A loose-stone parcel sells at 30–50% below graded singles because it is a bag of mixed sizes, colours and clarities. That discount is attractive — until you open the bag and find half the stones are too grey to sell and the other half are exactly what you wanted. Parcel buying pays back only when you grade the lot on approval and send back the weak stones. If you keep the whole bag, you have bought mixed inventory at a "discount" that includes slow stock.

Parcels vs singles: when each makes sense

Buy singles for hero SKUs — a solitaire ring, a signature pendant, a bridal piece. Singles carry a known grade, a known price and a known resale. Buy parcels for bulk settings: tennis bracelets, stackable rings, earring studs, pavé bands. Parcels give you 100 or 500 stones at a blended price; the job is to sort them into sellable and slow. For a deeper dive on matched-lot buying, see tennis bracelet stone counts and matched lots; for the single-stone certificate logic, see lab-grown diamond certificate rules.

The on-approval terms you must get in writing

Before the parcel ships, confirm four points on the order: approval window (7–14 days from delivery is standard); return condition (stones must be unused, unmounted, in original packaging); rejection right (you may return any portion, not the whole bag); refund method (credit to next order or money back). A supplier that insists on "sold as seen, no returns" is selling you their unsortable stock. Reputable cutting houses offer on-approval on parcels above roughly USD 1,000. Tie the approval clause into the PO per the first-order PO checklist.

The grading process on arrival

Open the parcel under a 10x loupe, a daylight lamp and a grey reference card. Sort into three piles: grade A (sellable, matches your price band), grade B (usable for lower-price lines or pavé), grade C (too grey, too included, wrong size — reject). Weigh each pile. Compare the weighted average against the quoted blended price. If grade A is less than 40% of the parcel weight, the parcel is not a deal — it is a slow-stock bundle to return. Check colour consistency across the grade A pile: a tennis bracelet needs stones that match within half a colour grade. Use GIA 4Cs colour and clarity language so your sorting words match your retail listing words.

The numbers behind a good parcel deal

A parcel priced at USD 10 per carat blended, with 50% grade A stones worth USD 18 per carat and 30% grade B worth USD 8, works out to a blended resale value of roughly USD 13.40 per carat — a 34% gross spread before setting cost. A parcel at USD 8 per carat with only 30% grade A works out closer to USD 9.50 — a 19% spread, which after mounting, plating and logistics barely clears the margin in the wholesale-to-retail margin formula. Sort before you keep, not after. For colored parcels specifically, also check treatment disclosure under FTC 16 CFR Part 23; a parcel of heated sapphire or oiled emerald needs the same disclosure as singles.

How to photograph a parcel for evidence

Before you sort, photograph the sealed bag, the opened bag poured on a white tray, and a close-up of ten representative stones next to a ruler. This record protects you if the supplier later claims you kept grade A and returned grade C. It also protects you internally: when a customer disputes a stone months later, you can show the sort grade you assigned. A phone photo in daylight is enough; you do not need a gem lab camera. Do this every time a parcel arrives, not just the first time.

Keep the rejected grade C stones in a labelled bag rather than throwing them away. A small proportion are sellable as bargain melee, and the rest make useful practice stones for photographing or training staff on the loupe. They are cheap insurance against losing the grading habit on the next parcel.

FAQ

What parcel size is realistic for a first buy?

50–100 stones in a matched mm band, roughly USD 800–1,500. Large parcels (500+ stones) suit established lines with steady demand.

Can we return only the bad stones?

Only if the on-approval terms say so. Get partial-return rights in writing before payment; many suppliers allow it on parcels above USD 1,000.

How fast should we grade on arrival?

Within 3–5 days. The approval window starts at delivery, not at "when we have time." Photograph the opened parcel for evidence before sorting.

Are parcels cheaper than singles on a per-carat basis?

Yes by 30–50%, but the effective price depends on your sort rate. A parcel with 50% grade A is a deal; one with 20% grade A is not.

HOLYCOME offers on-approval parcels in calibrated mm sizes, with 14-day grading windows and partial-return rights. Ask for the current parcel list and a sample sort report.