Diamond Buyers
How We Rank the Diamond Buyers
Highest Pay Evaluation
Companies that will pay the most for your diamonds and provide the fastest turnaround times are the best. You want a buyer that will pay the most for your diamonds.
Quick Professional Appraisals
The best kind of appraisals are easy, fast, and free. Our top ranked buyers have professional appraisers evaluate your diamonds and submit you an offer typically with in 24 hours.
Accreditations and Certifications
Certifications and Accreditations are very important to ensure the highest quality service is always going to be provided. Third party accreditations are useful to ensure best practices are being followed and they are trusted.
Customer Support
You want someone that will be there to answer your questions or concerns when needed. Your jewelry buying company should always provide some level of professional customer support.
Insurance and Security
You want paid shipping that’s insured both ways. You also want to make sure it’s safe and stays insured once it’s in their possession. Our top diamond buyers make sure your jewelry is secured and insured throughout the whole process.
Diamond Buyer Rankings
Highest Evaluations | Quickest Appraisals | Accreditations | Support | Insurance and Security | |
Diamond Buyers International | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
WP Diamonds | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 |
The Diamond Vallet | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
Diamond Lighthouse | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
Worthy | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
Selling Your Diamond Online
In life we realize that diamonds may last forever, but we might not want to be the forever owner. When this happens you look for ways to sell your diamonds and still get a fair price. Some common reasons for wanting to part with diamonds include divorce, inheritance pieces you do not want to keep, or needing money. Regardless of the reason you choose to sell your diamonds, finding a buyer for the diamonds can quickly become a top priority.
Several years ago jewelry stores and online companies began to offer services for purchasing gold and silver from consumers.Precious metals pricing was fairly consistent across buyers because valuing the pieces was based on weight and the current gold or silver prices. The program became extremely popular as millions of consumers emptied their jewelry boxes filled with old gold, platinum, and silver jewelry they no longer wore. Those services have now been expanded to reach the needs of those with precious stones like diamonds and have been met with similar enthusiasm.
With “buy here” signs everywhere, both at store fronts and online, how do you know who will give you a fair price. How do you know how much your stones are worth and how do you protect and insure your precious stones during the sales process. These are common questions and concerns consumers have when it comes to parting with your diamonds and other valuable jewelry.
Diamonds are expensive items and the price, value and quality of the stones is more subjective than with gold. Gold and silver have a set rate based on the weight, can be offered. This made pricing across buyers much more consistent than with stones. A diamond’s value is not as cut and dry. What is the quality of the stone and how will the buyer use it? These factor into what someone is willing to pay for a diamond stone. Then there is the value of the setting and any additional stones that may be included with the piece of jewelry.
Most buyers who do not want to find an end user (consumer) for their diamonds and thus often turn to internet sources which tend to pay more than local stores and dealers. With the high value of precious stones, seller’s need to be sure to use reputable buyers, because internet scams abound. Anyone is able to put up a professional looking website making it can be very difficult to distinguish reputable companies from the internet con artists. This can also be true with sites like eBay and Craigslist.
To ensure that you are treated fairly and can have confidence in your selling experience, we have selected the top three online companies that offer fast and efficient processes and fair prices for diamonds. Our objective is to take the confusion out of the diamond selling process. To help with the process we have also created a buyer’s guide which will walk you through what to look for, how to determine your stones value, and the options for selling.This will help you make an educated decision along with getting the most for your precious stones.
Top Rated Online Diamond Buyers Summary
Diamond Buyers International offers the largest range of products which they buy. This includes gold, silver, platinum and other metals in addition to diamonds. WP Diamonds and Diamond Valet really focus on diamonds and the other metals as a secondary. The secondary emphasis also includes watches for all three companies.
WP Diamonds is the only top pick that provides live streaming where you can watch as diamonds arrive and see the process. This gives customers more confidence in the care that is taken for their jewelry and diamonds. They also have the highest insurance coverage at $200,000.
Diamond Valet will only accept stones that are ¾ a carat or larger, where the other two companies will accept stones of all sizes.
Both Diamond Valet and WP Diamonds compare values with a number of wholesale markets and in essence shop your stones to receive the highest possible price. This will result in most sellers having multiple buyers to choose from. The idea is that competition will increase the overall asking price resulting in higher offers to sellers.
No matter which company you choose you will be assured that the company will offer you a fair price and will take particular care to secure your expensive items. This gives customer’s confidence during the process of selling your diamonds.
Diamond Selling Buyers Guide
Where to Sell Diamonds
When it comes to selling diamonds one of the first questions is where? Selling old jewelry has become popular over the last few years. This has moved from selling gold and silver to selling gems such as diamonds. As a result an entire market has been created focused on meeting the needs of those looking to sell their diamonds that they no longer want.
There are two basic markets that buy diamonds. The retail market and the wholesale market.
Retail Markets require the seller to find the buyer directly.
Sell Directly to Customer. Diamond sellers can choose to find the buyer directly through eBay, Craigslist or other online websites. The benefit of this route is that you will gain the most money for your stones. The weakness is that it is time consuming, can be costly for appraisals and advertising, and could take months to sell. To accomplish this you should have your jewelry appraised and then prepare to sell it at a discount. If a customer wants to pay full retail, they will go to a retail store. They are searching these sites for a discount.
Sell Through a Pawnshop or Consignment Store. Letting your diamonds be held by a consignment store will provide the highest sales price, but after the consigner takes their cut, then you will be left with a smaller percentage. When selling with a consigner you will still need to be patient as it could take months to find a buyer, but it will not require your time or safety to be at risk, which is a concern when dealing with strangers through eBay or Craigslist. Pawnbrokers often take items on consignment (meaning you get paid when the item sells) or they will buy it from you at a wholesale price.
Wholesale Markets can be found locally and online
Local wholesalers include pawnshops and some jewelry stores. The biggest advantage of these sources is that they can usually appraise and give you money immediately. The downside is that generally they will offer the lowest price of all the options. They have a storefront and higher expenses and they must consider how long it will take them to sell it and if they will sell it loose or in a different setting.
Online Wholesalers provide a fast payment that is generally higher than you can get from a local wholesaler. Many companies only buy and sell diamonds, gold, silver and so forth, helping them to specialize and have retailers ready to buy their inventory. This helps them keep costs down and enables them to pay more for your stones. The downside to online stores is that there are many sites that are scams and do not want to deal honestly with clients. Using a certified online diamond buyer will help to ensure you are working with a real professional company.
What Is Your Diamond Worth – Sell Your Diamond
Diamonds are graded by different qualities which determine their value. Gemologists and other certifications are required to accurately access a diamonds worth. The main elements to the value of a diamond include the cut, color, clarity and carat of the stone. Online dealers will also consider the value of the setting and any precious metals or stone in the piece, in addition to the diamonds value. The GIA has created a grading scale which enables gems to be rated and valued with greater consistency.
Cut or shape of the diamond. The most common shape is a round brilliant cut. This shape will have at least 58 facets or angles which help the diamond reflect light. Diamonds can come in round, princess (square), pear, heart, oval, emerald, baguette, marquise, and trillion shapes. The round reflects the most light and is the most popular. This is often found as a solitaire to reflect the most light. The princess cut is the next most popular.
Color of the diamond. Most diamonds become more valuable the less color they show. Color is rated from D to Z based on the lack of color. D, E and F are the best making them virtually colorless, where Z will have a lot of yellow in the stone. In addition to traditional diamonds there are fancy diamond stones that appear as yellow or brown naturally.
Clarity of the stone refers to its imperfections. Stones have natural imperfections which impact the lights ability to reflect off the facets on the stone. Inclusions are imperfections that are found within the stone and blemishes are found on the outer surface of the stone. Clarity is determined by the number of imperfections, their size and position and who they impact the appearance. The fewer the imperfections the more valuable the stone will be. Clarity is graded from flawless (FL), internally flawless (IL), very very slightly included (VVSI), very slightly included (VSI) slightly included (SI) and included (I). There are sublevels within each grade.
Carat or size of the stone refers directly to its weight. A carat is a metric measure meaning 200 milligrams of weight. Each carat weight is divided by 100 points to provide a nearly exact weight for each stone. When quality is the same, the larger the stone the more valuable it will be.
All four of these factors are taken into account when establishing a value on a stone. Dealers, who are not the ultimate user, will also calculate their costs to sell the stone along with a profit margin. Thus you may find that your offer is well below what you paid for the diamond if you bought it in a retail setting.
Even given the above grading system different labs can produce different grades for your stone. This is because there is a level of subjectivity to diamond evaluations. Retail stores are known to use labs that produce a higher grading to raise the value and price of their stones. A grading that comes from GIA (Gemologist Institute and America) and AGSL (American Gem Society) are highly respected grading systems known for consistency in stone grades.
Considerations before Your Sell Your Diamonds
Emotional Detachment
Diamonds generally represent things we feel strongly about. Whether we received it as a gift from a loved one, inherited the diamonds, or got them in a divorce settlement, there are strong feelings that go with the diamonds themselves. Parting with them will also be met with emotion. While that emotion can range from sadness to relief, understand that getting the best value requires you detach yourself from the emotional connection.
Get an Unbiased Appraisal
If you have a large stone it is wise to get the stone appraised by a party who does not have a stake or interest in the sale. They will be able to help you understand the retail and wholesale values and what offers you can expect. When an appraiser gives you a value of $5,000 that does not mean a wholesaler will pay that. They will generally offer you under or around a wholesale price because they have to find an end buyer or sell it to a jeweler.
Ask Yourself, Why Now?
What is your top priority? Is it to sell it the fastest, get the best price, or just part with it?Many consumers rule out finding a retail buyer because it forces them to deal with the emotional side much more than selling it to a dealer.
While local stores can give you cash today, a good online wholesaler can get you cash in a few days and have produced very efficient and fast processes to get you paid quickly at the highest price for the level of work. Online buyers provide the balance between getting the best price in a fast turnaround.
Conclusion
When you are ready to part with precious stones like diamonds, you generally want to get rid of them quickly and efficiently, while still getting a fair price. The online diamond buyers offer more than most local stores and provide a fast and efficient process. Instead of spending a lot of time and money trying to find a buyer yourself, the online process will do the work for you.
With the demand for diamonds rising around the world, the market for re-selling old diamonds is strong meaning you will be able to get a good price, when you are ready to part with old diamond stones or jewelry.