shape
carat
color
clarity

GOG asking for non-refundable $1k to search--normal??

letsgo

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
4
Hi all,

We have currently been looking for a ~2.5 carat engagement diamond and were recommended to go to Good Old Gold or IDJ as they have the Vatche u113 setting. When we first contacted them, they said they would communicate through email but after a week or two of not hearing back, they said they would need a deposit for $100, fully refundable--which is totally reasonable--to request some diamonds. Later, they said that it was a mistake and asked for a non-refundable deposit of $1k to begin the search..is this normal? :shock: We are on a bit of a time crunch and have several jewelers assisting us on this diamond search, hence there may be a chance that we may find our dream diamond elsewhere. No other jewelers have made such a request and honestly we don't mind paying if it was refundable but I feel like our hands are tied if we submit. I was really interested in GOG but after hearing about this, I'm actually pretty turned off by it. I understand sometimes deposits are needed in order to put a diamond on hold, but they haven't searched or showed us anything. (Just wanted to make sure this was normal protocol for them.)

Anyone with similar experiences?
 
I am working with GoG now and they only requested 50 dollars as a deposit to call in diamonds. This covers shipping the diamond to them for analysis and shipping back. The request was only made after giving me the details on a few diamonds that fit my criteria. The actual searching of the diamonds available was free.
 
Er, I'd be totally put off by this. $1000 to look seems very high, unless you are looking for a very rare type of diamond.

That's a shame, I was keeping GOG in mind for a future upgrade.
 
Don't go with them. What you want could be found lots of places, and that's too much money to not get back if something happens.


Whiteflash wouldn't work for you? They sell that brand.
 
rosetta|1380631493|3530041 said:
Er, I'd be totally put off by this. $1000 to look seems very high, unless you are looking for a very rare type of diamond.

That's a shame, I was keeping GOG in mind for a future upgrade.


Samesies. :nono:
 
I wonder what their motivation was. I can see both sides - 2.5 ct is significant so you're shopping around which makes sense. But from their perspective if enough people contact them just to look but never buy, then they can't keep their company going.
 
Trudii|1380634032|3530066 said:
I wonder what their motivation was. I can see both sides - 2.5 ct is significant so you're shopping around which makes sense. But from their perspective if enough people contact them just to look but never buy, then they can't keep their company going.

$50 is enough of a retainer to only get serious inquiries. $1000 is silly.

And I don't think size should matter. Seems almost like they are asking for more because the purchaser can afford it.
 
Not sure who requested a 1k deposit (that doesn't sound right unless you wanted multiple diamonds called in over 100k) but please allow me the opportunity to clarify our procedure so there is no confusion.

Each day we get calls from people asking to see diamonds in the manner we show. Ie. HD video analysis, ASET, DXray, photomicrographs, Helium Reports, Sarin, etc. In the early days we would pay all the shipping fees to have the diamonds shipped in as well as spend the necessary man hours to shoot, edit, & publish all the material we do. This consumes precious time and capital and many times never hear back from these people. So on top of spending the man hours to publish the material we were also out the funds we paid transporting the diamonds to our lab. Shipping can add up to quite a bit after a few diamonds. After being abused enough times we had to institute a policy to weed out serious shoppers from time wasters so what we do is ask our clients for a non refundable deposit to cover the shipping for 1 diamond, round trip and we will acquire MORE than 1 diamond as many times as necessary until we find exactly what it is our clients are looking for. The deposit is of course applied to the purchase so no funds lost.

We are blessed in the sense that we are here in NY and most of the diamonds you see online are in fact located here in NY so instead of paying for shipping on each individual diamond I can, for the price of 1 shipping acquire a nice selection. Generally we are able to find what our clients are looking for in the first batch but if it requires more than one call in we do that when our clients demonstrate their commitment to work with us.

One other thing ... when we are pulling diamonds from suppliers this prevents them from selling or showing their wares online and/or to other distributors as they are pulled off the market. We enjoy a stellar reputation within our industry because I respect our suppliers merchandise and time they give us to show their diamonds so we only begin to acquire options for our clients when they express to me that they are indeed ready to pull the trigger should we in fact find what it is our clients want.

In summary.

a. As long as you don't mind covering transportation on 1 diamond once and
b. You are ready to pull the trigger should I find what you want ...

only then do we even begin the process of acquisition.

Searching and letting a client know what we have access to (which is basically every virtual diamond on the market plus others that are not listed online and available to retail stores only) doesn't cost a client a dime. That of course we do for free and we can of course broker diamonds without any deposit akin to most sites online with whatever data/pix the manufacturer gives.

After our years serving clients *this* I believe is extremely fair. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Kind regards,
Jonathan
 
Rhino|1380640043|3530103 said:
Not sure who requested a 1k deposit (that doesn't sound right unless you wanted multiple diamonds called in over 100k) but please allow me the opportunity to clarify our procedure so there is no confusion.

Each day we get calls from people asking to see diamonds in the manner we show. Ie. HD video analysis, ASET, DXray, photomicrographs, Helium Reports, Sarin, etc. In the early days we would pay all the shipping fees to have the diamonds shipped in as well as spend the necessary man hours to shoot, edit, & publish all the material we do. This consumes precious time and capital and many times never hear back from these people. So on top of spending the man hours to publish the material we were also out the funds we paid transporting the diamonds to our lab. Shipping can add up to quite a bit after a few diamonds. After being abused enough times we had to institute a policy to weed out serious shoppers from time wasters so what we do is ask our clients for a non refundable deposit to cover the shipping for 1 diamond, round trip and we will acquire MORE than 1 diamond as many times as necessary until we find exactly what it is our clients are looking for. The deposit is of course applied to the purchase so no funds lost.

We are blessed in the sense that we are here in NY and most of the diamonds you see online are in fact located here in NY so instead of paying for shipping on each individual diamond I can, for the price of 1 shipping acquire a nice selection. Generally we are able to find what our clients are looking for in the first batch but if it requires more than one call in we do that when our clients demonstrate their commitment to work with us.

One other thing ... when we are pulling diamonds from suppliers this prevents them from selling or showing their wares online and/or to other distributors as they are pulled off the market. We enjoy a stellar reputation within our industry because I respect our suppliers merchandise and time they give us to show their diamonds so we only begin to acquire options for our clients when they express to me that they are indeed ready to pull the trigger should we in fact find what it is our clients want.

In summary.

a. As long as you don't mind covering transportation on 1 diamond once and
b. You are ready to pull the trigger should I find what you want ...

only then do we even begin the process of acquisition.

Searching and letting a client know what we have access to (which is basically every virtual diamond on the market plus others that are not listed online and available to retail stores only) doesn't cost a client a dime. That of course we do for free and we can of course broker diamonds without any deposit akin to most sites online with whatever data/pix the manufacturer gives.

After our years serving clients *this* I believe is extremely fair. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Kind regards,
Jonathan

I love that the diamond people are "watching" as ultimately it brings clarity and (usually) helps us with our needs and desires regardless if we choose them or not!

A big shout out to all those that are watching!
From a picky but kind noobie diamond seeker:)
 
Jon

Sounds fair to me.. :wavey:
 
Dancing Fire|1380641111|3530115 said:
Jon

Sounds fair to me.. :wavey:

I agree charging some seems fine, but that much for what he was asking seemed like a lot! But sounds like it was a misunderstanding, so that's good. :wavey:
 
I bought from GOG. I feel that a non-refundable deposit is win-win. The supplier is doing a lot of work to find the best stone and to provide analysis, etc. It's a lot of personalized service really. The deposit prevents the customer from using one supplier to find stone only to buy from another at lower price. Customer win too because the supplier is motivated to put in the effort and to call in stones, conduct analysis etc knowing the customer is serious about the purchase. As to amount of deposit, I believe it should be proportional to the size/value of the stones. For a 2ish ct, I'd be happy to pay a $500 deposit. I may go higher if I have absolute confidence in the supplier, or if I can use it towards something else should the supplier fail to find me what i want.

Jon is so easy to work with, and a reasonable man too. I'd suggest the OP to discuss directly with him to see if they can work out a solution that protects both sides. It'd be a shame to write off a star supplier over this. Either way, good luck OP with your search.
 
I believe that GOG would not be charging a fee like this unless they had good reason. Back in 2007, I bought a
1.90ct diamond from them and I live in the UK, I made a hasty decision and then wasn't really happy with what
I bought, Jonathan at Good Old Gold was always very nice in emails and they allowed me to return the diamond for
a refund all the way from UK. This is a company you can certainly trust to do the best for their clients.
 
I'm glad Jon stepped in to clarify. :)) It's pretty normal to charge a small deposit to separate the serious customers from those who are just looking, and shipping and insurance can really add up. Many vendors have this policy for call stones.

My Octavia was purchased from GOG last year and my fiance and I are very pleased with the level of service we got. I will always go to GOG first for any of my diamond needs in the future. They are a business you can trust, and Jon is just an awesome person to work with. :)
 
I am another happy GOG customer, and I do understand why they ask for a deposit to cover shipping in stones.

I have to tell you that it is unnecessary and a mistake to have multiple vendors to search for stones for you. They all can pretty much access the same stones from the diamond suppliers. So you have multiple people contacting suppliers for the same exact stones. It really is unfair to have them do the work when you are going to only buy from one. I choose to buy virtual stones from GOG because they run all the light performance tests for me and have a great upgrade policy. So I have used them when I wanted something called in that they did not have in stock.
 
Well, I have bought two diamonds from GOG and I have no complaints. As for the $1000, I say that people who are requesting express service instead of allowing PLENTY of time to get the job done right, and also essentially pitting one vendor against another to see who can satisfy their demands fastest ought to be charged more than the standard amount. Experts deserve to be paid what they are worth. Experts hired to do a top-notch rush job get more. :mrgreen:
 
diamondseeker2006|1380651253|3530239 said:
I am another happy GOG customer, and I do understand why they ask for a deposit to cover shipping in stones.

I have to tell you that it is unnecessary and a mistake to have multiple vendors to search for stones for you. They all can pretty much access the same stones from the diamond suppliers. So you have multiple people contacting suppliers for the same exact stones. It really is unfair to have them do the work when you are going to only buy from one. I choose to buy virtual stones from GOG because they run all the light performance tests for me and have a great upgrade policy. So I have used them when I wanted something called in that they did not have in stock.


Oh no! I am looking at one diamond specific to one vendor and comparing three different stones with another vendor. Is that what you mean? I don't want to waste anyone's time but I am serious about finding the right stone for me:)
 
hathalove|1380661614|3530324 said:
diamondseeker2006|1380651253|3530239 said:
I am another happy GOG customer, and I do understand why they ask for a deposit to cover shipping in stones.

I have to tell you that it is unnecessary and a mistake to have multiple vendors to search for stones for you. They all can pretty much access the same stones from the diamond suppliers. So you have multiple people contacting suppliers for the same exact stones. It really is unfair to have them do the work when you are going to only buy from one. I choose to buy virtual stones from GOG because they run all the light performance tests for me and have a great upgrade policy. So I have used them when I wanted something called in that they did not have in stock.


Oh no! I am looking at one diamond specific to one vendor and comparing three different stones with another vendor. Is that what you mean? I don't want to waste anyone's time but I am serious about finding the right stone for me:)

No, I also compared in-stock stones in my own searches when originally looking for a H&A stone. That is perfectly fine!

I am talking about if someone decides they want a 2 ct, G-H VS ideal cut and no one has one in stock, and then they contact 2 or 3 vendors and ask them to find them some to look at, so the vendors are all calling diamond suppliers and paying to have stones shipped in. They have access to most of the same stones, usually. So that is making all the vendors go to trouble and expense when a purchase is only going to be made from one. Choose a vendor who will give you the feedback and policies you want, and let them find the diamond.
 
When I was trading up, I asked them to call in a diamond. As it was apparent I was a serious buyer and the numbers on the diamond were promising, no deposit was required.

Jon requested transportation cost on another diamond (SI2 clouds not shown) and that indicated to me the diamond was a no-go, just that he was too polite to tell me my choice was bad.
 
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Top