QUESTIONS TO ASK DIAMOND BUYERS

Most sellers ask a buyer one thing, and it's how much. We get why. But the number someone quotes over the phone and the amount that actually lands in your account can drift apart, and the gap usually comes from things nobody mentioned up front, like fees, return shipping, or a regrade once the stone is in their hands.

As diamond buyers, we see this from the other side of the desk every day, with families selling a parent's ring and with jewelers clearing out a drawer of broken-out melee. The sellers who come away happiest tend to ask a handful of plain questions before anything goes in the mail.

HOW DID YOU GET TO THAT NUMBER?

Any buyer worth dealing with should be able to walk you through an offer. Carat weight, color, clarity, cut, fluorescence, any wear or chips around the girdle, and what similar stones are trading for right now. If you ask and get something vague back, like "that's the market," push a bit.

Know what you're comparing it to, as well. The appraisal from the store that sold you the ring is a replacement value, written so an insurance company knows what it would cost to buy something similar new at retail, and nobody in the trade prices around it. We see appraisals every week with numbers well above what the stone will bring secondhand. Sellers are often surprised by how big the gap is. Anyone can put a value on a diamond, but a buyer who's actually putting money down is the only one giving you a real number.

WHAT IF YOUR GRADE DOESN'T MATCH MY CERTIFICATE?

This is a good question to ask. A GIA report (the gold standard) carries a lot of weight with us, and we price GIA stones closely off the report. If you send us the report number we can pull the details from GIA and give you a tight estimate before you ship anything. You can check the report is genuine yourself on GIA's Report Check, and there's more on how we handle certified stones on our GIA diamond buyers page.

Reports from other labs vary more. Some are known to grade softer than GIA, and buyers price that in. Damage matters too. A chipped center stone loses value fast, and a report from 2009 won't show a chip from last year. When our grade comes in different from your paperwork, we'll tell you where and why. We'd expect the same from any buyer, and we'd be wary of one who just hands back a lower number.

ASK ABOUT FEES BEFORE YOU TALK PRICE

Evaluation fees, shipping charges, something called processing, insurance deductions, a charge for paying by wire. Each one comes off the sale price, and a big quote with a few of these tucked in can end up paying less than a smaller quote with none. White Pine doesn't charge any fees, so the offer you accept is the amount you're paid.

SHIPPING, AND WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU SAY NO

Mailing a diamond feels risky the first time you do it. It's routine in the trade, and stones go back and forth through insured mail every day. What you want to know is who provides the label, whether it's insured for the full value, and whether the return trip is covered if you decline.

People tend to forget about the return. Some buyers pay for shipping in and charge you to send it back, which means saying no costs you money, and we'd call that a pressure tactic even if nobody else does.

Ask how long the offer stands also. Diamond prices don't move overnight, so there's no real reason for a deadline of tonight. We usually evaluate your items the next business day after they arrive. Our offers typically hold for 14 days, and the label we send is free and fully insured both ways, so if you pass, everything comes back at no cost. If you'd like a number to measure other offers against, request a free offer from White Pine.

Some people would rather do this face to face. You can book a time at our New York office on West 45th Street, and UK sellers can visit us in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter.

GETTING PAID

Ask how you'll be paid and when, and expect an actual answer. A vague one here would worry us. Money that sits with a buyer for a few weeks is money you can't use, and on a bigger stone the lost interest and inflation add up. We pay by check or wire, usually within a business day or two of you accepting.

ARE YOU BUYING THE PIECE OR BREAKING IT UP?

If you're selling an engagement ring or anything else that's set, ask whether the buyer wants the piece itself or just the stones. Some buyers take the center out, weigh the mounting for scrap and price it that way. That's reasonable for a mounting that's worn out. It costs you money on a ring someone would happily wear again, and the same goes for branded jewelry and a lot of well-made estate pieces. Melting a signed bracelet down for its gold weight throws that value away.

When a ring is attractive and we can resell it, we buy it as a ring. If there's a center stone it drives most of the price, so that's where most of our grading time goes.

SELLING MELEE OR A MIXED PARCEL

This part is mostly for jewelers, dealers and anyone settling an estate with a bag of small stones. A lot of buyers quote melee at one flat per-carat price. It's quick for them, and it usually works against you, because clean, well-matched melee is worth a good deal more per carat than a mixed parcel with chips and off colors.

We sort by size and quality and price each assortment, then make one offer on the whole lot, broken-out stones and chipped goods included. Melee is a big part of what we sell to the trade, which is why we bother. Our guide on how to sell a loose diamond covers sending a parcel in.

WHO ENDS UP WITH YOUR DIAMOND?

Find out whether you're talking to the end buyer or to someone who'll pass your stone up the chain to another dealer. Each dealer in between takes a margin, and it comes out of what you're offered.

Selling privately has its own version of this. We find a lot of the people answering marketplace listings are professionals looking for a cheap stone. White Pine resells what we buy directly to jewelry businesses across North America, and a good share goes into our Melee-On-Demand program and our own jewelry production.

RED FLAGS WORTH WALKING AWAY FROM

A fee just to look at your stone is one. So is pressure to accept on the spot, or a buyer who won't put the offer in writing or tell you how and when they pay.

The one we hear about most is a big number over the phone that shrinks once the stone arrives. A photo estimate is only an estimate, and a proper grade can move it in either direction. A legitimate buyer will show you why in grading terms you can check. If they can't, and they're also charging for return shipping, we'd take the stone back and go elsewhere.

WHITE PINE'S TAKE — BILL NORTON

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS