Who has the best upgrade program? Answer and help the masses!

[TwoPointSixFourCt]

Right now I am looking at a diamond a K''s merchandise. They have a great upgrade program. You can upgrade in any monetary amount that you want. For example, If my bf buys the loose diamond for my e-ring from K''s for $5,000. A little while later if he has an extra $500 (or whatever) laying around, then we can upgrade. Most other companies that I have heard of make you double when you upgrade. Are there any other companies out there that let you upgrade in whatever amount you can afford at that time?

 

[suzi]

You had better ask them about their "refurbishing" charges. I don''t know if their trade-up policy is the same on loose diamonds as it is on set diamonds, but when I wanted to trade in a ring that my husband purchased for me there a number of years ago, they said that I would have to pay a refurbishing charge. It varies from item to item. The refurbishing charge I was going to have to pay to upgrade a $500 ring was over $300! And this was on a ring that was worn only rarely and was in nearly brand new condition. I said to forget it, I''d keep the ring before I''d do that.

One B&M that I know of which has a pretty good trade-in policiy is Rogers & Hollands. I recently traded in a ring that I bought somewhere else and they gave me $400 for it when I only paid $350! The price of the item I was trading in for was $1200. I thought that was a good deal.

Of the online vendors I''ve done business with, Whiteflash has probably the best trade-in policy. Unless it''s changed since the last time I checked, you could trade-in for the amount you paid for the diamond for a diamond of any price above what you paid for the diamond you are trading in. So you always get back at least what you paid for the diamond you are trading in. To me, you can''t beat that!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Good Old Gold also offers lifetime trade-ups for ideal, hearts and arrows stones.

 

[~*Alexis*~]

I was actually in Rogers and Hollands tonight and trying on more new sparklies..they said you get theprice that you paid for 5% every year after that.

 

[sistagrl2004]

Another thing to consider about K''s merchandise ( are they located around the world, thought they were only in IL and IA?!) . Their business has not been doing too great lately and they have filed bankruptcy more than once ( look how Rays diamonds on their website has been down for MONTHS). I wouldn''t want to purchase from them with the intent to be able to depend on their upgrade policy.

Also their refurbishing only applied to set rings if you buy a set ring and DOUBLE the value then the refurb price is waived. If you buy a loose stone you can trade it in an infinate number of times while only paying the price of the reset.

 

[aljdewey]

Several of the vendors have trade-up or upgrade policies.

WF offers life-time trade-up; full value with no minimum amount to new purchase - this is probably the most liberal policy of all the vendors.

GOG offers lifetime trade-up; full value new purchase has to be at least $500 more than original purchase.

James Allen offers only 5-year trade-up; 80-100% of value toward new purchase.

Which one is best really depends on your needs.

 

[sistagrl2004]

Does anyone know of a vendor that will allow you to trade in a stone that was not purchased from them? I would think they would accept it if it was say GIA certified.

 

[~*Alexis*~]

Rogers and Hollands will allow you to do that as long as you have all of the paper work. I guess it depends on the stone, I mean what price you would get for it.

 

[sistagrl2004]

Now would be a good time to go to K''s Merchandise. They are going under and liquidating all of their assets... including DIAMONDS!

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 9/21/2006 12:40:17 PM
Author: aljdewey
Several of the vendors have trade-up or upgrade policies.

WF offers life-time trade-up; full value with no minimum amount to new purchase - this is probably the most liberal policy of all the vendors.

I would double check if this is correct because a few months ago when I was thinking about upgrading my 2.03 G VS1 for their 2.575 J VS1, Renee told me that I couldn''t because the upgrade had to be $500 more than the original stone.

I paid 22K for my G and the J was something like $21.7K or something and she said that because it was less, I could not get it.
She said it was because they had to resubmit my stone to AGS, etc. and that''s where the $500 more came into play.

So, I offered to just trade in my G for the J and give them the extra $500 on top of this, even though my G is worth $31K now and they would be making $9k if they did sell it, but then I decided that I didn''t want a J colored stone.

I remember emailing Mara about this and she thought the difference only had to be a dollar, but the whole thing left a funny feeling in me, so I decided to just forget it.

 

[Silverkae]

aljdewey: WF offers life-time trade-up; full value with no minimum amount to new purchase - this is probably the most liberal policy of all the vendors.

Here''s the answer from Whiteflash when I had asked about upgrading my diamond:

When you upgrade you can get any cut diamond that you want. You get 100% of the purchase price less the shipping cost to send it to you.

That would be $2200 - $50 = $2100 credit. There will not be a resetting charge or a shipping charge for the new diamond. Remember this. If you try to put a larger diamond in the same ring it may not fit. It we have to alter the ring in any way, there will be a charge but not for setting the diamond.

I''m happy to be able to contribute.

 

[aljdewey]

...

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 10/3/2006 9:30:03 PM
Author: butterfly 17

Date: 9/21/2006 12:40:17 PM
Author: aljdewey

WF offers life-time trade-up; full value with no minimum amount to new purchase - this is probably the most liberal policy of all the vendors.

I paid 22K for my G and the J was something like $21.7K or something and she said that because it was less, I could not get it.

By definition, the transaction you''re describing wouldn''t be a trade-up. Trade-up means exceeding the value of the original purchase. That''s likely why.

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 10/25/2006 7:30:48 PM
Author: aljdewey


By definition, the transaction you're describing wouldn't be a trade-up. Trade-up means exceeding the value of the original purchase. That's likely why.

Yes, you probably right about this, but my point was that Renee told me that there was a $500 minimum on new purchases.
She did not specify which stone, she said in general, because at that time I was actually chosing between two different stones, a 2.32 G and the 2.575 J, so from my understanding, it really didn't matter which one I picked as long as it was $500 more.

Anyhoo, my whole point with my post was that the ChelseaL13 should just clarify the upgrade policy with WF rather than ask us, because apparently, we all got different takes on it.

She should just confirm to make sure that it is either a no minimum(according to some), $1 minimum (according to others), $500 minimum (according to me)

, etc. so they don't get any surprises when the time comes for them upgrade.

 

[singer]

Maybe this question has already been answered, but...

does Whiteflash give you the amount you paid for your stone (for the upgrade program) regardless of WHERE you got stone, or does it have to be a diamond that was originally purchased through them? I have a diamond that I would like to trade in, so this information would be extremely helpful. Thanks!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 10/30/2006 11:06:53 PM
Author: singer
Maybe this question has already been answered, but...

does Whiteflash give you the amount you paid for your stone (for the upgrade program) regardless of WHERE you got stone, or does it have to be a diamond that was originally purchased through them? I have a diamond that I would like to trade in, so this information would be extremely helpful. Thanks!

No, it has to be a stone purchased from them (GIA or AGS). The only vendor I have heard of that may consider a trade in is James Allen, and it has to be a certified stone. Pearlman''s takes some items on consignment..you''d just have to ask him about your particular item.

 

[Mara]

Here's what their website says re: lifetime upgrade:

"Do you accept trade-ins if the diamond was purchased from Whiteflash?

Yes. We have a lifetime trade-up policy. We will credit you with 100% of the original diamond purchase price towards a diamond of greater value."

_________

So it's just greater value. The dollar idea might have been from a while ago, but I do remember thinking $500 sounded a bit odd, esp since I don't think that has ever been their 'posted' policy. Could have just been a misinformed sales rep. Did you ever ask anyone else at WF about it, butterfly?

 

[gail013]

I just talked to Bob at WF yesterday about that, and he told me 1K additional was the amount necessary to receive the trade up thru them.

 

[JohnQuixote]

Here is our policy (link)




At any point after you have purchased your diamond from Whiteflash.com, you may contact us to trade your diamond up for one of greater value.

• The trade up credit will be for the diamond's full purchase amount, less original shipping.
• Diamond needs to be in its original undamaged condition and accompanied by its original certificate.
• If original certificate has been misplaced, there is a $200 re-certification charge.
• Please note that EGL certified diamonds do not qualify for our one year buy back or lifetime upgrade policy.
• Setting and applicable charges may apply.





A diamond of “greater value” is simply more expensive than the original purchase. Our trade-up differences usually run from a few hundred on up into the multi thousands. Once in a while the client’s target diamond is closer in value to the original. In these cases “setting and applicable charges may apply,” as stated in the policy.

Here’s why: When a diamond comes back it’s taken out of the setting and sent back to the lab for re-grading & new documentation. Meanwhile the target diamond is placed into the setting. Sometimes a new head is necessary. All this requires time and labor. There are shipping/insurance costs for the first diamond to/from the lab, plus the cost of re-grading. Those amounts vary depending on carat weight and the grading document. Clients may never know about some of these costs because we absorb them.

In a case where a client wishes to trade for a closely priced diamond we’re happy to honor the policy, but we must assess the case individually and apply charges as necessary. This is done to keep this promotion viable for future customers - and to ensure that we don’t become a diamond leasing service.

Gail, I’m not sure why Bob mentioned $1K. Maybe he was citing a specific example, or we could have a 10/31 gremlin answering the phone.

I’ll ask. Sorry for the confusion and I hope this clarifies.