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Before we address the question and offer insights, let's first pose the fundamental query: Can you acquire wholesale diamonds, or is it feasible for a consumer to purchase wholesale loose diamonds?The concise and straightforward response is "No." Why, you might ask? The diamond industry inherently fosters collaboration among miners, wholesalers, jewelry designers, and retailers to ensure its sustainability.Outlined below is an elaborate explanation, along with some pointers for securing a deal that would merely be 10-20% higher than the actual wholesale price of a diamond.Pay close attention to the subsequent section as it encompasses the most pertinent information.

How to Buy Wholesale Diamonds?

To maintain the diamond industry's seamless operation, it relies on the collaboration of four primary categories of participants, each intricately reliant on the contributions of the others. These categories encompass the miners, the dealers (who frequently purchase rough diamonds that are subsequently shaped into finished products), the jewelry designers, and the <a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/best-place-to-buy-diamonds-or-engagement-rings-online/">retailers</a>.<a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/buying-wholesale-diamonds/" target="_blank"><img src="https://admin.petragems.com/api/Images/Picture52.jpg" alt="loose wholesale diamonds" width="480" height="464" title="Wholesale Diamonds"></a>Here is how&nbsp;each depends on the other so that you understand why you are unlikely to buy a diamond at wholesale price as a consumer.Beginning with the miners,&nbsp;in the formal diamond industry that only deals in conflict-free
 diamonds and ones verified by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kimberleyprocess.com/" style="letter-spacing: -0.003em; text-align: var(--mdb-body-text-align); font-size: var(--mdb-body-font-size);">the Kimberly process</a>,
 only sizeable multinational diamond corporations, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.debeers.com/en-us/home" style="letter-spacing: -0.003em; text-align: var(--mdb-body-text-align); font-size: var(--mdb-body-font-size);" class="external" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">De Beers</a>&nbsp;or Al Rosa, can be successful miners.
 Running a mine and managing its risks require a massive upfront cost (many
 mines fail after huge investments in them). Once these miners mine the stones,
 they often sell them as rough uncut diamonds in large quantities to established
 diamond dealers. For example, to buy from De Beers, you must be a
 sightholder (<a href="http://gss.debeersgroup.com/about-us" style="letter-spacing: -0.003em; text-align: var(--mdb-body-text-align); font-size: var(--mdb-body-font-size);" target="_blank">Global Sightholder Sales</a>),
 which alone could cost millions. A prominent sightholder is Kiran Gems in
 India, one of the leaders in polished diamonds, but they do not sell to
 consumers. We will explain below why.

In the next phase of
 this supply chain, dealers cut/polish diamonds for resale to retailers. Kiran
 Gems would be an example of a dealer. Around 90%+ of all diamonds are cut and
 polished in Surat, a small city in Gujarat, India. Once the stones are cut,
 they are often taken to one of the regional trading hubs, Mumbai, Honk Kong,
 Antwerp, Tel Aviv, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.petragems.com/buy-diamonds-in-new-york/" rel="nofollow">New York City</a>.

For the diamonds to be
 sold, a comprehensive marketing and sales funnel must be set up to sell
 diamonds in volume to sustain the dealers' costs. Advertising needs to happen,
 shops need to be open, and customer support needs to be provided, but dealers
 need the means or expertise. Therefore, dealers depend on the expertise of
 three sets of retailers: designers of jewelry, brick and mother store
 retailers, and online retailers.

There are two types of
 jewelry designers, including those who only design for other retailers,
 considered dealers/wholesalers (a vast majority of designers fall under this
 category), and others who create customized jewelry for consumers/end users.
 The designers who work directly with end-users often have sophisticated fine
 jewelry and high product markups. Stuller, for example, is a designer who only
 works with retailers and does not sell to end users. At the same time, Tiffany
 &amp; Co would be considered a designer dealing directly (but with
 unreasonable markups). With designers, the industry would have diverse products to sell diamonds in large quantities in rings, bracelets, necklaces,
 etc.

In this play of
 interdependence, we hope you understand that your chances of buying a diamond
 from anyone but a retailer are slim (they might call themselves wholesalers,
 but it is never confirmed). Hence, the question is; how do you find a trusted
 retailer to give you the best possible price? Between retailers with physical
 stores and online retailers, your best bet is to focus on the latter to
 maximize your budget. They have lower overhead costs for running their
 businesses and can provide a more competitive price.

Setup of the Wholesale Diamond Industry

Almost all online and
 local retailers have access to all diamonds available in the diamond market
 through RapNet – an online marketplace for all dealers to list their diamonds
 for retailers to sell. A consumer cannot access it; you must be an established
 business with a track record to qualify for membership. In other words, the
 stones that the retailers show you or display on their websites are not owned
 by them; instead, they are provided by the dealers through a central mechanism
 (RapNet) to be shown to you. Here is how it works:

Online:&nbsp;The
 retailer will publish all stones available on RapNet on their websites. Once
 you buy a particular stone, the retailer will contact the dealer to send them
 the stone, which will then be sent to you. The retailer will, in the process,
 take their cut.

In local stores:&nbsp;Once you visit them and tell them what you are looking for, they
 will make a shortlist of 3-5 options and request the owners of the diamonds
 (dealers) to "memo" the stone to them – the memo is temporary
 borrowing of the stone. If the diamond is sold, the retailer will pay the
 dealer; if it is not, they will return the stone to the dealer.

Since retailers have
 access to dealers' stones, it is common for a stone listed on one website to be
 listed on the other. It might not be true only on prominent websites like
 <a href="https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/all-diamonds/?a_aid=5c83f22427304/" rel="nofollow">James Allen</a> and <a href="https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?a_aid=5c83f22427304" rel="nofollow">Blue Nile</a>. They are big companies with many volumes and use
 that power to their advantage. They demand that the dealers they work with not
 allow other retailers to list the stones publicly on other websites if they
 want them listed on theirs (all retailers can still buy or access them on
 RapNet but cannot display them on their websites).

Same Diamond on Many Websites?

Based on our
 experience, here is what we think the markup range is now:

<ul type="disc">
 <li class="MsoNormal">Online Regular Retailers – 6-30% markup (see the
 examples below)</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal">Online Established Luxury Brands, such as
 Tiffany/Cartier– 100-200% markup, are ridiculous because they sell
 identical diamonds as anyone else with the same certification
 (<a href="https://www.gia.edu/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">GIA</a>) and cut. You will pay more for the name's
 sake; quality-wise, their diamonds are the same as anyone else's).</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal">Local brick-and-mortar stores: 20-100% markup. More
 often than not, they will first assess your knowledge of diamonds and the
 market, in general, to determine whether to sell you a high-quality
 diamond or junk and with how much markup. They like to sell junk diamonds
 because they can get a much higher cut in them than in a proper GIA graded
 high-quality one—they cannot mislead you in terms of grading in a GIA
 grading diamond. All sorts of unethical practices happen in the local
 stores.</li></ul><a href="https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/all-diamonds/?a_aid=5c83f22427304" target="_blank"><img src="https://admin.petragems.com/api/Images/img-1687674586.png" alt="James Allen Diamonds" width="379" title="James Allen" height="212"></a>


Example of markups among most competitive online retailers (this
 is our best guess):

<ul type="disc">
 <li class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.petragems.com/james-allen-review/">James Allen</a> – 15-20% markup</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.petragems.com/blue-nile-review/">Blue Nile</a> – 15-25% markup</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.petragems.com/brilliant-earth-review/">Brilliant Earth</a> – 20-30% markup</li>
</ul>

Now that you are familiar with the operating structure of the
 diamond industry, how can you buy a diamond with the least markup possible?

Our strong
 recommendation would be to buy your diamond online because they naturally have
 lower overhead costs and can afford to sell you a diamond for a much lower
 markup. Companies like James Allen are
 especially competitive because we have incredibly lean operations and high
 purchasing power.

Therefore, you should
 compare the prices of at least 4-6 competitive online vendors, which will give
 you a clear sense of how low you can get a particular diamond.

Where to Buy a Loose Diamond?

The seven most important&nbsp;<a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/comparing-diamond-prices-seven-important-factors/">factors that influence the price of a diamond&nbsp;</a>and
 that you should be familiar with include:

<ol start="1" type="1">
 <li class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/diamond-shapes/">Shape:</a>&nbsp;You need a bigger rough diamond to cut a 1ct. round diamond than
 you do to cut a 1ct. princess-cut diamond. The diameter of the round is
 roughly 6.4mm, whereas that of a 1ct princess cut is 5.5mm on average.</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal">Carat: The larger the diamond, the higher the price.
 For example, a 2-carat diamond would be three times the price of a 1-carat
 because bigger diamonds are scarcer than smaller ones and are much more
 expensive.</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/diamond-cut/">Cut:</a>&nbsp;A
 well-cut diamond will have the best brilliance and fire; it is the most
 important C to prioritize.</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/diamond-color/">Color:</a>&nbsp;The
 less color a diamond has, the more expensive it will be. Color ranges from
 D-Z, and D-F are considered colorless. G-J are near colorless and are
 excellent options for people with budget constraints.</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/diamond-clarity/">Clarity:&nbsp;</a>The
 fewer the inclusions or impurities in a diamond, the more expensive its
 price. Flawless to Very Slightly Included (VVS and VS) range diamonds are
 highly demanded, though Slightly Included (SI1/SI1) can be great options
 for budget-conscious people.</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/diamond-fluorescence/">Fluorescence</a>:
 an invisible glow that diamonds might emit under ultraviolet rays, such as
 the sun and certain UV lights. They range from no blue to very strong
 blue.</li>
 <li class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/diamond-certification/">Certification</a>:
 The seventh important factor in a diamond that affects its price is
 certification/grading. Labs like the Gemological Institute of America are
 reliable and consistent in grading; therefore, their graded stones
 will reflect that factor in their prices. On the other, there are many
 shady labs that you should avoid. We always advise buying a
 stone with a high-quality grading report from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.petragems.com/education/gia-vs-ags/">GIA or AGSL</a>&nbsp;(the
 American Gem Society Laboratories).</li>
</ol>

Please do not hesitate
 to contact us if you have questions and compare our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.petragems.com/diamond-prices/">diamond prices</a>.&nbsp;

Factors that Influence Diamond Prices

Can a first-time buyer purchase loose wholesale diamonds? The answer is no, unless you are acquainted with a wholesaler. This article offers insights into the p

Loose Wholesale Diamonds: How to Buy?

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