Fortunes Creator

Are you looking for a glamorous, fun and easy way to double, triple or even quadruple your initial small investment?

A few years back, I discovered the loose diamonds market on Ebay. My husband and I did a little research, educating ourselves about the various qualities, cuts, and other specifications of diamonds and decided to take the plunge into the jewelry business. We purchased some loose diamonds from a reputable seller (having checked his feedback rating for this info).

Then, we took the diamonds to a local gemologist, who for about $20 each gave us written GIA appraisals, attesting to their exact specifications and estimated worth on the open market. Following that, we visited a few local jewelers and found one who was happy to mount the diamonds in various settings. We bought some of the settings on Ebay, others we bought directly from the jeweler, which he made special for the diamond itself.

We then relisted the finished rings and earrings on Ebay, in beautifully formated auction listings including photos of the appraisal, which was clearly legible. We also typed all of the details of the appraisal in the auction listing, so our bidders were clear on all of the specs.

To our happy surprise, the diamonds all sold for at least twice as much as we had invested, including the cost of the appraisal and settings. On one set of earrings, we made $1,000.00 in profit! And we had very happy customers.

Because we are involved in so many other entrepreneurial projects, we didn’t carry on with this particular avenue of business, but we talk about it to this day and I highly recommend it as an easy money-maker. It was a lot of fun, too! Some things to keep in mind:

1. Educate yourself first! Learn how to judge the quality of a diamond and don’t buy any diamond off Ebay if the seller doesn’t list the important details regarding culet, inclusions, clarity, size, etc.
2. Purchase some nice quality presentation boxes. This makes a big difference in customer satisfaction!
3. Make sure you get good quality settings in at least 14K gold. You can go with white gold, yellow gold or platinum if you really want to upgrade, but make sure you match the quality of the stone to the quality of the gold, i.e. don’t set a stone with a lot of inclusions in 24k gold setting…you’ll never make up for a low quality diamond with a higher quality setting. The same goes in reverse, don’t skimp on the setting if you’ve got a nice quality stone. For earrings, make sure you get settings with screwbacks. Buyers appreciate that they won’t have to worry about losing an earring back and thusly a diamond earring along with it. (more)
4. Diamond jewelry sells best around the following holidays: Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Graduation time.
5. Check out the listings of your competitors and try to find a way to one-up them…even if it is just with a more beautiful auction listing! It seems like a minute detail, but selling diamonds online requires lots of flash and glamour. Really make it sparkle, and write more about the diamonds. If you are serious about pursuing this as a business, I recommend hiring a good copywriter to write up a few quality sales letter style listings for you. Remember, if it is good copy you can use it again and again and it will pay for itself in the long run via higher ending bids!
6. It is nice to offer your buyers a gift card to go along with their purchase. Offer special gift packaging in your listing, and maybe a little bonus of a stuffed teddy bear or something…this may be just the thing that makes your listing stand out from your competition.
7. Remember to describe your diamonds in your auction listings as accurately and honestly as possible. You want to build up a great feedback rating and reputation, and buying diamonds is usually a very important purchase for anyone, so don’t be misleading.
8. If you’re a diamond lover, be careful not to get too attached to a particularly gorgeous specimen! Remember you’re in business…don’t rob your own store

I also recommend checking out American Bazar as a source of quality loose diamonds and gemstones. I have bought from them before and was very happy with my purchases.

More About Diamonds

The author, JoAnn Roselli, is a successful living consultant, screenwriter, webmaster, entrepreneur, real estate investor and author of “How to Get High-Quality Plastic Surgery…CHEAP!” She resides in the Dominican Republic with her husband and their 12-year-old son.

Technorati Profile