Salvaging the scraps
Years ago, Ami Freiberg of Classic Creations Jewellers in Toronto would buy certified diamonds sight unseen. Today, he prefers not to do so. Both Freiberg and Moss say a grading certificate is just an opinion. There’s room within any grade at the good end and the bad, something consumers are likely not to know or understand.
John Anderson, owner of Davidson’s Jewellers in Ottawa, echoes the sentiment, adding consumers armed with online prices frequently come to his store looking to negotiate. He says his answer is straightforward.
“In some situations, if a consumer questions price or something like that, I’ve mentioned that some of these online sites are being used as clearing houses,” Anderson says. “Basically, they are clearing out merchandise that was not purchased by jewellers. That should tell the consumer something.”
Online retailers don’t hold any physical inventory. In addition to other operational aspects, these companies’ expenses are significantly less, which means their prices are much lower than brick-and-mortar retailers.
The trick for retailers is providing consumers with the knowledge they need to recognize the value in dealing with a sales associate across a counter, rather than a voice on the phone or a live chat.
“The illusion is the consumer is buying from a diamond dealer who is an expert, but they’re not,” says Albert Wizman of Toronto-based Wizman Gems, a diamond wholesaler. “The online site is a broker, and the diamonds are being sold through them. They’ve never looked at the diamond and probably never will.”
