Do You Need an Appraisal To Sell Jewelry?
One of the most frequent e-mail requests we get is from potential customers who want to sell jewelry. Or set up an appraisal appointment and possibly sell jewelry. We’re happy to help with both, but there is a distinct difference between having your jewelry appraised and asking for an offer to buy it. They’re two completely different things, which we’ll explain below, but that leaves our awesome potential customers asking “Do you need an appraisal to sell jewelry?”
The short answer is no. Even if you’re an out of state seller (or just far away from our Boca Raton showroom), sending us a photo or copy of your appraisal doesn’t help. Even if your appraisal is current and from Mayor’s/Kay’s/Zales/Jared, we still need to see your piece to determine a) if we’re interested in purchasing and b) how much money we can stuff into your pockets if we are. Plain and simple, an appraisal – even a current one – doesn’t help us buy your jewelry. So it doesn’t help you sell it.
Why is this? Even if your appraisal is from a reputable jeweler, we have no way of knowing what standards the appraiser used to determine the piece’s value. EGL? AGS? Great Uncle Bob’s? We base all offers – for diamonds, especially – on GIA’s specifications. So without seeing your piece in person, we can’t make an offer – or even speculate an estimate, unless it’s got a GIA certificate.
Now, we’ll occasionally get a request from a potential seller who’d like to know if they should send their stone to GIA before presenting it to us for sale. It’s certainly an option that will give any seller the final word on what they’re selling, and if you truly have no clue what you’ve got on your hands (an inheritance, discovery, other random windfall) it might be worth it so you can go into the selling process informed. Informed sellers are our favorite. However, the process of getting a stone GIA certified takes time, and there is a fee involved. It really depends not eh always-fluctuating diamond market, but average turnaround is 8 weeks, and certification is generally $100 per carat. It could take as little as 3 weeks, but again, it just depends on GIA’s workload. If you have a larger stone, say 4-5 carats, they’ll fast track your process. 7-10 carats will get your diamond back even faster, but again you can expect a higher fee. If you’re interested in selling quickly and avoiding any additional cost, you really don’t need a GIA certificate. We buy uncertified diamonds all the time because we have our GIA graduate gemologist on staff to verify what we’re buying.
When you’re thinking of selling something, you don’t need to make an appraisal appointment with us. Appraisals are $85 and are strictly for insurance purposes. Our buying evaluations are always free of charge, you don’t need an appointment at our Boca showroom. Stroll on in any time between 10am – 6pm Monday through Friday (or 10-5 on Saturdays) and one of our buyers will give you the amount we’d purchase your piece for – which will be different from the value our GG would include in your insurance appraisal.
Insurance appraisals include the retail cost of replacing your piece – the total value of your jewelry. An offer to purchase will be less than that, because we’re purchasing with the intent of re-selling. So, if your diamond’s last current appraisal is, say $10,000, just know ahead of time that our offer will be considerably less. Ditto for designer jewelry and luxury watches. We pay fairly and aggressively, but we do purchase for re-sale, we do like to re-sell the piece below its retail value.
Now, if you aren’t fully recouping the cost of your jewelry or watch, what’s the point of selling to a buyer? Convenience and security. Diamonds and luxury watches aren’t exactly the kind of items you want to move on Craigslist. Unless you’re as tough as Stoil, our armed guard. But even he’d be wary of a random internet stranger’s ability to come through with the promised funds. We pay cash on the spot, or overnight a check, all without you needing to break into a sweat about the process. We’re faster, easier and more reliable than selling directly to a private buyer (who still, by the way, will be looking to pay less than your written appraisal amount. Or they’d just go to a jeweler.)
So, even without an appraisal, you can sell your jewelry and watches. And when you’re ready to sell, you’ll know the difference and be one step ahead of the average customer when you head into negotiations.
