So I've been lurking on the forum for a bit, soaking up information from this site on the topic of ER's (the learning curve is quite steep!). I just purchased a round loose diamond (no setting) from B2C, and would like to share my experience. When I was researching B2C, I didn't find a lot of information on them here on PriceScope, so hopefully this will help the next person trying to find more information about them.
- B2C a smaller company than James Allen and Blue Nile, so naturally, their website is a little less streamlined, and their online chat services seemed to be a little slower than the larger online companies. However, their phone support was pretty spot on. Of particular note was "Ben", who was very helpful along the way, and answered all of my questions patiently and courteously.
- B2C is indeed a drop shipper, so they do not have the diamonds on hand to look at (or at least not the ones I were interested in). But unless you're going to one of the few top online distributors, I believe a lot of online distributors drop ship, and it's the best way to give the consumer a larger choice of inventory.
- From my experience only, it appeared pretty evident that B2C was offering the lowest online price on the diamonds I was looking at, compared to the exact same diamond listed on their competitors websites here at PS. The difference in some cases was only a couple hundred bucks, but in some instances, a bit more. Enough to get my attention. In addition, B2C does price matching, so if you see the exact same diamond elsewhere (or even here on PS) for less, they'll honor that price. I used PS to get a price match.
- When I asked for pictures or scopes of the diamonds, they usually had to request those from their distributors and then email the photos to me. For the most part, these photos took anywhere from a few minutes to a day turnaround to get sent to me. They were also able to give me their opinions on the stones in question (even though the stones were not in front of them), and their phone operators knew about cut dimensions, fire, brilliance, HCA, etc... so my comfort level with them grew the more I spoke with them on the phone.
- After I had talked to them multiple times, asked a ton of questions, and was confident enough that they were a legit company, I took the plunge and made the order via bank wire for the additional discount. I was not happy about sending bank wire to someone I didn't know for a large amount of money, but Ben was very helpful, and walked me through the process. Definitely worth it for the savings involved.
- The website allows you to track your account, however, I couldn't find any tracking mechanism or information, so I wound up calling them a few times to check up on the status of my stone. Again, they were patient with me every time.
- I was under a time crunch to get the stone in order to have it set locally, so Ben was able to get the diamond quality checked at B2C, and then sent out from the B2C office within a couple of hours of it's arrival at their office. They get an "A" for the extra effort to get it shipped out so quickly to help me out.
- They use UPS as their primary shipper (not Fed Ex). I picked up the package the next morning from a hold location. They didn't provide a diamond box, instead, they have the diamond wrapped in tissue wrap, sealed, and inserted into the GIA cert sleeve. The sleeve (and other correspondence) is inserted into a sealed UPS envelope. The UPS envelope is then inserted into a small sealed UPS box, then then that small box is again inserted into a medium sealed UPS box. It would have been nice to have a box for the diamond, but since I'm saving a few hundred dollars on the purchase by going through B2C, I can do without a diamond box. (And I'm assuming they'd give you a box if you purchased the full setting with your stone anyway).
- I had the stone measured, appraised and cert verified the same afternoon I picked it up. Everything came back exactly as per the cert except the color, which came back 1 grade whiter than the cert. Sweet. I was able to drop it off at the local setter the same day for the final setting.
Overall, I think B2C is a solid company, and I wouldn't hesitate to do business with them again. So for those of you wondering if B2C is a legit company, hopefully my experience gives you more confidence.
Also, I dont anticipate returning my stone, but they do have a 30 day return policy as well.
P.S. If you're going to be searching for a loose diamond online by yourself, you can't always rely on the online vendor's phone support or chat support to select the best diamond for YOU. Different people have different opinions on what looks nice - BIC, TIC, FIC, etc... My best advice would be to predetermine what cut parameters you're looking for (especially crown and pavilion angles), and then use the customer support to help bring it home for you.
Good luck!
- B2C a smaller company than James Allen and Blue Nile, so naturally, their website is a little less streamlined, and their online chat services seemed to be a little slower than the larger online companies. However, their phone support was pretty spot on. Of particular note was "Ben", who was very helpful along the way, and answered all of my questions patiently and courteously.
- B2C is indeed a drop shipper, so they do not have the diamonds on hand to look at (or at least not the ones I were interested in). But unless you're going to one of the few top online distributors, I believe a lot of online distributors drop ship, and it's the best way to give the consumer a larger choice of inventory.
- From my experience only, it appeared pretty evident that B2C was offering the lowest online price on the diamonds I was looking at, compared to the exact same diamond listed on their competitors websites here at PS. The difference in some cases was only a couple hundred bucks, but in some instances, a bit more. Enough to get my attention. In addition, B2C does price matching, so if you see the exact same diamond elsewhere (or even here on PS) for less, they'll honor that price. I used PS to get a price match.
- When I asked for pictures or scopes of the diamonds, they usually had to request those from their distributors and then email the photos to me. For the most part, these photos took anywhere from a few minutes to a day turnaround to get sent to me. They were also able to give me their opinions on the stones in question (even though the stones were not in front of them), and their phone operators knew about cut dimensions, fire, brilliance, HCA, etc... so my comfort level with them grew the more I spoke with them on the phone.
- After I had talked to them multiple times, asked a ton of questions, and was confident enough that they were a legit company, I took the plunge and made the order via bank wire for the additional discount. I was not happy about sending bank wire to someone I didn't know for a large amount of money, but Ben was very helpful, and walked me through the process. Definitely worth it for the savings involved.
- The website allows you to track your account, however, I couldn't find any tracking mechanism or information, so I wound up calling them a few times to check up on the status of my stone. Again, they were patient with me every time.
- I was under a time crunch to get the stone in order to have it set locally, so Ben was able to get the diamond quality checked at B2C, and then sent out from the B2C office within a couple of hours of it's arrival at their office. They get an "A" for the extra effort to get it shipped out so quickly to help me out.
- They use UPS as their primary shipper (not Fed Ex). I picked up the package the next morning from a hold location. They didn't provide a diamond box, instead, they have the diamond wrapped in tissue wrap, sealed, and inserted into the GIA cert sleeve. The sleeve (and other correspondence) is inserted into a sealed UPS envelope. The UPS envelope is then inserted into a small sealed UPS box, then then that small box is again inserted into a medium sealed UPS box. It would have been nice to have a box for the diamond, but since I'm saving a few hundred dollars on the purchase by going through B2C, I can do without a diamond box. (And I'm assuming they'd give you a box if you purchased the full setting with your stone anyway).
- I had the stone measured, appraised and cert verified the same afternoon I picked it up. Everything came back exactly as per the cert except the color, which came back 1 grade whiter than the cert. Sweet. I was able to drop it off at the local setter the same day for the final setting.
Overall, I think B2C is a solid company, and I wouldn't hesitate to do business with them again. So for those of you wondering if B2C is a legit company, hopefully my experience gives you more confidence.
Also, I dont anticipate returning my stone, but they do have a 30 day return policy as well.
P.S. If you're going to be searching for a loose diamond online by yourself, you can't always rely on the online vendor's phone support or chat support to select the best diamond for YOU. Different people have different opinions on what looks nice - BIC, TIC, FIC, etc... My best advice would be to predetermine what cut parameters you're looking for (especially crown and pavilion angles), and then use the customer support to help bring it home for you.
Good luck!
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