Jewelry Buying Guides

Stuck with only moments to choose a gift for someone? Want to buy jewelry for someone but clueless when it comes to jewelry? Our jewelry buying guides will show you how to buy the perfect piece of jewelry for that special person. Our jewelry guides are written with the assumption of zero jewelry knowledge and nearly always offer links to our jewelry education section as well as provide further reading.

Is it ok to buy Jewelry Online?

Buying jewelry online has many obvious advantages but there are also several drawbacks. First and foremost you must establish if the website you intend to buy from is a credible source. Does the website use https encryption in its shopping cart? Can you easily contact the website owners? Do they publish a fair exchange and returns policy? In addition to the basics you should try and establish how long it will be before you are likely to receive your goods particularly if you are buying a last minute gift. On this point you should try and establish if the vendor provides tracking allowing you to check the status of your order. For precious gemstones which you obviously won’t get the opportunity to inspect you are taking an even greater risk. If the gemstone is supplied with a GIA report the risk is somewhat reduced.

What types of protection do I have buying jewelry online?

Your level of protection depends upon the payment method you have provided. Always read the refunds and returns policy before purchasing jewelry online, particularly more expensive gemstones. If trouble arises follow these steps:

1. Contact the website and give them an opportunity to respond (3-5 days)
2. Contact the website again and tell them you are going to call your bank for a chargeback.
3. If the website does not respond contact your bank with details of the purchase and ask for a refund. You will need to state a valid reason but the bank will have your interests and not the websites at heart. The website owners are then contacted and have around 3 days to dispute the claim. In most cases they will be unsuccessful and your funds will be reimbursed.

If you have used Paypal you have the same options, the process is a little slower and you will need to contact the Paypal disputes centre. If you have used direct deposit or money order you will not have this kind of protection available.

Learning more about Jewelry

If you’re looking to improve your jewelry knowledge beyond an understanding of choosing the right piece of jewelry as a gift then pay a visit to our jewelry education centre.