Unfamiliar Grading Reports AND Consumers

Consumers are willing to accept grading reports from unfamiliar labs, according to a World Gemological Institute study…read the whole JCK articlehere. I definitely find this true in my store. Many of my customers are even confused between an appraisal and a grading report. The question many of my customers tend to ask is, “Does the ring or diamond come with papers?” I have to then explain the difference between an appraisal and a grading report.

In my store I carry diamonds that are graded by GIA andEGL—once in a while I will come across an HRD graded diamond. We all have our own opinions about GIA versus EGL and AGS. I don’t tell my customer’s one is better than the other because in reality their standards are just different. If I were to bash an EGL graded stone and my current customer couldn’t afford the GIA graded stone—well then I could potentially loose a sale and would want to kick myself in the ass later. Now, this might sound contradictory—but I haven’t veered off and purchased IGI and WGI graded diamonds, though I do purchase parcels of diamonds without reports and grade them myself. I haven’t found a problem selling diamonds without a report as long as I have developed a strong repoire with the customer.

Have you found grading reports to help push a sale? Have you found customers know about grading reports? Have you considered purchasing diamonds with IGI, AIG, and now WGI grading reports? Do you purchase diamonds without grading reports? Have you sent a diamonds to IGI, AIG, or WGI to be graded?