Convince me why I should buy online.....

[IrishEyes]

Hey everyone!!
Well, I''ve become pretty obsessed lately with searching for an ugrade to my .75 princess. My goal is to make it my Christmas present. I''m going to tell DH that
1. I will pay for the majority of it, since he spent so much on my ering and wedding band and it''s only fair
2. I want absolutely NOTHING else for christmas or my b-day ( 3 weeks before xmas), just my upgrade!!
anyway, I''ve been doing my research, and I''m just not seeing what I want at B&M''s, and they can''t seem to get it for me (by the way, I''m not being too anal. I''m pretty flexible, I''m not asking them to move heaven and earth or anything crazy). So I''ve been looking online, particularly DirtCheapDiamonds and Whiteflash. I love their prices, and people here on pricescope constantly rave about them, especially Whiteflash. But I''m nervous, and confused. At some B&M'' s here where I live, I can put a couple hundred or a thousand or so down on the new stone and finance the rest ( I know, some people have told me not to finance). But it looks like with online, you pretty much have to wire the entire amount to them when you decide to buy. Is this true? I''m saving, but I won''t have $8000 to wire in one handful by December unless I win the lottery ( and I''m not trading in my current stone-too sentimental). So that scares me. Besides, you have to pay the appraisal fee too, which from what I hear is pretty pricey. I''m also going for a princess, and I know that they are different from RB''s in that you really need to use your eyes as more of a judgement, you can''t always rely on the numbers posted online to tell if it will be a winner or not. Also, how do you protect yourself from getting scammed? I''m pretty sure the vendors here on Pricescope are reputable, but I''m just not used to possibly buying something so important and valuable online.
anyway, that''s all, although I know it''s alot! I really want this to happen this year, but I''m nervous that it won''t, and I want to make sure I get a fairly good deal and a BEAUTIFUL, nice new big stone!

 

[Christy42]

Hey Irish,

Maybe I shouldn''t answer this because I didn''t buy online, but if I had found PS sooner I probably would have. From what I''ve read here, I believe you can have the stone sent to an appraiser without having to pay for it. You would, of course have to pay the appraiser the appraisal fee. Hopefully someone will chime in and correct me if I''m wrong. Good luck!

 

[mrssalvo]

HI Irish,
Most online vendors take credit cards but offer a discount if you do a wire transfer. If it were me I would save up a little longer if necessary to get the exact stone I wanted. I think most of the vendors will give you their honest opinion on a stone. Most have some sort of retun policy that will give you enough time time to look at it yourself and have it appraised with a little planning. I plan on buying my diamond upgrade online. I think Mara recently upgraded her stone with Whiteflash without seeing it first, she just trusted Brian and his eyes. I just had my old stone appraised and it ran a little over $100. Good luck

 

[Lord Summerisle]

Often store finance deals are a great way to get yourself mugged... and in such instances you would be better getting a personal loan and pay for the rock all up... (well at least how it often is in the UK market where store finance can be like 10-25%APR while bank loans are just above base rate at 5-7%) so thats one thing to consider.

Also - An appraiser isnt all that much in the grand scheme of things... a few of those i approched where very reasonable in their charges... ~$100 not much when laying down $8k

But also with WF and DCD i think you can also rely on their inhouse chaps to make sure its the kind of thing your after before it ships out. and then you can confirm it at an appraisal. There is that refund period

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Regarding the financial part. . .since you''re even considering financing, take the 10 months time you have and research and find THE BEST credit card deals you can. I have a bank of america card that''s 0% interest for one year and has a LARGE credit line (which ended up being *a bit* of a problem for me - lol). Look for something along this line. If you have poor credit, then look locally, because in the long run, you''re losing the amount you''d have saved by purchasing online by paying all the additional interest charges.

By using a CC I believe you have more rights in case of being scammed, which I doubt you will IF you use a very popular vendor that many here have used AND you have the stone appraised.

I''ve picked out, in the past, gifts I''ve wanted and my husband has gone along with me because he knows I''d purchase the items anway (LOL!)!

NONE of the purchases have been anywhere near the amount you''re considering, so I think that it''s better to talk to your DH early on rather than spring this idea on him at last moment. Since you''re paying for the upgrade, I don''t see a problem unless you two already have a lot of debt OR have better uses for the money, like putting it toward a down payment on a house.

Also, $8K for a Xmas/b-day gift is a fairly GENEROUS gift, so, be sure to plan a mega gift for your DH so he feels loved