Table of Contents
Looking for ways to sell an engagement ring, loose diamond or any other diamond jewelry can be exhausting and complicated. Especially if it’s your first time doing this. It can also be quite frustrating. Not only because of the time and effort it takes, but also because most stores offer prices that tend to be below the true resale value.
Some people turn to sites like eBay, where they can sell their jewelry themselves. While this is an option, it doesn’t always guarantee you the best price. Others try selling to a local jeweler. But that’s usually a lottery as the buying price will depend on what kind of items that specific retailer is looking for. They may not even be in the business of buying from individuals (many aren’t).
This is where sites like Worthy come in. In this review of Worthy, we’ll take a look at this diamond and jewelry resale platform, how it works, what the advantages and disadvantages are, and whether it’s the right way for you to sell your diamond ring.
What is Worthy?
Worthy is an innovative online luxury jewelry and diamond auction marketplace. Worthy aims to make it easy and convenient to sell your engagement ring online, stating, “All we want from you is to sit back, relax, and watch the offers roll in”. And they do this by offering a streamlined process, bringing diamond jewelry sellers and a curated collection of professional buyers together for a win-win situation.
Worthy emphasizes transparency, integrity, and convenience. These are the keys to their business model. They only work with top professional buyers, providing them as well as Worthy’s sellers with all of the transparency and information they need to make a deal everyone is happy with.
Worthy aims to get the best price for your valuables as quickly as possible and with little effort from your side. Worthy uses its expertise, technology, and connections to get jewelry sellers the absolute most for their jewelry anywhere in the market.
Notable Features of Worthy
- A seamless, end-to-end, jewelry selling experience
- Free FedEx Shipment to the Worthy offices is fully insured by insurers at Lloyd’s of London
- Grading reports from high-quality independent labs such as the GIA
- Complimentary cleaning and HD images for your item
- The ability to choose your reserve price
- Over 1000+ top jewelry industry professionals looking to buy your diamond
- An average consumer rating of 4.8 from over 2,000 reviews on Trustpilot
- An obligation-free-process prior to the auction, and your item is returned free of charge if your minimum price isn’t met
- Fees that are proportional to your earnings – Worthy only makes more money when you do
- A risk free process – if you don’t want to go ahead prior to the auction, Worthy will ship your piece back
How Does Worthy Work?
Worthy is an online diamond and jewelry auction site. This means that you won’t be selling your jewelry to Worthy but rather that they will help you sell your jewelry to the highest professional bidder. Should you decide to submit your diamond to them, they will put it up for auction and find the best possible buyer at the highest possible price.
Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough of the whole process:
1. Contact Worthy
You can contact Worthy through their website and tell them what you are selling – an engagement ring, a loose diamond, a piece of diamond jewelry (ring, earrings, necklace, bracelet), or even a luxury watch. Keep in mind that Worthy doesn’t accept most jewelry that’s valued below $1,500.
You’ll need to describe the stone or piece in detail – just fill in the questionnaire Worthy provides on their site.
You should mention your expected selling price range, as well as add your personal contact information.
2. Send Your Item to Worthy
Once Worthy accepts your request, they will send you a free shipping label, fully insured by Lloyd of London for up to $50,000.Send Worthy your diamond or jewelry and they will mostly take it from there.
3. Your Item is Evaluated
When they receive it, Worthy’s in-house gemologists will evaluate the value of the piece. This is done based on an objective grading report from the world’s leading independent laboratories. And the cost of this is fully covered by Worthy.
Worthy also obtains a diamond grading report from a leading grading services including the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Gemology Headquarters International (GHI), or the International Gemological Institute (IGI). Watches are also inspected by an agency called Central Watch.
These laboratories inspect each piece of jewelry and give a grading report based on different factors that affect the value of a diamond. This is how Worthy helps get you the highest offers for your valuable.
If the final auction price is below your reserve price, you can either give a new price range or ask Worthy to return your jewelry back to you – no strings attached. There’s really no risk involved if you decide not to go ahead.
4. Your Item is Put Up for Auction
Prior to auction, Worthy will have your diamond jewelry professionally cleaned and photographed. Then once you set your reserve price in conjunction with your auction manager, Worthy will put the item up for sale.
A sale usually takes from a couple of weeks or up to a month to complete.
If the highest bid meets or exceeds your reserve price, you are committed to selling the piece. If the highest bid does not meet or exceed the reserve price you chose, you can opt to have the piece shipped back to you free of charge.
5. Get Paid for Your Diamond
Once the stone or jewelry has been sold to the highest bidder, Worthy will take their fee and send you your share of the sale via bank transfer, PayPal, or check. It’s as easy as that!
Worthy’s Fees
Worthy offers low fees as well as a pricing model that decreases as the total value of the diamond increases. Here’s a breakdown:
| Price/VALUE | WORTHY’S COMMISSION |
| $1,500 to $5,000 | 18% |
| $5,001 to $15,000 | 14% |
| $15,001 to $30,000 | 12% |
| $30,001 or more | 10% |
These fees are among the lowest for jewelry auctions in the industry. The reason Worthy can offer such low fees is that they only accept high-value, high-priced luxury jewelry. In comparison, there are other online jewelry auctions that charge up to 60% of the jewelry’s value when said value is below $1,000. Worthy simply does not accept most jewelry valued that low.
Worthy Pros and Cons
With the description of Worthy’s process out of the way, let’s break down the service’s pros and cons. Is this the place you should where you should sell your loose diamond or jewelry piece?
Worthy’s Pros:
- Worthy allows you to reach many professional buyers with ease.
- The competitive nature of the auction platform ensures that you’ll likely get a high bid for your diamond or jewelry piece.
- Worthy’s website is seamless and easy to use.
- Sending your jewelry to Worthy is 100% safe due to their high-value and free insurance policy.
- The evaluation of every diamond or jewelry piece is done independently by expert gemological labs, guaranteeing transparency and granting your piece a certificate.
- Worthy’s fees are noticeably lower than those of most of their competition.
Worth’s Cons:
- Worthy does not accept most jewelry valued at less than $1,000. This renders the site unusable if you have a lower-value piece of jewelry. If your piece costs less than $1500, Worthy most likely isn’t the right option for you to sell your ring with.
- Online auctions take time and Worthy is no exception. Even with their huge network of jewelry experts and potential buyers, the whole process still usually takes around 2-3 weeks. – If you’re simply looking for quick cash but a much lower priced offer, you may be better off with another option, such as a pawn shop.
Is Selling Jewelry with Worthy Worth It?
No matter where or how you choose to sell your engagement ring or diamond jewelry, you will not get full retail value for your piece ever, not even close. That’s just a reality of re-selling diamonds and jewelry. It’s not an investment like a house or a stock or an old and rare baseball card.
The fact that it’s not brand new, and that the buyer is likely to be looking to resell it themselves, means you are highly unlikely to get even close to what you originally paid for the piece. Which is why it’s essential to still get the highest valuation and the best bidder for any piece you’re looking to sell. You don’t want to sell your jewelry for mere pennies on the dollar.
Whether Worthy is right for you or not depends on several factors:
- How soon do you need to make the sale?
- How much do you want to maximize profits?
- How much effort do you want to put into the whole process?
If you are in a rush, an online auction may not be the right way for you to go. However, for most diamond sellers, it’s worth taking more time to get the best price for your item. Worthy often finds a much better deal for your piece of jewelry than any of their competitors, online or off.
Some may argue that you can maximize profits by selling the engagement ring or piece of jewelry by yourself – and this can be true. But it’s quite difficult. Instead, a service like gives you access to the extensive network of buyers that they have. And the processes they have in place makes selling a high-ticket item like a diamond much easier.
Online auctions are designed for those who prefer a convenient, streamlined, and hands-off process to get the most money for your engagement ring or diamond jewelry. For most people, reselling a pre-owned diamond or jewelry piece is a one-off but complex event, so why not get the experts to do it for you? If you’ve decided that using an online jewelry auction service is the best route for you, Worthy is the first place you’d want to look into.
Click here to start selling your jewelry with Worthy now.
