Quote:
Originally Posted by megatron
The other thing that struck me was BlueNile.ca. It sounds like quite a few people have had good experiences with ordering from them. Most people said they were able to purchase a higher quality diamond from BlueNile than they would get anywhere else, and that seems attractive to me (since I like getting better value for money). My girlfriend is also about quality, than quantity -- she doesn't want a big ring. I'm willing to investigate this further, but I've never bought anything this expensive online.
Sorry if these questions are a bit ignorant, I'm new to this. Any help is greatly appreciated.
1) How does the process work? Just like a cart/checkout system
and then credit card payment?
2) How can you be sure it's the "right" diamond/ring, if you can't see either (the ring or diamond) in person?
3) Are the rings "ready"? or do they have to be made? If so, how long does that take?
4) How long does it take to ship to you?
5) Is there insurance on the ring when shipped?
6) What if there is something wrong with the ring? Is there some sort of warranty/exchange?
Have I missed anything?
I will be digging more around the site to see if I can answer all of these questions myself.
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EDIT: whoops, just realized this was a bumped old thread... the info still applies though to anyone shopping now....
I bought my wife's engagement (and later wedding) ring online and had no issues whatsoever. I too looked at BlueNile, but wasn't a huge fan of some of their settings, and actually found a better deal on a similar diamond through
http://www.whiteflash.com. They were great to work with and I got a much better diamond for the same price than I would have got locally.
1. You can do a credit card payment, though most (Whiteflash incl) give you a discount for doing a Bank Draft. That's the way I went.
2. Research. Knowing the basis on how diamonds are valued (cut, clarity, carat, colour, flouresence, polish, etc) actually tells you very specifically what the diamond will look like. All of the reputable sites should show you the diamond report (AGL/other) indicating these characteristics prior to purchasing it. If it doesn't provide a link to one on the website, ask them for it, they should provide it to you. If they refuse, I wouldn't buy from them, that's the first sign you'll get ripped off.
3. The stones themselves are in stock, thats the only way they can provide that specific stone for sale. The setting likely needs to be made, or at least have the diamond mounted in it. With Whiteflash, mounting the stone in the setting took 2-3 days, and then they had priority overnight shipping.
4. I got the ring 4 business days after the order.
5. They provided insurance on it as part of their shipping.
6. WhiteFlash offered a 30day guarantee for an exchange. I was actually proposing during a trip to Europe, so I mentioned I wouldn't know if it was good or needed to be exchanged until I was able to get back home (longer than 30days), they said that wouldn't be an issue. Their customer service was really great. They were all very helpful and felt like they went out of their way to make sure I was satisfied, including a follow up after I was back from Europe, and another one after our wedding.
Alot of people still think I was nuts for buying online. But like I said, once you do some research into what you feel is important as far as the characteristics go (and what you think she'll think is important, as in does size matter most, will you sacrifice clarity or color for a larger ring, or do you want a flawless but smaller stone), then you're really taking the "buying without seeing" issue out of the equation.
Good luck! Happy shopping. Any specific questions, feel free to pm me
