Worthy.com

Worthy
Type of business Online marketplace
Founded 2011 (2011)
Headquarters New York City, New York, U.S.
Area served United States
CEO Ben De-Kalo
Services Luxury Good Reseller, Appraisal
Website https://www.worthy.com/

Worthy.com is an online marketplace for pre-owned luxury goods including diamonds, brand-named watches, and diamond jewelry.[1] Worthy, is headquartered in New York City and was founded by investment banker Ben De-Kalo in 2014.[2]

History

Worthy.com was launched in May 2014. The company got its start when De-Kalo and his wife wished to sell a diamond necklace in order to put the money from its sale toward a new one.[3] The De-Kalos found that their resale options were limited. De-Kalo saw an opportunity to create an online auction platform in which sellers send their items to the company's headquarters in New York for evaluation, after which goods would be auctioned online to a network of pre-selected professional buyers.

The marketplace itself is solely online, with the availability of walk-ins for the item submission stage.[4] Goods offered for resale are also physically evaluated and stored offline during the auction process. It is distinguished from other online auction marketplaces by its evaluation process and guarantees offered to both buying and selling parties.

In December 2014, the company launched the Jeweler Program,[5] a white-label auction service for jewelry retail stores, diamond traders and pawn-shop owners. Through the Jeweler Program, Worthy.com establishes partnerships with jewelry stores, allowing their walk-in customers to sell or trade in diamond jewelry using Worthy’s online auction platform.

In May 2016, a 10-carat diamond ring that generated over $4 million in total bids and was auctioned for $676,000 at Worthy.com. In that same month, a fancy yellow radiant cut diamond was auctioned for $78,000.[6]

In August 2016, Worthy.com announced the launch of the Worthy Women’s Professional Studies Scholarship.[7] The program offers scholarships for up to $2,500 and the application is open for women that are minimum 30 years old. Applicants must be enrolled at, or accepted to a Professional Studies Program at an accredited college or university in the United States for the 2016-2017 school year. The scholarship is offered at the University of Kansas, Southern Illinois University, University of Phoenix, Oregon State University and Indiana University Bloomington, among others.

Pre-owned Diamonds Market

As affirmed by De Beers, diamond mines will run out of diamonds in the near future.[8] With the demand for diamonds increasing,[9] the secondhand market gained more and more importance as a source of diamonds. There is around $1 trillion worth of pre-owned diamonds in households around the world,[10] 40% of which is in the United States. In an interview with National Jewelers Magazine, Ben De-Kalo, CEO of Worthy.com affirms that about $8 to $9 billion worth of pre-owned diamonds is brought into the market by jewelry inheritors who want to sell them. De-Kalo says that another source of pre-owned diamonds that come back to the market are divorcees, most of whom want to sell their engagement rings post-divorce.[11]

Online Auction Platform

Worthy.com offers an online auction platform for selling pre-owned diamond jewelry, loose diamonds and luxury watches. The company first identifies the market value of the item through an automatic pricing engine and then agrees on a reserve price with the sellers. The diamonds sold at Worthy.com are graded at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) or at the International Gemology Institute (IGI). The brand-named watches are authenticated at CentralWatch. Prior to auction, Worthy.com makes available the item’s photographs and diamond grading report to the networks of pre-selected professional buyers. The online auction can be watched live by the seller, and both sellers and buyers receive real time updates on the auction status. Once the auction finishes, if the final offer is above the reserve price, the deal is closed. And if the final offer is below the reserve price, the seller can decide to sell it for that price or have the item shipped back. According to Worthy.com CEO, Ben De-Kalo, about 85% of the auctions at Worthy.com are closed successfully.[12]

The items accepted for auction at Worthy.com are loose diamonds, diamond jewelry (including diamond rings, diamond earrings, diamond necklaces, diamond bracelets) and brand-named watches.

References

  1. ↑ Joe McCarthy (13 May 2014). "Worthy hastens auction time for pre-owned luxury jewelry, watches". Luxury Daily. luxurydaily.com. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Paul Johnson (28 June 2014). "Interview with Ben De-Kalo, CEO and Founder of Worthy". aluxurytravelblog.com. A Luxury Travel Blog. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Emili Vesilind (14 May 2014). "New Website Aims to Take Appraisals and Secondhand Jewelry Sales Online". JCK MAGAZINE. jckonline.com. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Dan Berthiaume (8 September 2014). "Auction platform Worthy to move headquarters to NYC". Chain Store Age CSA. chainstoreage.com. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "Worthy Launches Jeweler Partner Program". INSTORE MAGAZINE. instoremag.com. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "WORTHY, an Online Auction Marketplace, Is Changing the Game for Selling Pre-owned Diamonds by Uncovering the Ultimate Diamond Mine in US Households". Yahoo! Finance. finance.yahoo.com. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Worthy Women's Professional Studies Scholarship". News Channel 10. newschannel10.com. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "Diamonds Are Running Out, Says De Beers". The Telegraph. telegraph.co.uk. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "U.S. Polished Diamond Imports Rise in May". Rapaport News. diamonds.net. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  10. ↑ Francois Lenoir (13 March 2012). ""Recycled Diamonds Come Back to Haunt Industry"". Reuters. reuters.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  11. ↑ Michelle Graff (July 2016). ""Five Questions With Ben De Kalo"". National Jeweler Magazine. nxtbook.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  12. ↑ Michelle Graff (July 2016). ""Five Questions With Ben De Kalo"". National Jeweler Magazine. nxtbook.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
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