This Blog Has Moved!

We've moved from Blogger and integrated our blog into our existing website.

Our new blog can be found at: http://www.diamondsandopals.com/blog/

How Buying A Diamond Has Changed in The Last 10 Years: Part I

Prior to the mid 90s, the only way to buy a diamond was to go to a jewellery store and buy one from their stock or one they had received on approval from a wholesaler.

There were a couple of problems with this:

a) You had to go to a number of stores just to find the diamond you wanted.
b) It was expensive, and the diamond was probably uncertified.

However, in the mid to late 90s, internet retailers like us burst on to the scene and created shockwaves in the industry.

Instead of offering diamonds in stock or from an Australian wholesaler (or "middleman"), we listed diamonds directly from overseas cutters and wholesalers. And instead of charging a markup of up of to 400%, our average markup was a mere 20%.

In the early days, the market for this method of buying was still small and yet to fully "catch-on", however, there were only a couple of players in the industry, so sales were solid and we remained profitable.

However, as others in the industry caught on to this "new deal" and new websites came and went, it was clear that internet diamond sales were here to stay and that more and more diamond dealers were going to try to compete.