PRICE TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

People will come in to the jewelry store to shop around.

They’ll point at a diamond ring in the showcase and ask what the price is.

And before they even look at it, they’ll hear the $4,000 price and bolt out the door.

“$4,000 SHEESH!!!”

They don’t care to discuss quality, carat weight, color or cut. The customer says “They had that same ring down the street for $1,200!“

There are many people that think if a product looks similar, it’s the same item. And if one is priced higher, it’s a rip-off. All they see is the price tag. Nothing else.! They are oblivious to quality. To them all diamonds are the same and it doesn’t matter what it looks like under a microscope or a 10x jeweler’s loupe. If it looks the same to the eye, it is the same. Period. End of discussion.

These people are hard to educate.

These are also the type of people that will always settle for low quality because that’s all they shop for. Plus that’s all they can afford if price is the only obstacle. They think they know it all, and rolling their eyes just makes them look ignorant.

Trust me, if one place is selling a diamond ring for $4,000 and another jeweler is selling a ring for $1,200, they’re not the same ring!

Jewelers are not dumb:

They know what the price is for diamonds. They also know who their competition is and what the competitor is selling.. and for what price. Most jewelers stick to a pricing guide for diamonds called “Rapaport“. It’s like a blue-book for diamonds.

Diamond prices are determined upon the 4C’s: Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight.

Jewelers don’t price diamonds on “looks“. So if you truly are comparing 2 rings that have the same characteristics, you’ll see that the prices are much closer together than you’d imagine.

So what will be the difference in price between jewelers?

Usually the price difference between 2 jewelry stores is only about a 20% price difference.

Just 20%?

YES! It depends on how good of a deal the jeweler got when they first bought the diamond.

Sometimes they really do get good deals and pass them along.

But, if it sounds too good to be true…

Proceed with caution!

There’s normally a good reason why they’re selling a diamond ring so cheap.

Most of the time it’s because of lower quality. For high quality diamonds always hold their market value no matter what. The lower quality goods are the ones that jewelers are willing to push out the door at those once-in-a-lifetime steals.

Do some research:

So before you buy, do some research. Find out what the quality of the diamond is. Find out what the carat weight is, find out all about the color, cut and clarity. Compare those same specs with other jewelers and it’ll really open your eyes.

An educated buyer is in a much better position to see why there’s a price difference and whether or not it’s truly a good deal.

Pointers:

Here are a couple of points to think about on those sweet deals:

If the jeweler is really trying to push the deal, that is, if they are really trying to cram it down your throat, BEWARE! Those that rely on high pressure tactics like, one-time-only offers, are usually also sold as “all sales final“.

They will normally try to shove a piece out the door knowing it can’t come back. They’ve probably had that piece of jewelry for a long time. It’s probably low quality, cracked, broken, bent, worn… and they just want to dump it. So be warned; you don’t want to be the sucker that buys it.

Shop around:

Deal or no deal, it’s always better to shop around.

See what the going price is. Look online (I’d suggest James Allen for low diamond prices). Just make sure that whatever you buy comes with some kind of GIA diamond report, appraisal, guarantee and warranty.

And if they have a money back return policy, all the better!

That will give you enough time to put those rings side by side at a different jeweler and really see the quality comparison.

So like they always say, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

Cheers! :)