There’s no question that jewelry is a luxurious item.
But just because something is expensive, doesn’t mean you can’t get a good deal on it. In fact, if you know how to negotiate jewelry prices, you can save yourself a lot of money.
The one area that is not so much in line with negotiations is custom made jewelry.
Unless you have your own gold, diamonds and gemstones to be used, this class of jewelry takes an incredible amount of time and skill from several different specialists to produce an item from start to finish – so don’t expect to get a ‘deal’ per se.
The jewelry that has the best chances for negotiations are the vintage and new mass manufactured pieces.
If you are attracted to these styles then you may be in for a treat.
In this article, we will teach you how to get the best deals on beautiful pieces of jewelry. Follow these tips and you’ll be sure to walk away with a smile and a pocket full of savings!
Table of Contents
How Jewelers Determine Prices
Before any good negotiation can take place, it’s important to understand how jewelers determine prices. Here are some factors that go into pricing jewelry:
- The quality of the materials
- The weight of the piece
- The designer
- The gemstones
All of these factors play a role in how much a piece of jewelry will cost. So, let’s take a look at how you can use each one to your advantage.
Gold Purity & Weight
Jewelry prices are not only dependent on the gemstones and designs, they are also priced by the type and karat of the gold.
Additionally, the gold may be very lightweight or else very heavy.
If you have an eye on an item that weighs 15 grams of 18K gold, a jewelry store will be selling it as an impressive find compared to the hundreds of other items in their inventory.
As such, they will try to get triple what the spot market price is for the weight and purity of gold.
If an item weighs 5 grams and it has a gold purity of 10K, then there is really nothing to negotiate with because weight is negligible and karat purity is minimal.
In low karat gold, the gemstones rarely come with good quality diamonds or other higher quality gemstones…those are typically reserved for 14K or higher.
Colored Gemstones
When it comes to gemstones, keeping in mind that the colored ones are all over the map as far as pricing goes.
Each type of stone will have a value assigned depending on whether or not it has had any type of treatments, such as heat treated or fracture filled for enhancement.
Unfortunately, 95% of the colored gemstones from emeralds to rubies to sapphires have been treated to enhance their appearance, and thus devaluing their worth.
When you negotiate, a jewelry store, they will more than likely know what it is that they have and their price spread is going to be determined by this.
- If there is an unheated and untreated quality ruby in a nice mounting, you can expect for the price of that to be 5 times higher or more than a ruby that has had heat treatment for color enhancement.
If the seller says that they do not know if there are any treatments, chances are they are either not wanting to divulge that information so as not to not discourage you from buying, or they do not belong in the business.
It is their job to know!
Diamonds & Presentation
Diamonds have caused a great deal of confusion and misconceptions when it comes to value in many ways.
The average person, who does not take the time to educate themselves on what a quality diamond is, will most often end up buying a poor stone simply due to the size and price point in their budget.
If you are going to negotiate for an item that has diamonds in it, make sure that you educate yourself first.
Buying or negotiating for anything less than SI1 will result in you ending up thinking that you cut a fat hog when all you did is acquire poor quality stones that weren’t worth anything anyways.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of misconceptions that diamonds are being sold at ten times their worth.
This is simply not true, and this myth continues to be spread due to the echo chambers of social media.
It is nearly impossible to make even 100% profit off of the cost of a diamond especially when the quality and size go up towards 1 carat size.
Most often, diamonds are not going to be the deciding factor in the cost of a ring, but the mounting and all the accompanying gemstones and designs that showcase the center stone is.
We have seen mountings without center stones cost $6000, and the reason for that is due to there being no Rappaport sheet or market value assigned to these mountings.
In other words, you will often see a ring having 1 carat of tiny pave set melee in a 6 gram 18K gold mounting with a particular brand name, and this will cost you more than the center diamond will!
This fact should be kept in mind when negotiating because it is a guarantee that the mounting is the thing that will cost you 10 times more than it is worth, not the diamond.
Designer/Copyright
When it comes to designer and copyrighted name brands in jewelry, you can bet that you will be paying mightily for these items.
The marketing and hype will ensure that you have just paid 10 times the true value just to have bragging rights for owning a named brand.
You may as well have designed your own exclusive item that no one else will have for the same amount of money and higher quality materials.
If you are at a jewelry store, be sure to look at other designs that are very similar and that do not have brand names.
You may be surprised, and can better negotiate with those types of items instead.
Tips For Negotiating Jewelry Prices
Now that you know a little more about what to consider when looking for a piece of jewelry and how jewelers come up with their prices, here are some tips to help you negotiate like a pro and get the best deal:
Be Patient
Are you in a hurry?
If so, then you will not be able to take advantage of scouting stores for items that you like and that have been sitting for quite some time.
If you spot an item that you want, and if you still see the item in the store for a year or more, then chances are that it is either priced too high or there is no interest in it.
If either of these scenarios are true, and if the item is not a name brand, custom, or designer item, then you may be able to get it for 40% less than the asking price.
Do not be fooled into buying jewelry that is said to be “on Sale”.
Most of the time, these sale items have had the pricing jacked up prior to the sale to give an illusion of a sale. You can discover this by taking note of the price of a piece of jewelry, and coming back during sale events.
Shop At The End Of The Month
Rent is due.
If sales are poor, then a store will drop a price to pay their rent and overhead.
This works best if the store is a mom and pop type.
Large department stores are always having “sales” that are not really sales, but mom and pop stores cannot afford to have sales except for inventory that just sits for literally years.
Mom and pop stores have a little secret for raising money during lean times, and that is sending gold or sterling inventory out to a refinery to melt.
They get paid about 4% less than spot price for their metal and will pick items in their stores that have some weight but are not selling in order to save their business.
This can happen several times a year depending on their location and the economy. The store would rather sell these types of items to a customer who will pay just 10% more than spot price than what they’d otherwise get from a refinery.
Ask if they have any “melt items” for sale just before the first of the month.
Shop At Small Businesses
Go into small business jewelry stores aka “mom and pop” and ask to see their “vintage” or “estate” items.
Here is another little secret…they bought these items for dirt cheap from their customers who wanted to trade in what they did not like for something new, or who needed cash.
You can get fantastic deals because the store already has a low investment in these items compared to what they would have had to pay wholesale for new.
So go ahead and ask them to put the item on the scale to find out the gram weight.
Once you know that, then you also know what they likely paid for the item based on the spot gold market.
They likely paid between 25-50% less than spot price, so if you offered them 25% more than spot, they will likely sell it to you depending on the gemstone content.
Many times they don’t even pay for the gemstones when they buy this type of jewelry!
Negotiate A Bulk Price
If you can afford to, be prepared to buy more than one item.
You will be able to negotiate a better price if you can buy three or four items because you can negotiate a “package deal”.
Oftentimes, a small jewelry store will appear to “throw in” an item for “free” if you seem prepared to buy something that is more on the expensive side also.
The key is to pick out 3 or 4 other items that you can afford to buy along with an expensive item, and then asking them for a package price.
Once they give you the package price, then ask them to give you their price for each item in it.
They will have to do some quick calculations which will include reducing the price on those other three items that were not the most expensive.
Now you do the “bait and switch”.
You leave the most expensive item behind and just buy the other three severely reduced items.
The idea is that they thought you were going to buy the overpriced item also…but you simply go for the other items when all negotiations are settled.
FAQ’s About Negotiating Jewelry Prices
What is the average markup on jewelry?
The average markup on high quality diamonds is 75% at the most.
But if they are poorer quality, then that markup is at 200%.
Go figure.
But the fact that the poorer quality diamonds are set in mass produced mountings (and are sold far more) to people who know little to nothing, except that they are “diamonds,” is part of the reason why.
The markup for colored gemstones and gold, platinum or any other precious stones and metals is about 400% or more.
If a jewelry store cannot sell a lot of seemingly lesser priced items and rely only on diamond sales, they will go out of business.
Diamonds have a pricing range that is more fixed by the Trade than any other aspect of jewelry components.
So to stay in business, a jewelry store must have plenty of other less expensive “price point” items that they get a much higher profit margin from.
Can you negotiate price at Kay Jewelers?
You may be able to negotiate a price slightly depending on how many items you are willing to buy at the same time, and if you are doing a “trade up” for an item that is double the price difference, and that you previously purchased from them if it is in your contract.
This is pretty standard in just about every store including the super high end luxury stores. However, for the best negotiations, go to the local mom and pop stores.
You will get a bargain there and will even be allowed to use their layaway.
Why gold rate is different in different jewelers?
The gold price that you will be offered when you have gold to sell or to use to negotiate with will be different at different jewelry stores depending on what you have and what it is that you want.
The gold spot market price is based on the purity of gold which determines the base value of what you have, but it also makes a difference in what type of gold you have too.
If you have a bunch of broken chains and other broken jewelry that is ugly, you will only get 75% of the spot market for it, as opposed to having a gold American Eagle coin.
But if you do your shopping, you may get higher if a jewelry store is being competitive and intends to hang onto that scrap or coin to make a higher profit when the market rises.
Each store has different intentions for what they are willing to buy or trade.
Sometimes they are willing to work on items that are broken but have great resale potential also.
Final Thoughts
You have absolutely nothing to lose when you negotiate.
While you would not think to negotiate prices when you go into a restaurant for dinner, to the grocery store, or go to fill up your car with gas, you can happily get better deals on items that are not considered as necessities.
If you do your homework, are not in a hurry and have developed a rapport with several jewelry stores in town, then they will be more willing to be reasonable with you if you don’t act like they are trying to cheat you and are sensitive to the fact that they need to make a living too.