Question about online purchase

[alii white butterfly]

Hi all. I am looking for an upgrade stone for our anniversary. I have gone to a reputable B&M who my husband bought my e-ring from 15 years ago. I saw a stone that was within my perimeter, but it was the "ideal cut" stone that many of the PS vendors carry. (I could easily find a better stone for the same price online!) The other one I went to was a well-known brand, DeBeers. The sales person was very sincere, knowledgeable and thorough, and she said that their stones were a "cut" focused. But, their prices were waaaaay too high, and plus they didn''t have a setting I wanted, and they don''t let you buy a stone loose. So now I am glued to the online vendors'' websites, but I am still nervous about the whole idea of buying online especially spending a ton of $. (My husband wouldn''t like the idea is another story.) My question is to those who has purchased a diamond online: How did you know it was "the one!" without seeing it in person? Did they send you an actual image of the stone?? What made you decide to purchase? I hope this makes sense....

 

[yssie]

Hi Alii

I found buying online less stressful than trying to purchase in person, honestly. A reputable company, like one of the PS vendors, will send you photographs of the diamond, light reflector images, hearts and arrows images for branded H&A stones - even videos if you need them - and you can call and talk your concerns out in as much detail as you need to feel comfortable with the purchase

. Some have better return, buyback, and upgrade policies than others.

 

[Hest88]

Right, images help. Also, though, developing that relationship with the jeweler is important. Via email or by the phone you can build as much trust as in person. Sometimes more, since it''s so convenient to communicate. I think when many people hear about "buying diamonds online" they picture something like buying a book on Amazon---where you pick a diamond, add it to your shopping cart, and check out. You can certainly do it that way, but when you''re spending thousands of dollars for something you''re unfamiliar with I certainly wouldn''t recommend it. Instead, if you think of online as merely another communications tool, the way you''d email your mother as well as pick up the phone or go see her, then the process is much less scary.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 3/22/2010 7:42:29 PM
Author: yssie
Hi Alii

I found buying online less stressful than trying to purchase in person, honestly. A reputable company, like one of the PS vendors, will send you photographs of the diamond, light reflector images, hearts and arrows images for branded H&A stones - even videos if you need them - and you can call and talk your concerns out in as much detail as you need to feel comfortable with the purchase

. Some have better return, buyback, and upgrade policies than others.

Ditto.

From my time here there are certain companies that I recommend without hesitation because the process is stress free with them and they provide enough information to allow you to assess the diamond completely before you buy:

www.briangavindiamonds.com
www.whiteflash.com
www.goodoldgold.com
www.highperformancediamonds.com

Though their policies are not as good and you have to do a little more weeding through the inventory, these vendors are also be a good source for diamonds and can save you some money because you would not be buying a branded H&A (necessarily):
www.jamesallen.com
www.exceldiamonds.com
www.idjewelryonline.com

 

[Lula]

Hi, Alii,
My vendor, Wink, made me a video of the diamond. He will also make comparison videos if you are deciding between two stones. That helped me a lot. Good old Gold will make a video for you, too. I'm not sure if other vendors use video or not.

But before I decided to buy online, I'd already visited several retail stores, so I had seen a number of diamonds in person (just like you've been doing). So if you are pretty clear on size and shape, and you have an idea of what color and clarity ranges are best for you, then you are ready to contact some online vendors.

I would spend a lot of time comparing the different vendors' policies on returns, upgrades, buybacks, etc. And also contact them about what settings (setting companies) they work with. Not all vendors have all their settings posted online, so it always is a good idea to ask. It's easier to get your diamond and setting in one place. Most vendors are able to send loose diamonds to vendors such as Leon Mege, D.Vatche, Tacori, etc., to be set directly by those vendors, if you decide to buy a setting from any of those vendors.

It's hard to know if an online stone is "the one" for you until you see it in person, but if you've carefully chosen your vendor, spoken to them or e-mailed them about your preferences (and after you've looked at enough online listings and Idealscope photos!) you will start to get a feel for what stones would be a good match for you.

The thing that convinced me to actually place an order and have a stone shipped to me was the PS vendors' return policies. It really is much easier to buy online when you know there is a no-hassle return policy in place.

Good luck!!

ETA: LOL, I just read yssie's, Hest's, and Dreamer's responses -- we're all telling you the same thing. Well, that sure makes it easy!

 

[Todd Gray]

Date: 3/22/2010 7:55:56 PM
Author: sarap333
Hi, Alii,

My vendor, Wink, made me a video of the diamond. He will also make comparison videos if you are deciding between two stones. That helped me a lot. Good old Gold will make a video for you, too. I''m not sure if other vendors use video or not.

But before I decided to buy online, I''d already visited several retail stores, so I had seen a number of diamonds in person (just like you''ve been doing). So if you are pretty clear on size and shape, and you have an idea of what color and clarity ranges are best for you, then you are ready to contact some online vendors.

I would spend a lot of time comparing the different vendors'' policies on returns, upgrades, buybacks, etc. And also contact them about what settings (setting companies) they work with. Not all vendors have all their settings posted online, so it always is a good idea to ask. It''s easier to get your diamond and setting in one place. Most vendors are able to send loose diamonds to vendors such as Leon Mege, D.Vatche, Tacori, etc., to be set directly by those vendors, if you decide to buy a setting from any of those vendors.

It''s hard to know if an online stone is ''the one'' for you until you see it in person, but if you''ve carefully chosen your vendor, spoken to them or e-mailed them about your preferences (and after you''ve looked at enough online listings and Idealscope photos!) you will start to get a feel for what stones would be a good match for you.

The thing that convinced me to actually place an order and have a stone shipped to me was the PS vendors'' return policies. It really is much easier to buy online when you know there is a no-hassle return policy in place.

Good luck!!

ETA: LOL, I just read yssie''s, Hest''s, and Dreamer''s responses -- we''re all telling you the same thing. Well, that sure makes it easy!

As Sara has stated, this is why most of (us) online vendors have the 100% Satisfaction Guarantee''s and return policies in place!

 

[alii white butterfly]

Thank you so much everyone! You guys are awesome

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I found buying online way less stressful as I could gather all the info I wanted and compare (and get PS opinions

I loved working with WF and BGD on my most recent projects, but there are many fantastic vendors as dreamer and others have mentioned.

I found better products at much lower prices by buying online (and I live in NYC and can go to the diamond district whenever I want). Online is way less stressful and I was much more confident that I was getting a quality product, plus the return and upgrade policies of online vendors are often way better than B&M stores.