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› Forums › General Discussion › Hobby selling quality reports
Hello. Might be a dumb question.
I assume most hobby cutters try to sell their work to help fund equipment and new rough to facet.
My question is.. Do people send the stones for a GIA report or something similar to accompany the sale?
I was just curious because I’ve bought some junk before off of ebay but because I needed stones to practice setting and jewelry making. They always attach a grade in the description.
Hello, i sell some of my cut stones on the Etsy website and i have not yet had any appraised with a certificate. Ive sold mostly stones under $50.00 ea. so i didnt figure it was needed or economically feasable .
I will consider an appraisal for selling once i cut some more valuable pieces.
I agree about the value of a stone being a factor. I have some VVS longido rubies and some eye clean no oil emeralds. Those are the only stones I’d consider a GIA report for if I was going to sell them. It isn’t worth it to try to sell a $200 stone with a GIA report when the report costs $70-$85. It eats too much into profits. I don’t sell my stones, but if I did the aforementioned would be my business decision.
Like others above, the majority of my stones are not worth paying for a GIA grading. GIA is largely overrated by their own hype for the avrage faceter, in my humble opinion. Most of my cuts are sold in the $40-$50 range.
On two occasions, I’ve sold rare cuts of Oregon Sunstone to knowledgeable jewelers for $200/each, but such rough is very hard to come by.
While GIA is the gold standard for diamonds, a lot of people look to the American Gemological Labratory (AGL) when it comes to colored stones. You can get a simple GemBrief card which states a positive identification and any evidence of enhancement for $70. On the other end of the spectrum, they’ll do that plus origin and color grade in a Prestige Grading Report. The price for those depends on the carat weight of the stone, and can run you in the neighborhood of $400-1100.
So the cost is the biggest factor. Is it worth getting a stone evaluated for $70 if you’re only selling it for $150? Probably not. The only stone I’ve ever sent off was a 0.96ct unoiled emerald (less-than-awesome photo attached). We only got a GemBrief because the origin was nothing special (Brazil, but not Muzo), but for a stone like that, a simple report showing no evidence of treatment was definitely worth it.
–Eric
I have been selling my quartz stones, large for $45, not set. Not bad at 2 bucks a carat I figure. I make $10 for my cab petoskey stones too. These days I concentrate on size to fit a setting. My problem is I take bad pictures.
I have a question, what is up with this material, why so inexpensive?colombian emerald
@scottwkelley it says no treatment but when you get it, it will be dripping in oil.
“why so inexpensive”
Junk. Stay clear unless you just want to say you have some emerald. Such material is too dark. I bought some like it by the pound a few years ago. Something like $15 a pound.