How much can I negotiate down the cost of an engagement ring?

Question

I'm looking to buy and engagement ring. I am looking at rings with 1 karat diamonds (round cut) and white gold. The general cost has been about 3,000-3,500 thousand dollars asking price. How much can I negotiated that down?

Answer 1

You can totally get that price down! Pretty much any jewelry store in the country runs huge sales around the holidays. Anywhere from 50-70% off instantly. My ring was normally upwards of 600 and we watched for the sale and got it for 150.

Another thing FI said he did for engagement ring was to do just like when you are buying a car. Spend a little time on the phone or doing legwork and make them work with you. Call Helzberg and say "well I was just at/spoke to a representative from Zales and they are also offering a 1k ring in 18k white gold for 2,800....can you match that?" They will say yes or no, hang up and make sure they have your contact information in case they decide to really deal. Then you call Zales back and say "Helzberg has agreed to match your price and are offering 2,750 for it.....can you go any lower? I would love to shop with Zales but with the price they are offering...." Again yes or no, hang up. You can keep doing this back and forth until they won't go any lower and make your decision from there. The worst they can say is no and more often than not it works!

Answer 2

Now is an awesome time to buy--but not from a jeweler! Precious metal prices are waaaay down but the jewelers still have a super high mark up right now. Plus, their general mark up is around 200% in any case! More than likely you will not be able to negotiate a price with a jeweler because unless you're speaking with the owner, a manager, or you have bought several other pieces (where in which they sometimes give you discounts) you're not going to see a price budge. ugh! However, SINCE the economy is bad there are tons of people selling their sets privately--which can be a SUPER great way to get a deal and sometimes these sets are relatively new so you'll never be able to tell a difference once buffed and cleaned properly at a store. Good luck on the engagement and finding that perfect ring for her! :)

Answer 3

There are several factors. Does the ring have many internal flaws? My ring we were able to negotiate a lot b/c it looked way overpriced. Really it was a spectacular diamond but the setting was so awful that no light could get in at all. So the same setting would make any diamond look just as good--so why use a really expensive diamond. B/c it had sat there so long, we were able to buy the diamond for a loose diamond price.

However if you are looking at something simple--like a solitaire, there isn't much room for negotiating. Try going to a jeweler and not a jewelry chain. They have lower overhead costs. Also you don't have much room for negotiating if you are getting something customized.

You can negotiate a fair amount but the jewelry store can only go so low due to their high operation costs. I'd say start 2300-2600--thats 25% off. You won't get that but you will probably reach a middle ground.

It also depends on where you buy it. In the Caribbean, I've seen them drop something down more than 50%. Great prices down there as well. You also have more room if you have driven a long way. If you traveled more than 3 hours to look at this store, you have a lot of pull b/c the guy knows you aren't coming back. If he can't make that sell, you are gone.

Also one thing to consider is 1 carat cut off. There is a big difference in price at one carat. If you are really close to 1.0, consider going slightly smaller. .95 is a LOT cheaper than 1.0--and visually you can't see much difference in the two.

Answer 4

Good luck negotiating, most jewelers with any kind of reputation or warranty will not change their prices. Their prices are based on market value of diamonds set by the grading corporations IGA and GIA mostly. I found that going to Shane Co. I bought the same diamond .70 Karats, G color, SI1 Clarity, and Ideal Cut, Princess cut, I paid about $2000 for the stone and $125 for the White gold Solitaire band. I went to Goodman Jewelers (they also own Osterman and Kay Jewelers) and looked at a Diamond that was graded the same and the price was nearly Double that for the stone and the band. It really pays to shop around, also take into consideration the value of a good warranty on the ring. I found that in my area Shane Co. has the best warranty hands down out of any jeweler in the area. This is an item she is going to wear for the rest of her life, so it really should last her lifetime. Be careful though and take your time choosing your diamond, I shopped for nearly 4 months before I actually bought the ring, and believe me this is much harder than buying a car.

Answer 5

Don't listen to these knuckleheads that say you can't negotiate the price of an engagement ring. These people are clueless. The markup on engagement rings is anywhwere from 100% to 1000%. Yes, even reputable dealers have huge markups and they will negotiate. If the dealer won't negotiate, walk out and go somewhere else. You should be able to get any engagement ring for at least 30% off the list price. Anyone who tells you otherwise is crazy.

Answer 6

If the diamond is white with no flaws, it is worth more and the price probably can't be negotiated. You could go with a less perfect color(they go from white to different shade of yellow) and a less perfect stone. You might think about getting a good quality with a smaller stone size. It's according to which is more important to you, size or quality. Remember, this is an investment. Look for sales, also, if you want a good quality ring. My husband and I shopped around quite a bit before we got our rings. We decided the quality was more important than the size. Give yourself a budget to work with and go from there.

Answer 7

Some place you can some you can not. Write down all the specifications of the ring and diamond.

Look for some comparable online. Bluenile.com or Uniondiamond.com for example. Remember a brick and mortar store has more overhead.

$3000-$3500 is not too much for a 1 carat ring (if it just the center stone), so look at its quality. Clarity, Color and Cut (Including symetry). Certified diamonds sell for more but you can trust the grading of it more, GIA is a good grade.

Answer 8

Try looking at a pawn shop. You can usually get lower than the asking price and you would be surprised at some of the nice rings they have. Marriages and engagements end, and that is usually where those bad reminders go. Good luck!

Answer 9

You can't negotiate the price of an engagement ring from a reputable jeweler. You can't negotiate the price of a tv at Circuit City either. But if the carat weight is what you're most concerned about, you can look at lower quality diamonds that you can afford more easily (less clarity, etc.).

Answer 10

My husband tells me that it depends on the jeweler, some jewelers have set prices some don't. The max down you can probably get them to go down in 5%. Good Luck and Congratulations on your future engagement!
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