Retail markup. The difference between the wholesale cost of a diamond and the price it sells for in a retail jewelry store. Typical retail markups on diamond jewelry run 100–200%, which is the structural reason resale offers feel low next to original purchase prices.
Retail markup pays for the store, the staff, the marketing, the inventory financing, and the brand. None of that value can be recovered by the original buyer at resale.
When a buyer offers you 25–50% of what you paid at retail, they are often paying close to 100% of wholesale — the actual liquid value of the stone.
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