scrape_r_rational/data/cache/2squa0.md

Selling Diamonds is Harder than You Think

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• u/itisike:

  Let's see, 30 year old article, diamond industry still exists and prices are not "crash level" yet.
  
  Predicting the future is *hard*.
  

  • u/whywhisperwhy:

    Absolutely. Although to be fair it seems like there was a small crash in the 80s, DeBeers was just able to reassert control. 
    
    Actually, in the comments to that article there was a link to a [decent piece](http://web.archive.org/web/20120923200747/http://www.overtcollusion.com/diamonds/) on timeline picking up after the OPs article finishes. Worth a read if that article left you curious about what happened in those 30 years.
    

• u/xamueljones:

  I'm mainly posting this link to see what /r/rational thinks of this monopoly, since the process of moving into a post-scarcity society would cause large companies to logically act like this to maintain their money-making monopolies.
  
  For further discussion, how would you sell your secret stash of diamonds when they are not really that rare, but it's common knowledge only among people who have the resources to buy them?
  

  • u/JackStargazer:

    Debeers is really an outlier though. Never before or since has a complete and utter monopoly been tied to an almost universally pervasive meme that reinforces the monopoly. 
    
    Most new goods now are *designed* for a consumer market, which involves buying and selling and in some cases planned obsolescence. 
    
    But on the other end of Debeers is Aluminum.
    
    Aluminum use to be rarer than platinum. When foreign royalty visited the court of Louis XVI, they were served on plates of aluminum, with platinum being used for mere dukes.
    
    Still, even with the incredible cost, the small amount meant that the total value of the market was limited. Only a few small number of people could afford it, and there was little movement in the trade.
    
    Then it was discovered that you could inexpensively extract aluminum from bauxite ore, and the price crumbled to the point that it is almost disposable now. 
    
    But the outrageous growth in supply means that, worldwide, the market for aluminum has actually grown exponentially - even adjusting for inflation it's easily a hundred thousand or a million times larger.
    
    So, a loss of scarcity actually created a larger market, and enabled applications that would never have been considered before.
    
    This is the same thing I expect to happen to gold and platinum when asteroid mining becomes viable and effective. There is more platinum in a single asteroid rich in it then has been mined on earth in the history of mankind. While this would crash the price, it will open up enormous opportunity to exploit the material in ways that never would have been cost effective before.
    

    • u/kaukamieli:

      > in some cases planned obsolescence.
      
      I was kinda gonna ask if this thing was just a conspiracy theory thing or if there is any actual evidence of this and then I remembered I'm a total dunce and I just read about fucking DRM in cat litter box.
      
      https://medium.com/@jorge_lo/the-future-a-cat-litter-and-drm-6dbda26428f8
      
      I mean, it's not quite the same think as making it break sooner, but it's not far off and even that actually happens with printers.
      

      • u/None:

        Planned obsolescence is a thing that exists. I'm on my phone, so I can't provide links, but look into the lifespan of old-timey lightbulbs compared to modern ones. Of course with LEDs that's maybe not a very relevant example. Cartridge printers are another example you could look into.
        
        Non-jeans clothing found at big stores could also be seen as an example, provided you don't care about fashion.
        

  • u/kaukamieli:

    The monopoly is great at manipulating people. People think natural diamonds are somehow better than lab made, because they are "real". Even when lab made are perfect and purer than "real" diamonds.
    
    I've been thinking I should buy a shitload of lab made diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds at least for counters for board games. And to fill some pouches for cosplays, giveaways and other fancy things.
    
    > not really that rare, but it's common knowledge only among people who have the resources to buy them?
    
    Except that because of internet lots of people know about it. And people who can afford big ones might not know or care. It's a status symbol now regardless of it's value. It's a fucking diamond.
    
    > how would you sell your secret stash of diamonds
    
    I'd fill a bathtub with them, go in myself, and make a viral video of them! "Wanna buy a diamond? Well below the 'market price'." Then I'd rise from the tub and have diamond underwear on for everyone's surprise.
    
    Yeaaa maybe I'd just wanna show off instead of selling them.
    

    • u/xamueljones:

      Ow, ow, ow...my throat hurts from laughing so hard at your comment. Can I have a diamond to soothe my pain?
      

      • u/kaukamieli:

        Glad to make someone's day better. :) Too bad I got none of those diamonds. :(
        

  • u/eaglejarl:

    There are "we buy diamonds and gold" stores everywhere. They give you only a fraction of the value, of course, but converting diamonds into quick cash isn't hard.
    

    • u/kaukamieli:

      I think the question means that if you were Debeers and had this mountain of diamonds. I don't think those shops could handle that volume, so better to sell them bit by bit.
      
      What other uses do diamonds have than drilling and breaking stuff?
      

      • u/Izeinwinter:

        They have very nifty thermal, optical and mechanical properties. A cheap way to mass produce them would be a very large boon to engineering. At the current price point.. not so many uses justify that cost.
        

        • u/kaukamieli:

          So if the monopoly would collapse and diamonds would become dirt cheap, how much could things get better, from that engineering point of view?
          

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