Looking for a few settings for the stones I have. I keep finding settings in the $2k+ range without a stone. There surly has to be a cheaper way. Any recommended sellers on ebay or anything?
It depends on the quality you are looking for. There are good reasons why the eBay settings are much less expensive than Stuller settings. What is important to you in a setting? Workmanship? Good diamonds? Study durable settings?
They have a more limited selection than some of the Chinese sellers, but being in Chicago, they're usually able to get things out a bit faster for those of us in the US.
The least expensive way to set any stone is by using commercially made settings that are meant for a specific size of stone, (or stones, as there are many setting which are made for multiple stones). ANY vendor, in most developed places in the world has access to these settings and any bench jeweler who you would want working on your ring has the capability to modify many of these commercial settings to fit your stone. These types of settings will generally retail in a range from $300 and up for the metalwork and then have added costs for other stones such as diamond melee. You can't by from these sellers and must use a retail vendor to use these settings, BUT you can look at their catalogs and find things that may appeal to you, pick something and take that info to your favorite bench jeweler so that they can set your stone and size the piece properly, (and I don't know anyone who's turn down this type of work, since it's what's known as, "gravy"...very easy to do). These catalogs are also a good place to get ideas...you can use them to cut and paste different features to get an idea of what you might like in a custom piece for instance.