James Allen experience: Confused

[fchida]

Recently I purchased a stone from JA and had it appraised at a certified gemologist appraiser. My appraiser said the stone matches the certificate, the price is great and it is a good value. I was happy to know that the stone looks great. But he also told me that he found the same stone (AGS report number matches) at Rapnet.com and bluenile website, price at rapnet.com is similar to what I paid and at BN it is $1200 more. He said that is nothing to worry about as he thinks JA supplier might have the stone listed at several places.

The dealer name at Rapnet.com is listed as Fibi International in New York and not James Allen.

My concern is JA told me that they are not a drop shipper and hold their inventory in their New York warehouse, if they are not a drop shipper why this stone listed at several places. I called JA and the rep said she does not understand as well and asked me to talk to the person who sold the stone to me.

Is this something that I need to be concerned about before I commit to this stone

Thank you for all your advice.

Feroze

 

[swingirl]

Date: 1/27/2010 10:41:49 PM
Author:fchida
Recently I purchased a stone from JA and had it appraised at a certified gemologist appraiser. My appraiser said the stone matches the certificate, the price is great and it is a good value. I was happy to know that the stone looks great. But he also told me that he found the same stone (AGS report number matches) at Rapnet.com and bluenile website, price at rapnet.com is similar to what I paid and at BN it is $1200 more. He said that is nothing to worry about as he thinks JA supplier might have the stone listed at several places.

The dealer name at Rapnet.com is listed as Fibi International in New York and not James Allen.

My concern is JA told me that they are not a drop shipper and hold their inventory in their New York warehouse, if they are not a drop shipper why this stone listed at several places. I called JA and the rep said she does not understand as well and asked me to talk to the person who sold the stone to me.

Is this something that I need to be concerned about before I commit to this stone

Thank you for all your advice.
Feroze

If you already have the stone in your possession and are happy with the appraisal what would you be concerned about? JA claims that they inspect every stone they sell. That doesn't mean that they have every stone in their vault. It only means that they see the stone before they ship it off to you. Some stones they have but not all.

 

[fchida]

My concern is if JA said that they are not a drop shipper then why is their stone showing up at Blue nile and RAPNET.com. That makes them a drop shipper right. Are they misrepresenting their drop shipper status.

 

[swingirl]

A drop shipper never sees the stone. James Allan inspects all the stones before they send them to the customer. They don't have every single stone in-house but they do have the stones shipped to them first for inspection and to confirm the specs.

 

[CharmyPoo]

It simply means that James Allen sells diamonds from a virtual inventory. I always thought drop shippers were ones that don't ever see the diamond. James Allen has likely obtained your diamond ... checked it out .. before sending it to you.

ETA: oops .. I was typing the same time as swingirl.

 

[fchida]

Thanks for clearing that swingirl, looks like I misunderstood.

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 1/27/2010 10:41:49 PM
Author:fchida
I called JA and the rep said she does not understand as well and asked me to talk to the person who sold the stone to me.

This part is unfortunate. They do need to learn how to tell their own story.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 1/27/2010 11:04:30 PM
Author: Regular Guy

Date: 1/27/2010 10:41:49 PM
Author:fchida
I called JA and the rep said she does not understand as well and asked me to talk to the person who sold the stone to me.

This part is unfortunate. They do need to learn how to tell their own story.

Yes, they should be able to clarity this.

fchida Did the stone have images and did you get an IS? That means JA inspected it prior to sale. They may have taken it out on memo from the actual owner of the diamond to perform these analyses, and then sent it back to the owner and posted the information. The vendor then listed the diamond with a number of online vendors, some of whom are true drop shippers. JA is one step above that I guess, in that they see and inspect the stone *but* don''t actually own it. But this is probably why their prices are a little lower than some other PS vendors who own their inventory.