Question on jewelry store markup

[monarch64]

HI BearsFan! I hope you''ve gained some insight from these responses. Since you live an hour east of Chicago, and I live about 20 minutes west, I felt inclined to respond. While every one of the previous posts are very informative, and they are right, you WILL get the best deal online, I feel like you are the type of person who wants to see what you are getting, and I think maybe you are trying to do this before Christmas (apologies for not reading your posts word for word.)
Anyway, my husband and about 8 of his friends have gone to a jeweler in Oak Lawn, just southwest of the city, this jeweler was recommended by a family friend, they have gotten all their jewelry there for many years, including engagement rings. I ran my ring stats through the Pricescope diamond search (on the homepage) and came up with relatively the same price my husband paid the brick and mortar jeweler in Oak Lawn for my ring, even with the (very plain) setting. I think it is easier to barter with a jeweler who isn''t paying overhead to a mall company and who wants to develop a relationship with you in order to receive future business from you. If you would like, I can private message you on pricescope and give you the jeweler''s name and phone number.

BearsFan, I can''t stress enough that I would be totally comfortable dealing with an online vendor, especially some of the ones recommended in this thread. But if you''re in a super hurry, and really want to see your diamond in person first, I can steer you toward a reputable jeweler in the Chicago area. Take Care!

 

[monarch64]

Date: 12/12/2005 7:20:21 PM
Author: bearsfan72
A feature that chain stores offer that I find beneficial is free financing for one year, do any of these online stores offer any such financing?

Bears Fan: P.S. the jeweler we have dealt with also does financing, although they are definitely not a chain.

 

[lmurden]

Date: 12/14/2005 12:14:15 AM
Author: bearsfan72
I just want to thank everyone for their help, I just have a lot of thinking, researching and pricing to do before I make a final decision. But let''s just say for whatever reason I do decide to buy from a mall or national chain store, I''ll go back to my original question, what are your experiences with negotiating at these stores? Is there a usual percentage they will negotiate down to?

We swear to you that you would be able to get a bigger well cut diamond with a reputable online jeweler, but if you must.

Tell the store what your budget is for the entire ring and do not budge! Make sure the diamond is bright, white, sparkly, and NO visible inclusion! Set your standards and do not deviate from them.

Good luck and do your research!

 

[sylvesterii]

i disagree, don''t tell them your budget. they just *might* have the perfect stone they could just *Squeeze* into the budget. Don''t turn over your cards. When they know exactly how much you can spend, they can be a lot firmer on maxing you out.