that to do huge markup's. But that doesn't mean its the same diamond everywhere. Even their own store will have different prices for similar looking diamonds. Overall I agree there is a huge markup racket but the guy doesn't do much to prove that. He really don't know the worth and where they are getting their diamonds and what quality/level/clarity.

[bdex75]

My wife and I were just talking about this the other day. Does anyone think that resale is better on these "name brand" diamonds??? If not blue nile or another database like that seems the way to go. At least to get pricing information. And I believe that is all BN is. It is not a "wholesale" site but simply a data collection site.


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[Etschell]

Originally Posted by Danny83

http://m.worldstarhiphop.com/apple/v...9g16Ab4yG12B3d

i used to do inventory theft losses for insurance companies. the markup is 100-150% most times.

[Ferdelious]

If for some reason I ever need to replace my wife's ring I'm 100% purchasing it from Costco.

[.brian.]

Originally Posted by Ferdelious

If for some reason I ever need to replace my wife's ring I'm 100% going with cubic zirconia.

Fixed.

[Wesley Crusher]

Diamonds are the biggest scam in the world. They're the best example of marketing at its finest and people caving in to societal pressure.

[Ferdelious]

Originally Posted by .brian.

Fixed.

Actually a great call, that could make room for a couple Rolex incomings.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by Watchflair

I'm surprised more people wouldn't already know this. They may select top end diamonds quality wise but their diamonds are the same diamonds available on the open market.
The only thing the video is flawed is that he didn't get a GIA or EGL report on the diamond or know all of the specs on the diamond, which I can't imagine are 100% visible on the tag.

Couldn't say it any better.

[Snow-Dweller]

Very interesting Danny.

[PaulRP]

Great post. I wish more people would do their research when purchasing precious stones, especially diamonds.

[nick c]

Wow just crazy thanks for sharing Danny

[Star Ferry]

I ordered my wife's ring through Amazon and spent under $5K on it. She said she wanted a bigger one, and I told her to go fly a kite

I think the jewelry shops need big markups due to insurance, rent (typically ground floor retail in a nice area), inventory financing, and the cost of decent salespeople. But they can't compete with wholesalers -- with possible exception of Cartier and Tiffany, who have marketing on their side

[BLACKHORSE 6]

A diamond from one of those stores? No way.

But some of their other stuff may be worth it. My cousin bought his wife a Cartier love bracelet, and I can see the appeal.

[VICI]

Tiffany doesn't spec their diamonds as GIA would so not sure how this guy was able to accurately gauge the color & clarity with the naked eye.

Whoever walks into these top stores and can afford is hopefully smart enough to realize the premium.

[Xenophon]

I agree that diamonds are massively marked up. In the UK a diamond that is priced at £2000GBP in the store will have cost the jeweller £800GBP (remove VAT and half the price). The mantra "Spend two months salary on an engagement ring" is pure marketing invented by De Beers.

[jmiicustomz]

Yep, take your expensive diamond ring back to the jeweler you bought it from and see what they offer to buy it back for 5, 10, 20 years later. You want a nice ring for a reasonable price. Go to the local pawn shops and look around after you have done your research and know what to look for.

To know the future is to be trapped by it

[Cryten]

I'm still amazed people buy diamonds without GIA certificates, it's a sure fire way to get taken to the cleaners. If you can't assess the value of an item yourself, get professional help.

No cert no sale is my mantra.

[landroverking]

When you go to sell used loose diamonds your lucky to get $30-50 per Kt.

[Abdullah71601]

My wife is a trained diamond appraiser. She's intimately familiar with the diamond trade. We don't own any diamond jewelry, as she thinks there isn't a single diamond sold that isn't grossly overpriced.

With PM jewelry you can assess the making price once you know the weight of the piece and price the amount of metal used in it. Then you can decide if the making price is fair for the quality of the piece and negotiate from there. A diamond has no such value benchmark. It doesn't matter that it's certified, the entire market is artificially inflated by the major diamond houses. Unless you're buying industrial diamonds by the kilo, you're getting ripped off no matter what you buy.

[shoota70]

...and in other news, water is wet.

[mastermixer]

I just want to put by 2 cents in as someone in the diamond, gemstone, jewelry, and watch business.

There is a mark-up for every product in life. There are Leather jackets for $50.00 and there are designer leather Jackets $10,000.00 and if you cut them both to shreds and just had scraps of leather, those scraps would both be virtually worthless.

Yes it's true that with diamonds, you can't go and buy diamond from the store, then sell it a year later and get all of your money back. But you can at least get some of your money back, which is better than many other luxury purchases. Good luck going to buy a t-shirt, wear it for ten years then go try to sell it, you will most likely get offered pennies on the dollar.

Now comparing Top Jewelry Houses like Cartier and Harry Winston to stores like Costco and Blue nile.

HW and Cartier are not really in the business of selling unbranded loose diamonds to their retail customers. They are in the business of selling Jewelry. These stores have made a reputation for themselves as selling the best of the best.

But if you want to compare just the loose diamonds that HW and Cartier use, vs Blue Nile, here's your answer. HW and Cartier have a certain bench mark quality they use and they will only use diamonds that fit their standards, and their standards are on the higher end of the spectrum. So yes you can go get the same high quality diamond elsewhere, but with Cartier, you at least know you wont be getting a poor quality product.

With blue nile, it is 100% buyer beware. You search their database, select YOUR qualifications for the diamond, sort by the lowest price, and buy what you think is a good deal.

IMO this is the worst way to buy a diamond. A diamond is not like an Iphone 7, where every single one comes off the factory line to specs. These are grown in nature over millions of years, and there is just no possible way to quantify every single aspect of the diamond on a piece of paper (Cert).

So yes GIA is the most respected LAB, but let me tell you, if you line up 100 1.00ct EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, Round H VS1 diamonds in real life (like you do digitally on blue nile) there will be 20 stones that stand out as the best 20% and there will be 20 that stand out as the ugliest 20%. Even though they all have the same specs on the cert.

So this brings me to Blue Nile, where in my experience, the consumer is buying the bottom of the barrel diamonds that these diamond dealers are dumping on-line, knowing that the consumer doesn't have anything to compare it to.



Just like you can go to butcher shop and buy certified Prime steak for $30.00, or you can go to a high end steak house and get the same steak for $60.00 at Mastro's or Ruth's Chris. If you know and trust the brand Mastro's your happy to pay extra to go there and enjoy the experience.

[rr-nyc]

Originally Posted by VICI

Tiffany doesn't spec their diamonds as GIA would so not sure how this guy was able to accurately gauge the color & clarity with the naked eye.

Whoever walks into these top stores and can afford is hopefully smart enough to realize the premium.

Tiffanys had/has their own certificate and the specs are also written on the tag. Or at least they were when I was shopping for an engagement ring in 2003

[jmiicustomz]

Originally Posted by mastermixer

I just want to put by 2 cents in as someone in the diamond, gemstone, jewelry, and watch business.

There is a mark-up for every product in life. There are Leather jackets for $50.00 and there are designer leather Jackets $10,000.00 and if you cut them both to shreds and just had scraps of leather, those scraps would both be virtually worthless.

Yes it's true that with diamonds, you can't go and buy diamond from the store, then sell it a year later and get all of your money back. But you can at least get some of your money back, which is better than many other luxury purchases. Good luck going to buy a t-shirt, wear it for ten years then go try to sell it, you will most likely get offered pennies on the dollar.

Now comparing Top Jewelry Houses like Cartier and Harry Winston to stores like Costco and Blue nile.

HW and Cartier are not really in the business of selling unbranded loose diamonds to their retail customers. They are in the business of selling Jewelry. These stores have made a reputation for themselves as selling the best of the best.

But if you want to compare just the loose diamonds that HW and Cartier use, vs Blue Nile, here's your answer. HW and Cartier have a certain bench mark quality they use and they will only use diamonds that fit their standards, and their standards are on the higher end of the spectrum. So yes you can go get the same high quality diamond elsewhere, but with Cartier, you at least know you wont be getting a poor quality product.

With blue nile, it is 100% buyer beware. You search their database, select YOUR qualifications for the diamond, sort by the lowest price, and buy what you think is a good deal.

IMO this is the worst way to buy a diamond. A diamond is not like an Iphone 7, where every single one comes off the factory line to specs. These are grown in nature over millions of years, and there is just no possible way to quantify every single aspect of the diamond on a piece of paper (Cert).

So yes GIA is the most respected LAB, but let me tell you, if you line up 100 1.00ct EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, Round H VS1 diamonds in real life (like you do digitally on blue nile) there will be 20 stones that stand out as the best 20% and there will be 20 that stand out as the ugliest 20%. Even though they all have the same specs on the cert.

So this brings me to Blue Nile, where in my experience, the consumer is buying the bottom of the barrel diamonds that these diamond dealers are dumping on-line, knowing that the consumer doesn't have anything to compare it to.



Just like you can go to butcher shop and buy certified Prime steak for $30.00, or you can go to a high end steak house and get the same steak for $60.00 at Mastro's or Ruth's Chris. If you know and trust the brand Mastro's your happy to pay extra to go there and enjoy the experience.

Well said sir.

To know the future is to be trapped by it

[jmiicustomz]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

My wife is a trained diamond appraiser. She's intimately familiar with the diamond trade. We don't own any diamond jewelry, as she thinks there isn't a single diamond sold that isn't grossly overpriced.

With PM jewelry you can assess the making price once you know the weight of the piece and price the amount of metal used in it. Then you can decide if the making price is fair for the quality of the piece and negotiate from there. A diamond has no such value benchmark. It doesn't matter that it's certified, the entire market is artificially inflated by the major diamond houses. Unless you're buying industrial diamonds by the kilo, you're getting ripped off no matter what you buy.

Hence the reason I am happier to sell or trade off any diamonds I get rather than the gold.

To know the future is to be trapped by it

[rr-nyc]

Originally Posted by landroverking

When you go to sell used loose diamonds your lucky to get $30-50 per Kt.

$30-50 per Ct? Are you saying a 4 ct diamond will fetch $200? I'm gonna start buying diamonds

[jmiicustomz]

Originally Posted by rr-nyc

$30-50 per Ct? Are you saying a 4 ct diamond will fetch $200? I'm gonna start buying diamonds

30-50 is for loose small and scrap diamonds. 1ct + stones and you will get more than that per ct even at most pawn shops. I have given over 500 for a nice clean well cut 1 ct stone, it's not often but it happens.

To know the future is to be trapped by it