Buying from person vs buying from jeweler

[mlchris2]

Can you help a guy out... I have no idea when it comes to jewelry and diamonds. I searched local paper and online classifieds as well as browsing the stores locally and some stores online. It appears I can save some $$$ by buying online of from some person vs a jeweler. Are there any benefits to buying from a jeweler?

 

[stone-cold11]

define a person? Craglist type ad?

 

[AprilBaby]

At a jeweler you know what you are getting?

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

At a jeweler you can see the diamond, and you get the psychological benefit of being able to look into the seller''s eyes in order to determine whether or not he or she is honest. And if the store is local, it makes it easier to take the ring back for sizing, repairs, polishing, etc.

But outside of two stores in Chicago (Dimend Scaasi and Windy City - both are great, definitely not maul stores by any means) I would always choose one of the reputable online vendors (Brian Gavin, Infinity/Wink Jones, Whiteflash, GOG, etc.) over local stores. And I know from reading others'' experiences that the vendors at these online stores are great to work with, good at communicating and listening, etc. Even if it means that it''s a little more difficult logistically to resize rings, etc.

 

[outatouch0]

There COULD be a considerable price advantage under certain conditions. As you stated you don''t know much about diamonds you would be at a disadvantage. If you spent some time in the Pricescope knowledge section and in this forum you can improve on that remarkably.
As for making a deal with a private party. Perhaps if you were buying a certifiied stone and could have the deal contingent upon an independent appraiser evaluation you might just swoop a sweet deal. You would have to find a seller willing to send it to an appraiser of your choice without you paying them first though. Perhaps you might have some buyers protection with services such as PayPal acting as an itermediary.

 

[HVVS]

You might save some money, but odds are that you won't get anywhere near to the quality of diamonds you'll find here. I've bought from a PS vendor (twice), from pawn shops, from owners, and from eBay jewelry vendors. For a serious e-ring, I'd recommend buying from a PS vendor unless you can luck into a private seller who can furnish all of the paperwork that would normally come with a PS diamond. You can find some pretty rings out there, especially from estates, but they will be older diamonds and probably older quirky versions of RB cut that are not historic like Old European, Old Mine, or Antique Cushion, and might have shallow crown angles or huge tables for more brilliance with little fire. Or they might be too deep and face up small. Or have some definitely different optical performance b/c the symmetry is random. [But that's just the way we like it, sometimes, hehe. ]

You'd have a lot of legwork to do yourself getting appropriate data to do an apples-to-apples comparison to see whether or not it's a good value for the price, or what the equivalent sells for on PS. And it might take a very long time for the right ring or diamond to turn up secondhand. There is a world of difference in the cut between a H&A modern super ideal and the average commercial cut diamond sold at a "maul" jeweler, and most of those secondhand rings will have come from those maul stores.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Buying from a person is fine as long as you have the opportunity to check it out.

Buy with a reasonable right-of-return period (7-10 days?) after having the diamond checked out by the independent appraiser of your choice, with right of return for any reason.

You can accomplish this by using an independent appraiser who offers an escrow service, or using an outside escrow service.

They send the ring to the appraiser of your choice, while you deposit the money in escrow. Once the appraiser gives the okay, you authorize release of the funds to the seller while they authorize release of the diamond to you.

That way neither party can get burned.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 11/19/2009 9:16:17 PM
Author: Richard Sherwood
Buying from a person is fine as long as you have the opportunity to check it out.

Buy with a reasonable right-of-return period (7-10 days?) after having the diamond checked out by the independent appraiser of your choice, with right of return for any reason.

You can accomplish this by using an independent appraiser who offers an escrow service, or using an outside escrow service.

They send the ring to the appraiser of your choice, while you deposit the money in escrow. Once the appraiser gives the okay, you authorize release of the funds to the seller while they authorize release of the diamond to you.

That way neither party can get burned.

Great advice as always Richard....+1

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/19/2009 9:22:12 PM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 11/19/2009 9:16:17 PM
Author: Richard Sherwood
Buying from a person is fine as long as you have the opportunity to check it out.

Buy with a reasonable right-of-return period (7-10 days?) after having the diamond checked out by the independent appraiser of your choice, with right of return for any reason.

You can accomplish this by using an independent appraiser who offers an escrow service, or using an outside escrow service.

They send the ring to the appraiser of your choice, while you deposit the money in escrow. Once the appraiser gives the okay, you authorize release of the funds to the seller while they authorize release of the diamond to you.

That way neither party can get burned.

Great advice as always Richard....+1

Ditto

 

[diamondringlover]

Ditto what Richard said, I did buy a wedding ring off Ebay, but it came with the orginial paperwork and a cert, but then I took it to an independent appraiser as well, I got a heck of a deal, but I armed myself with as much knowledge from pricescope and that helped me to decide what to buy and I paid with my credit card thru paypal that way I had a little bit more protection and I know you need to be very careful there is alot of junk out there, good luck.

 

[vespergirl]

The big benefit that we had from buying my ring from a reputable local jeweler was the trade-up policy. You can trade in your diamond at any time for 100% of the value of the diamond. I originally had an asscher diamond, but when I decided that I preferred the round shape instead, I was able to trade in the diamond for only $200 difference. If you decided that you eventually wanted a different size or shape diamond, you would lose a lot of value having to sell it privately.

So, the trade-up policy with our local vendor was what clinched the sale for us.

 

[Hest88]

My concern with buying from a random private person is that even if they gave you a return policy you couldn''t always be sure they''d adhere to it unless, any more than you''re guaranteed that a landlord will return your entire cleaning deposit. It would be one thing if they allowed you to take it with no or only a small deposit, but if you have to pay the entire thing in advance you''re at a disadvantage. For something as important as an e-ring, why risk an unpleasant encounter?

Think of buying a diamond as any other expensive purchase, like buying a car. If you really, really know what you''re doing then a private person is fine and you might get a great bargain. Plus, it''s not like they can take your money and leave you with something you can''t drive away. If you''re relatively clueless about cars, wouldn''t you rather go to a dealer rather than possibly getting ripped off?

 

[Narwhal]

How do you all feel about getting a stone/ring etc from a board member? Maybe not PS but one of those other big jewelery boards?