-19-
which sold at auction for a total price of $79,100, a markup of
that total price by the minimum dealer-to-retailer and retail-
jeweler-to-public markups referenced by Carmona (i.e., 25 and 50
percent, respectively) results in a total retail price of
$148,312.50 ($79,100 + ($79,100 x .25) = $98,875; $98,875 +
($98,875 x .50) = $148,312.50)),10 or, in other words,
approximately the same as the total fair market value of $146,200
ascertained by Carmona for those items.
Carmona testified as to gemstones in general that the public
usually buys a gemstone at an amount that equals the gemstone’s
wholesale price plus 15 to 25 percent of the wholesale price. As
to the 13 gemstones which sold at auction for a total price of
$764,600, we do not find in the record any persuasive evidence
that would indicate whether the auction price of those gemstones
represents their wholesale price. We would imagine that,
generally speaking, the auction price of a gemstone is at least
15 percent less than its wholesale price. Otherwise, why would a
broker/dealer pay a double digit commission at auction (15
percent of the first $50,000, 10 percent thereafter) to buy a
gemstone “as is”, when the broker/dealer could buy a “similar”
gemstone from a wholesaler without the payment of a commission?
10 We note that $148,312.50 is 87.5 percent greater than
$79,100 (($148,312.50 - $79,100)/$79,100) and that the 25- and
50-percent minimum markups referenced by Carmona translate into a
single 87.5-percent markup (.25 + (.50 + (.25 x .50)) = .875).
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