See BEFORE you buy?

[Lady Lulu]

Are there many internet vendors that will ship diamonds out for you to view before you buy? I did see that US Certed Diamonds will do it as long as it goes to an approved appraiser. Has anyone had any experience with this?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

There are plenty of people who have done this. But since I don''t have an appraiser nearby, I just put the stone on a credit card, have it sent, and send it back if I don''t want it. I really don''t see the difference as you usually have to pay shipping either way you do it.

 

[kpebbles]

Date: 5/16/2006 5:24:38 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
There are plenty of people who have done this. But since I don''t have an appraiser nearby, I just put the stone on a credit card, have it sent, and send it back if I don''t want it. I really don''t see the difference as you usually have to pay shipping either way you do it.

hi diamondseeker,

approximately how much does it cost to do this? i mean shipping cost each way..

thanks!

 

[jaz464]

Here are a list of vendors that will do this. There are others but these are the ones that I know of:

http://icestore.com/

http://www.goodoldgold.com
http://www.abazias.com/

http://www.usacerteddiamonds.com/

http://www.whiteflash.com/


I got mine from USA Certed and was very, very happy with the service. The cost depends on where you are shipping to, which service is used, and how much you insure the diamond for during shipment. I think it cost about $75 to ship my diamond, insured for about $20,000 and going Fed Ex overnight.

 

[KristyDarling]

JamesAllen will do this too. I had GOG and JA both send a stone via Next-Day Fedex to Nancy Stacy here in California, an appraiser who they both approve of. I had to pay shipping (and insurance, I believe) and it came to about $200-250 for each stone. Steep, yes, but I really couldn't decide between the two (both looked good on paper) and knew I needed a professional pair of eyes to help me make a decision. I'm very glad I went this route.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I do think it depends on a lot of factors. I paid $35 for one way for a $10,000 diamond. The only way individuals can ship (unless you use your vendors account) to return is USPS Registered Mail insured and you can look up those rates on the USPS site.