A small studio in Portland priced a 2 ct cushion moissanite solitaire at 2.2x wholesale and wondered why it sat in the case for 11 months. A competing studio priced a near-identical ring at 3.1x and sold three in a month. The difference was not the stone. It was the pricing logic: the first studio had built a markup on stone cost alone, ignoring setting, labor, credit card fees, and the discount headroom customers expect. Moissanite retail pricing is a stack, not a single multiplier. This article walks through the stack.
Start with landed cost, not wholesale cost
The number on your supplier invoice is not your cost. Landed cost is the wholesale stone price plus freight, duty, bank fees, packaging, and the time cost of money between PO and sale. On a typical import from a Chinese moissanite supplier, landed cost runs about 8–12% above the invoice. If your stone cost is $80, landed is closer to $88–$90. Use the landed figure as the base for every margin calculation.
For the wholesale side of that equation, see wholesale vs retail margin and carat weight pricing tiers. The FTC Jewelry Guides do not set prices, but they do require that any comparison price (compare at, list price) be a genuine recent offering price, so build your discount headroom legally.
The four cost layers
A moissanite ring price should stack four layers. Layer one is the landed stone cost. Layer two is the setting cost—for sterling silver, that is usually $15–$40; for 10k or 14k gold, it is $120–$400 depending on design. Layer three is labor (setting, finishing, polishing, sizing) at $40–$120 per piece. Layer four is overhead and payment processing: roughly 4–6% for credit cards, plus your fixed costs divided by units sold. Add them up and you have the true cost of the piece.
The margin on top of that stack is where the markup lives. Most successful moissanite retailers apply a 2.0–2.5x multiplier on the full stack for ready-made stock, and a 1.8–2.2x multiplier for custom orders where the customer has already committed. The stone-only markup looks bigger than it is because people forget the other three layers. See simulant positioning for how customers compare the price to diamond.
Tier pricing for the basket vs the one-off
Not every piece should carry the same multiplier. Use three tiers. The entry tier (studs, small pendants, 1 ct solitaires) runs a higher multiplier—2.5–3.0x—because these are impulse buys and price sensitivity is lower. The bridal tier (1.5–3 ct solitaires and three-stones) runs 2.2–2.5x because customers compare against lab-grown diamonds and will price-shop. The custom tier (bespoke designs, matched pairs, large fancy shapes) runs 2.0–2.2x because the customer has already chosen you for the design.
Matched pairs (earrings) carry a small additional premium because the pair-matching labor is real; see matched pairs color consistency. For bridal inventory mix, see 1ct to 5ct stocking.
Discount headroom and break-even
Build a 10–15% discount headroom into the tag price so that a sale or a trade-in still lands above break-even. If your stack cost is $200 and your multiplier is 2.5x, tag at $500. A 10% sale takes you to $450, still $250 over cost. A flat 50% off sale would drop you to $250, just $50 over cost—do not run that. Know your break-even per SKU: stack cost divided by 1 minus your target margin. For more on how customers perceive moissanite value, see moissanite fire vs diamond.
What markup do most moissanite retailers use?
2.2–2.8x on the full cost stack (stone + setting + labor + overhead). A flat 3x on stone alone usually over-prices bridal and under-prices studs.
How much should I discount for a sale?
10–15% is sustainable. 50% off trains customers to wait and erodes the category.
Do I price by carat or by millimeter?
By millimeter on the tag (customers buy the visual size), with carat equivalent as a secondary line. See oval carat vs face-up size.
How do I handle custom order deposits?
50% non-refundable up front, balance before shipping. Price the custom piece at 2.0–2.2x stack cost.
Common pricing mistakes that quietly kill margin
The first mistake is pricing by the stone only and forgetting the setting. A 14k gold solitaire mounting costs more than the moissanite itself, and if you price the ring at a 2x markup on the stone alone, you lose money on every unit. The second mistake is running a site-wide sale without a margin floor. A 20% off coupon on a 2.5x markup still leaves you at 2.0x, but a 40% off coupon drops you to 1.5x, which is below your true cost once credit card fees and returns are factored in. Set a minimum sale price per SKU in your cart software and hard-block the discount below it.
The third mistake is under-pricing custom work. Custom orders attract customers who have already chosen you for design, and they will pay a premium for it. A 2.0x markup on custom is a starting point, not a ceiling. For the wholesale side of the buy, see our wholesale vs retail margin piece and the carat pricing tiers guide.
Wholesale pricing. HOLYCOME publishes tiered wholesale lists that let you build the stack with predictable landed costs. Apply for a wholesale account and we will send the current price list—minimum opening order $500, reorders $200.
