UK newbie with questions help appreciated

[grizz1978]

I have been reading the pricescope knowledge section on and off for the last month with great interest. I now feel a lot more comfortable with what to look for when going to chose that all important diamond engagement ring. Now I have let all this information wash over me I thought I would venture into the forum for a little advice.

Just to set the background where I live in the UK there are not many decent jewellers in my locality, I have been to the jewellery quarter in Birmingham and was not that impressed with the advice and high pressure sales techniques of some shops. I have been to a couple of other jewellers who have lose stones and mount them, they were pricey even after haggling and could no offer what I was looking for.
So I have decided to look on line at what the US can offer. With regards to this I have a few questions that
1 With regards to US vendors a lot of them provide ideal scope images, SARIN, ASET and hearts images on line
Can these images be trusted or is there a danger they been photoshopped?
Is it still advisable to get an ideal scope to judge for you self if the images are already provided
Is there any need to have an individual appraisal carried out?
And what other dangers do I risk?

2 What is the best way to transport the ring back to the UK, with regards to insurance and ease of paying taxes and likely additional cost of this?

3 on some sites I have seen a pricescope discount basically how dose it work?

Thanks
Joe

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Hi Joe,

Other people can respond better as to how to get your ring to the UK.

The images that pricescope vendors post can be trusted. I would specifically recommend Whiteflash, Brian Gavin Diamonds, Good Old Gold, and maybe James Allen (though sometimes James Allen''s images get attached to the wrong stone, so be careful, that''s happened a couple times this week alone).

It''s great to get your own idealscope, but again I would completely trust the pricescope vendors and have no concern about them mis-representing a diamond. They are very honest and trustworthy (and have gorgeous diamonds

) Others jewelers are not like this, so you''re smart to be careful, but you are in good hands with these vendors. There are tens of thousands of pages of posts here detailing people''s excellent experiences.

If you are a pricescope member you get a discount. Also, for most if you pay by wire transfer you get an additional discount.

If you are logged into PS and visit whiteflash.com you''ll see both discounts on your screen.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/15/2010 4:47:25 PM
Author:grizz1978


I have been reading the pricescope knowledge section on and off for the last month with great interest. I now feel a lot more comfortable with what to look for when going to chose that all important diamond engagement ring. Now I have let all this information wash over me I thought I would venture into the forum for a little advice.

Just to set the background where I live in the UK there are not many decent jewellers in my locality, I have been to the jewellery quarter in Birmingham and was not that impressed with the advice and high pressure sales techniques of some shops. I have been to a couple of other jewellers who have lose stones and mount them, they were pricey even after haggling and could no offer what I was looking for.
So I have decided to look on line at what the US can offer. With regards to this I have a few questions that


1 With regards to US vendors a lot of them provide ideal scope images, SARIN, ASET and hearts images on line
Can these images be trusted or is there a danger they been photoshopped? You can have confidence in the trusted vendors here that the images are not altered.

Is it still advisable to get an ideal scope to judge for you self if the images are already provided It depends on you, an Idealscope or ASET scope are relatively inexpensive and can be used in future for other purchases, but if you work with a vendor who can provide images then that should be sufficient for purchase purposes. If you buy a branded hearts and arrows diamond, sometimes a h&a viewer is included with the purchase.

Is there any need to have an individual appraisal carried out? It can be prudent especially for insurance, an appraisal is normally included with your purchase but you might want to get an independant appraisal to verify the stone matches the report and that everything is in order, plus a detailed appraisal can be very useful should you ever need to make a claim.

And what other dangers do I risk? Really none that I can think of providing you work with a known vendor with an excellent reputation.

2 What is the best way to transport the ring back to the UK, with regards to insurance and ease of paying taxes and likely additional cost of this? The vendors normally use a courier service to get the ring to you, customs is payable once the package arrives, I believe you have to pay the duties before the courier releases it. I think now the VAT rate has gone up, the normal VAT rate is payable plus 2.5% import duty.

3 on some sites I have seen a pricescope discount basically how dose it work? Just mention you are from Pricescope, often you can get the discount if you pay with a bank wire transfer, if you use the search tool above the prices marked with an asterisk are the discounted bank wire prices.

Thanks
Joe

Hi Joe and welcome to Pricescope - thoughts are above in bold.

 

[BobR]

Lorelei has pretty much covered everything
I'll just add a couple of comments in green below :-

Date: 1/15/2010 4:57:15 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 1/15/2010 4:47:25 PM
Author:grizz1978




I have been reading the pricescope knowledge section on and off for the last month with great interest. I now feel a lot more comfortable with what to look for when going to chose that all important diamond engagement ring. Now I have let all this information wash over me I thought I would venture into the forum for a little advice.

Just to set the background where I live in the UK there are not many decent jewellers in my locality, I have been to the jewellery quarter in Birmingham and was not that impressed with the advice and high pressure sales techniques of some shops. I have been to a couple of other jewellers who have lose stones and mount them, they were pricey even after haggling and could no offer what I was looking for.
So I have decided to look on line at what the US can offer. With regards to this I have a few questions that

A poster from the UK recently had a good experience in the UK with a company called Quality Diamonds (London/Milton Keynes. If you search for NoviceBrit you'll find his posts. I personally am extremely happy with my US/pricescope vendor purchase, although I concede it could be costly if you needed to return the item (paying shipping/insurance), but if you live close to QD it may be an alternative - to pay them a visit.





1 With regards to US vendors a lot of them provide ideal scope images, SARIN, ASET and hearts images on line
Can these images be trusted or is there a danger they been photoshopped? You can have confidence in the trusted vendors here that the images are not altered.

Is it still advisable to get an ideal scope to judge for you self if the images are already provided It depends on you, an Idealscope or ASET scope are relatively inexpensive and can be used in future for other purchases, but if you work with a vendor who can provide images then that should be sufficient for purchase purposes. If you buy a branded hearts and arrows diamond, sometimes a h&a viewer is included with the purchase.

Is there any need to have an individual appraisal carried out? It can be prudent especially for insurance, an appraisal is normally included with your purchase but you might want to get an independant appraisal to verify the stone matches the report and that everything is in order, plus a detailed appraisal can be very useful should you ever need to make a claim. 1 point to note is that the vendor will provide an appraised value based upon US prices. This may or may not approximate to a UK appraised value, which will be based upon a replacement cost if you were to walk into B&M store on UK high street(inc VAT). I personally use Safeguard (based in Birminham but also with valuation days at jewellers around the country). The cost (for a valuation only, is appprox £45)

And what other dangers do I risk? Really none that I can think of providing you work with a known vendor with an excellent reputation.

2 What is the best way to transport the ring back to the UK, with regards to insurance and ease of paying taxes and likely additional cost of this? The vendors normally use a courier service to get the ring to you, customs is payable once the package arrives, I believe you have to pay the duties before the courier releases it. I think now the VAT rate has gone up, the normal VAT rate is payable plus 2.5% import duty. As stated the courier, ( in my case Fedex), will invoice you for the VAT/Duty and the end to end process is very straightforward.

3 on some sites I have seen a pricescope discount basically how dose it work? Just mention you are from Pricescope, often you can get the discount if you pay with a bank wire transfer, if you use the search tool above the prices marked with an asterisk are the discounted bank wire prices.
I think that the pricescope discount and bank wire dicounts are 2 different available discounts and not interdependent (certainly with James Allen)

Thanks
Joe

Hi Joe and welcome to Pricescope - thoughts are above in bold.

 

[grizz1978]

Thanks all for the advice and reassurance I will have a look at the people suggested

 

[Stephan]

Hi,
I live in Belgium and have already bought online.
FedEx did steal my diamond ring, and after a long dispute, and being helped by the vendor, FedEx did reimburse the stolen item and the VAT.
I just suggest you to contact FedEx when you receive the tracking number to tell them you will go to the FedEx place (no delivery at home) and there you''ll ask the FedEx guy to open the package in front of you and you record everything on tape. If the ring is there, you may sign the receipt and pay the VAT. I did it that way, and everything was OK.