Diamonds in India are expensive purchases that are frequently made to commemorate important life occasions. But the reality is that when consumers are looking for engagement rings in India or an anniversary gift, they don’t actually know that much about diamonds.
As a result, they are more susceptible to fraud, and dishonest jewellers frequently take advantage of them. In this article, I’ll outline 5 of the most typical strategies dishonest jewellers use to exploit unwary customers.
And you’ve come to the perfect site if you don’t want to be duped or a victim of fraud. Let’s begin immediately.
Uncertified diamond scams
Let me tell you, as someone who works in the business, that the only reason why vendors don’t want their diamonds graded by reputable third-party gemological organizations like the GIA or AGS is that they are promoting very low-quality diamonds and want to take advantage of your ignorance.
These diamonds typically cannot be sold once they have received an official grading because of their poor cut, colour, and clarity grades.
Consider this: Would you purchase a diamond with a GIA grading of L colour, I3 clarity, and poor cut? Or, would you be more inclined to purchase the same diamond if the jeweller made unsupported claims that it had an H colour, VS2 clarity, and exceptional cut diamond?
No matter how tempting the pricing seems, the best course of action, if someone offers to sell you an uncertified diamond at a “fantastic price”, is to walk away.
And get this: I would NEVER purchase a diamond without a grading report as someone with years of expertise in the industry and a background in gemology. That ought to say a lot about the value of a trustworthy grade report when you shop.
Sham certificates
I would have amassed a million dollars if someone had given me a dollar each time I heard the phrase, “You are buying the diamond, not the paper.” This is a typical marketing ploy used by salespeople to get you to overpay for a defective product.
Unreliable lab reports from unidentified sources will be used by unethical jewellers to promote diamonds while claiming that they are just as reliable as GIA or AGS reports or appraisals.
They do this in order to prey on people’s natural greed and sell low-quality stones at prices that make them appear unaffordable to everyone else. You are essentially accepting the seller’s word for the diamond’s details and value without a dependable grading report. It goes without saying that you may anticipate the diamond’s characteristics being wildly misrepresented.
The 4Cs are used to determine a diamond’s value, and despite being modest to the untrained eye, these variances can result in price discrepancies of thousands of dollars.
This is why trustworthy documentation is crucial when purchasing diamonds in India. The golden rule in this situation is to never purchase a diamond without first verifying its authenticity with the GIA or AGS.
Wholesale or retail scams
I find it quite amazing at times how some jewellers can allegedly charge $2,499 for an engagement ring that costs $20,000. I also wonder what’s actually going on in the store when I see signs that say “Sale 50-75 per cent Off Everything!” on a constant basis.
Nevertheless, it probably is if anything seems too good to be true.
Most retailers mark up their diamonds’ selling price by 200–300%, but they are free to use any outrageous price they choose. Then they will devise a marketing strategy or hold gimmicky deals to drive prices down and make it appear to be a fantastic value.
Some naive customers are led to believe they must take advantage of the offer by artificially increasing the prices and then drastically lowering them. But even if the shop gives you a discount of 70%, you’ll still pay a lot more than you need to.
Personally, I wouldn’t say I like these kinds of sales techniques since they truly put you at a disadvantage. Consumers should take retail prices with a grain of salt and disregard any statistics that a physical store included in the assessment document.
Bait and switch
This is one of the older techniques in the book, and I was the victim of it myself when I was mystery shopping for an engagement ring. So that you know, I thoroughly check every merchant that is listed on Beyond4Cs.com. Before I recommend a vendor’s good or service to readers, I require that they uphold my standards.
So here is the tale. I’ve ordered a diamond and decided on a setting to go with it. After making the purchase, I was informed that the diamond I had selected was no longer available, and the dealer had instead provided another, much more expensive, “alike” diamond.
Needless to say, I wasn’t satisfied with the outcome and could get my money back thanks to their return policy (the vendor subsequently ended up on my blacklist). The problem is that most jewellery stores do not provide such sales policies. Without conducting due diligence, you commit money, and whether you like it or not, your money is tied up with them.
Therefore, when bait and switch occurs, there is no way to get your money back; instead, the money is converted into shop credit, which pushes you to purchase from the jeweller.
