An offer is the price proposed by a buyer in response to a seller's asking price, representing what the buyer is willing to pay for a gemstone or parcel. In trade negotiations, the seller states an asking price, the buyer counters with an offer, and the transaction closes when both parties agree on a final price — often after several rounds of negotiation. The spread between asking and offer reflects market conditions, information asymmetry, and bargaining power. The convention is universal across the gem trade and forms the working language of stone-by-stone and parcel-by-parcel deal-making.

The structure of negotiation

In typical trade practice, the seller opens by stating an asking price (sometimes called ask or asking), the buyer responds with an offer (sometimes called bid or buying price), and the parties either close at one of these prices, find a midpoint, or continue negotiating. The opening prices are typically not the prices either party expects to close at; sellers ask above their reservation price (the lowest they will accept), and buyers offer below their maximum (the highest they will pay). The skill of negotiation lies in the gap between these stated and reservation prices.

In some markets, particularly where the seller has substantial information advantage and the buyer is less experienced, the seller may state an asking price near or at their reservation price, signalling that no significant negotiation will follow. This is more common in retail and consumer-facing transactions than in business-to-business trade among experienced participants.

Best offer and final offer

Trade negotiations sometimes use specific phrases to signal commitment. Best offer indicates that the buyer's offer is their highest meaningful bid; further negotiation will not produce a higher price from the buyer. Best and final signals the same intent more emphatically, often with the implication that the buyer will withdraw if the offer is not accepted. Subject to offers indicate that the offer is conditional on some other factor — laboratory verification, financing, partner approval — that may unwind the deal.

Sellers may respond with best price or last price, signalling their reservation price. The trade convention is that these signalled commitments are binding in good faith — a seller who states best price and then accepts a lower offer from another buyer damages their reputation in the market.

Information asymmetry

The spread between asking and offer is partly a function of information. In deals where both parties have full information about a stone's properties (treatment, origin, market value), the spread tends to be narrow. In deals where one party has information advantage — for example, when a buyer suspects but cannot verify treatment — the spread widens to reflect the risk premium each party assigns.

Laboratory reports reduce information asymmetry by providing standardised, third-party verification of properties. Stones with current laboratory reports from major laboratories (GIA, Gübelin, SSEF, AGL, Lotus) tend to trade at narrower spreads than uncertificated stones, because both parties can negotiate from a shared factual basis.

Offers in different trade contexts

Offer practice varies across trade contexts. In the diamond trade, off-Rap pricing provides a shared reference, and offers are typically expressed as discounts or premiums relative to the Rapaport list. In coloured stones, no equivalent universal price reference exists, and offers are typically expressed in absolute prices per carat or per piece. In auction sales, the offer-and-asking dynamic operates as the bidding process, with reserve prices serving the role of seller reservation prices.

Further reading

• GIA Gems & Gemology — coloured-stone trade and pricing
• International Gem Society — gem trade reference
• ICA — coloured-stone trade practice