On-line purchase with wire transfer?

[London]

I am thinking about making an online purchase with wire transfer but am not sure how secure I feel about. I am worried about transferring funds and then not being shipped the diamond at all or being sent something different than what I ordered. Although the vendors I am looking at are all PS vendors listed on the diamond search I still feel apprehensive about it. Thoughts? Experiences?

 

[MarionC]

I've made wire purchases with James Allen.
My only reservation with their wire purchases is; if you return the product it can take up to a month to get a check back.

I have bought from Blue Nile - had some problems there...sent back 2 diamonds and at first they said there was only one in the package [minor heart attack] and then the response time for refunds was quite slow. It all worked out in the end.

I have bought from Whiteflash and would not hesitate to send a bank wire to them.
I've dealt with Wink and would not hesitate to send him a bank wire.

Don't have experience with anyone else.

 

[TC1987]

I have 2x with Good Old Gold, and I forget whether or not with Brian Gavin but I think so.

 

[SandyinAnaheim]

I also wired my funds to Wink. I was a bit squeamish about it, but that had more to do with the size of the purchase and commitment to purchasing rings that a twit like me helped design without knowing what I was doing or how it would really come out. For people like me, this is the biggest purchase I have ever made outside of a house or car, and I've had good cars that cost 1/4 what we spent!

The reality is, you're pretty safe with the vendors on PS because if anything goes wrong, or you don't receive a refund on a return, the damage someone could do to the vendor's reputation by posting the incident here is incalculable, and likely irreparable.

 

[London]

Thank you all for the replies. Very helpful to hear about others experiences.

Sandy and Jimmi, who is Wink? Can't seem to find their website...

I am debating between making a wire transfer purchase through B2C or Eternity by Yoni. Anyone have experience with both and likes one over the other?

 

[Just_Starting]

Thank you all for the replies. Very helpful to hear about others experiences.

Sandy and Jimmi, who is Wink? Can't seem to find their website...

I am debating between making a wire transfer purchase through B2C or Eternity by Yoni. Anyone have experience with both and likes one over the other?

He's a highly respected jeweller, especially on here. This is his site:

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/

 

[GeorgeStevens]

A few other things to consider...

1. How big is the transaction? For a small transaction, the bank's wire fee will eat-up any savings the vendor passes along (try to get at least 3%). Some US banks have criminally high wire fees - as high as $45. Some banks also limit the size of an outgoing wire from a personal account to $50K or $100K, so if it's a really big transaction, FedExing a bank check is often the cheapest and easiest way.

2. How much do you value peace-of-mind? Depending on your credit card, you may get an extended warranty against breakage or theft and easier ability to dispute the charges. Also, with a wire, it's not common, but they can just disappear into the ether. I had a buddy wire from his offshore to his onshore account, and the wire never made it. Neither bank claimed to know why and each blamed the other. It didn't get sorted out until he complained to the local newspaper in the offshore location. Lastly, even reputable vendors have been known to close without warning. Or they are a victim of theft or pilferage or a fire and discover they're underinsured and your diamond is missing. Or a bunch of other low-probability but not-unheard-of outcomes that the credit card protects you against. The longer your product is at the jeweler's, the more risk you bear. If you're ordering something that will be dispatched the next day, you're a lot safer.

3. How much are credit card perks worth to you? I value airline miles at a penny a piece, so if the merchant doesn't offer at least a 2% wire discount, I use the card. If you do use the card for an abnormally large purchase, you may want to call ahead to alert them that it's coming.

All this said, I tend to use wires for most purchases over $5K as long as I get close to a 3% wire discount. When I negotiate a price (which is most of the time), I negotiate a price by wire.

 

[London]

A few other things to consider...

1. How big is the transaction? For a small transaction, the bank's wire fee will eat-up any savings the vendor passes along (try to get at least 3%). Some US banks have criminally high wire fees - as high as $45. Some banks also limit the size of an outgoing wire from a personal account to $50K or $100K, so if it's a really big transaction, FedExing a bank check is often the cheapest and easiest way.

2. How much do you value peace-of-mind? Depending on your credit card, you may get an extended warranty against breakage or theft and easier ability to dispute the charges. Also, with a wire, it's not common, but they can just disappear into the ether. I had a buddy wire from his offshore to his onshore account, and the wire never made it. Neither bank claimed to know why and each blamed the other. It didn't get sorted out until he complained to the local newspaper in the offshore location. Lastly, even reputable vendors have been known to close without warning. Or they are a victim of theft or pilferage or a fire and discover they're underinsured and your diamond is missing. Or a bunch of other low-probability but not-unheard-of outcomes that the credit card protects you against. The longer your product is at the jeweler's, the more risk you bear. If you're ordering something that will be dispatched the next day, you're a lot safer.

3. How much are credit card perks worth to you? I value airline miles at a penny a piece, so if the merchant doesn't offer at least a 2% wire discount, I use the card. If you do use the card for an abnormally large purchase, you may want to call ahead to alert them that it's coming.

All this said, I tend to use wires for most purchases over $5K as long as I get close to a 3% wire discount. When I negotiate a price (which is most of the time), I negotiate a price by wire.

Every point well taken and super insightful. Thank you thank you.

 

[SandyinAnaheim]

London, Wink owns High Performance Diamonds, he's one of the few vendors for Crafted by Infinity stones.

 

[hawk25]

I had a good experience with wiring money to Whiteflash, they kept me in the loop on when they received the money and everything went smoothly. It was my first time wiring money before, and I even had a CAD-USD currency conversion to deal with. So I felt just as, if not more apprehensive as you're feeling.

A lot of people do the wire transfer through their local bank, but I found that if you need to convert your currency, Western Union was by far the cheapest. You set up an FX account, set up the transaction online, send the money to WU by bill payment, and WU sends it either by wire ($22), or by ACH/EFT payment, which was only $5. Check with your vendor to see whether they allow an ACH/EFT payment or not. Whiteflash does, and I'd imagine a few others will too.

 

[Gypsy]

I've wired money to multiple vendors.

Wire fees can be high so make sure it's worth it in terms of savings to use the wire. Otherwise just use your debit. IMO. If the vendor takes that. Small transactions are not worth the wire fees.

 

[Cookie1210]

Hi there, anyone had experience wiring money to USA Certed Diamonds (the owner's name is Martin Sheffield)? He seems to be a long time PS vendor and appears reputable. However, most of the reviews we are able to find are not that recent. Would love any feedback you may have. Thank you!

 

[sledge]

Hi there, anyone had experience wiring money to USA Certed Diamonds (the owner's name is Martin Sheffield)? He seems to be a long time PS vendor and appears reputable. However, most of the reviews we are able to find are not that recent. Would love any feedback you may have. Thank you!

I've not done business with them, but the owner is an active participant on here. The general consensus I've gathered is he's a fair and reputable guy but it's usually a no thrills experience -- no upgrade policies, etc. The advantage is a lower price upfront.

As far as wire transfers goes I like the additional protection myself. I'd consider wire transfers with places like BGD, HPD, WF, etc but o ly if the discount was generous enough.

 

[MollyMalone]

Hi there, anyone had experience wiring money to USA Certed Diamonds (the owner's name is Martin Sheffield)? He seems to be a long time PS vendor and appears reputable. However, most of the reviews we are able to find are not that recent. Would love any feedback you may have. Thank you!

Not sure if you saw the reviews from past several years in the Testimonial section, but if not, here's the home page for that:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/forums/pricescope-testimonials.57/

 

[Bron357]

My experience is that PayPal prefers to limit transactions to $10,000 - no doubt because of their “refund guarantee”. They will consider up to $60,000 but both sender and receiver have to be verified and long term customers and it’s at Paypals discretion.
PayPal charges the receiver 3% of the funds transferred, this is why vendors aren’t keen on PayPal. If you send a vendor $10,000 by PayPal the vendor only receives $9,700 ie the PayPal fee is $300. Likewise with paying by Visa or American Express, the vendor will be paying fees to receive your money. With a wire transfer, you the sender pay the fee ie $45.
Obviously buyers prefer PayPal for the refund guarantee which is fair enough for dealing with random strangers on eBay.
Businesses that have a long and solid reputation are generally safe and it is common practice to wire funds.

 

[wildcatz]

It might be worth asking if the vendor would take a personal check and give you the same discount. Victor Canera did this for me.

 

[ccyk]

Just a heads up about couriering bank draft, especially in canada. In the unlikely case it get lost, good luck getting money back. This couple had to go to tv to get the bank to cancel lost bank draft by courier to refund the $800k+
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ups-td-canada-trust-bank-draft-1.4447384

Alternative option can shop for fix fee wire transfer, some fx company can do that.

 

[TreeScientist]

Second all of the points made by @GeorgeStevens. I personally prefer the protections that come with my Visa Signature cards and the ability to usually get 2-3 cents per dollar by spinning my rewards points in the right way (which pretty much negates wire discounts of 2-3%), so I almost always use my CC for online purchases. The only time I would consider a wire transfer is if there was a REALLY large discount. A REALLY big carrot.

...I've noticed that HPD offers a 5% wire discount. Now 5% would be a big enough carrot to get me to bite.

 

[Johnbt]

"Some US banks have criminally high wire fees - as high as $45."

Ouch. Suntrust did mine for free.

More recently, I used my Suntrust Visa card to buy wedding rings from WF for about 1/10th the cost of the engagement ring. Suntrust denied the purchase because they were worried about fraud. I had to call them and then resubmit the purchase, etc. I'm glad they're looking out for me, but it's not like they haven't seen me spend a bunch of money regularly since I got the card in 1975.
The wire to WF was much, much easier - other than the drive into town to sit at the bank while they did the paperwork.

 

[Viola]

$45 sounds really high?! I did an international wire, and all in all it cost me $30 -for both my fees and the receivers. It was however done through my “internet bank”, I log into my regular bank and do the transaction online (if I were to only pay my fees it would’ve been $5).

 

[sledge]

Businesses that have a long and solid reputation are generally safe and it is common practice to wire funds.

I would say that wire transfers are not common for the "average consumer". However, if you make larger purchases and/or do business-to-business transactions I think it's pretty common place.

$45 sounds really high?! I did an international wire, and all in all it cost me $30 -for both my fees and the receivers. It was however done through my “internet bank”, I log into my regular bank and do the transaction online (if I were to only pay my fees it would’ve been $5).

That's a pretty good rate. I have USAA and domestic wires are $20/ea. International is the base $20 + an additional $25 (to cover international bank fees). This excludes any currency exchange rates, markups, etc.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/wire_transfer_instructions?akredirect=true#sendingWire


I've not used this service yet, but it appears TransferWire might be a much cheaper alternative for those needing international services.

https://transferwise.com/us/blog/international-transfer-usaa-us

 

[Cookie1210]

Thanks everyone! I read the reviews in the link provided by @MollyMalone. It looks like USA Certed Diamonds has received good reviews but no one who is still active on the forum has experience wiring money to it. I appreciate all of your responses!

 

[TreeScientist]

I would say that wire transfers are not common for the "average consumer". However, if you make larger purchases and/or do business-to-business transactions I think it's pretty common place.




That's a pretty good rate. I have USAA and domestic wires are $20/ea. International is the base $20 + an additional $25 (to cover international bank fees). This excludes any currency exchange rates, markups, etc.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/wire_transfer_instructions?akredirect=true#sendingWire


I've not used this service yet, but it appears TransferWire might be a much cheaper alternative for those needing international services.

https://transferwise.com/us/blog/international-transfer-usaa-us

I frequently use TransferWise to send money back to the U.S. and can confirm it is definitely the cheapest and easiest method for international money transfers. The fees vary depending on the country of origin and destination, but for me, sending the equivalent of $2K USD back to America costs less than $10. Yes, that's the total amount. No other hidden fees. Also, they give the best exchange rates in the business. They give you the ACTUAL market rate on the day of the transfer (as I've confirmed multiple times). You've got to be careful with a lot of these "FREE ZERO CHARGE INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER" services, as they usually give you an absolutely terrible exchange rate.

I know I sound like an advertisement for them, but they really are a great service (I swear I'm not affiliated with them in any way). I love anything Richard Branson creates.

My American bank charges $25 for both domestic and international transfers, and they don't charge any currency conversion fees either. So for sending large amounts of money from America, I would consider using my bank if the fees on TransferWise were more than my bank. But at this point, I'm mostly sending money TO America, not FROM America haha.

 

[Grizelda]

+1 on the Transferwise bandwagon, it works well for me so far, I've used this for sending $AUD/£GBP (infrequently and never more than a few thousand a time) with no troubles.
Great exchange rate compared to my UK or Aus bank

I would only wire money to a business with a good reputation and a return policy that I understood well.

 

[sledge]

I would only wire money to a business with a good reputation and a return policy that I understood well.

Well said.

Wire transfers are the equivalent of cash, hence the price discounts. Use it wisely!

 

[WinkHPD]

One of the reasons that most of us offer discounts for wire transfer is there is no worry about credit card fraud or excessive fees.

Once the money hits our account, it is ours. No clawbacks because the card was stolen and not reported until after we confirmed with the bank that the card was good. Card fees have dramatically jumped too. Mileage card, add fees to basic fee. Money back cards, holy CRUNCHBERRIES, some of those cards charge the merchant in excess of 5%. Thanks but no thanks!

Wink

 

[TreeScientist]

One of the reasons that most of us offer discounts for wire transfer is there is no worry about credit card fraud or excessive fees.

Once the money hits our account, it is ours. No clawbacks because the card was stolen and not reported until after we confirmed with the bank that the card was good. Card fees have dramatically jumped too. Mileage card, add fees to basic fee. Money back cards, holy CRUNCHBERRIES, some of those cards charge the merchant in excess of 5%. Thanks but no thanks!

Wink

I know that the merchant fees on some of the Visa Signature and AMEX Plat rewards cards are ridiculous (hey, they've gotta pay for those high cash back rewards somehow ). But until more online merchants start to offer large discounts for wire transfers and/or bank checks like your company, I will continue to rack up points for free flights without any guilt. Already got about $4-5k worth of rewards flights from my Visa Signature cards in the 5 years that I've had them and I honestly don't even spend that much. What kind of idiot would pass up free money like that? I see it as the world paying me back for having an excellent credit score and being responsible with money haha.

Actually, I think there is now software for charging customers a fee based on how much their credit card charges in merchant fees, as just yesterday when I was booking a flight on KLM, they asked me to enter the first 6 digits of my CC and then they would show me how much the processing fee would be for the transaction. I think this makes the most sense: Charging people based on how much their card charges in merchant fees. Perhaps such set-ups will be more widely utilized in e-commerce in the coming years.

 

[WinkHPD]

I think this makes the most sense: Charging people based on how much their card charges in merchant fees

Interesting. I suspect that I will just stick with offering a great discount for wire, I also do not need the high threat of fraud with credit cards. Many jewelers actually have set up their shipping and reception rooms to record every package that is shipped and received to prevent false claims of empty packages being sent and received.

Wink

 

[Rockdiamond]

as just yesterday when I was booking a flight on KLM, they asked me to enter the first 6 digits of my CC and then they would show me how much the processing fee would be for the transaction.

How cool would that be? Unfortunately, I don't see smaller merchants being able to access the rates till after the fact. If someone pays on a site using PayPal, the merchant can't know the commission till after the sale is made.
PayPal had been fairly good in terms of consistent around 3% fee, regardless of card- which was a bonus as AMEX charges a flat 3.5%. I find PayPal is also very good at protecting both merchants as well as consumers.
But now they too are inching up the commissions and charging more on rewards and overseas cards. No worries it will all be Amazon soon enough, then we won't have small merchants to worry about

 

[TreeScientist]

How cool would that be? Unfortunately, I don't see smaller merchants being able to access the rates till after the fact. If someone pays on a site using PayPal, the merchant can't know the commission till after the sale is made.
PayPal had been fairly good in terms of consistent around 3% fee, regardless of card- which was a bonus as AMEX charges a flat 3.5%. I find PayPal is also very good at protecting both merchants as well as consumers.
But now they too are inching up the commissions and charging more on rewards and overseas cards. No worries it will all be Amazon soon enough, then we won't have small merchants to worry about

Yeah, I doubt it is available to small merchants yet. This KLM transaction yesterday is actually the first time I've seen a widget like that on any e-commerce website. I thought it was an amazing idea. Hopefully small businesses will have access to something like this soon.

AMEX Interchange fees are ridiculous. Visa Signature Rewards Preferred cards are only 2.4%. That's over a percentage point higher for AMEX, and AMEX doesn't even offer their cardholders any extra benefits beyond what most Visa Signature Preferred cards offer. Where do they get off on that?!? I'm honestly surprised that more merchants don't charge higher fees for AMEX card transactions, as I know it's possible to have people state whether their card is Mastercard, Visa, or AMEX prior to the transaction.

I sure hope Amazon doesn't take over EVERYTHING, but it does seem to be heading that way.