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Poll: Preferred Method of Payment for Online Diamond Purchase

What is your preferred method of payment for a major diamond purchase online?

  • Bank Wire

    Votes: 20 33.3%

  • Credit Card

    Votes: 35 58.3%

  • Other

    Votes: 5 8.3%
  • Total voters
    60
bps413

bps413

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 14, 2020
Messages
123
Interested to learn what is your preferred method of payment for a major online diamond purchase. Do you pay via credit card to maximize extended warranty offer, cash back and/or travel rewards? Or do you pay via bank wire to take advantage of the 3-5% discount? No right or wrong answers here.
 
Credit card payment is the only way I’ll go. The protection from my card company is much more valuable than a 3-5% savings, plus I get points. No way to wire transfer for me.
 
I use PayPal. It can keep track of part payments where you want to pay via layaway and it's great if you have disputes for refunds. Bank wire doesn't work for me as I am in Australia and the fees are still comparable to PayPal.
 
PayPal or credit card. Better yet, a credit card through PayPal. I had an issue once where one of them (PayPal or the credit card company, don't remember which now) would not refund my money but the other did, so it was a double layer of protection. I would rather have that security than the small discount often offered for a bank wire purchase.
 
ive always just wire transfered. id love to know if there is a form of payment that offers more protection if something, anything goes awry
 
Paypal or credit card.
 
I’ve used wire transfers because of the big discounts..It was $50 short of a thousand dollars...Maybe I should rethink? This was from one of the vendors here that are totally trustworthy. If it was someone I didn’t have confidence in I would pay with PayPal first....then a credit card if that wasn’t available.
 
If you are considering doing it with Brian Gavin, Whiteflash, or High Performance Diamonds I would not have any concern. Just make sure you check and double check and triple check that the info you provide when you do the wire is 100% accurate as once the wire goes through you have no recourse so you want to ensure that you sending the funds to the correct recipient! The savings you could get on a purchase with any of these 3 vendors would be significant given the price point for the super ideals.
 
CC is the way to go IMO - especially if you are churning or split payment to meet two sign up bonuses, the return is pretty big.
 
Probably depends on the company from which I'm purchasing. My last stone was a trusted PS vendor and I used bank transfer.

I'm a little nervous due to Covid and the last diamond vendor (cant remember their name) that went under with lots of people's money.
 
Big Fat Facets said:
ive always just wire transfered. id love to know if there is a form of payment that offers more protection if something, anything goes awry
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Many credit cards offer an extended warranty on purchases, for claims upwards of about $10K USD in coverage. Whether or not jewelry is excluded in the fine print likely varies by credit card payment networks - Visa, MasterCard and AmEx.
 
symc820 said:
CC is the way to go IMO - especially if you are churning or split payment to meet two sign up bonuses, the return is pretty big.
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That's a terrific point about splitting payment to meet multiple sign up bonuses. I didn't even realize that was an option!!! Have you been able to split payment with PS vendors on here with no issues? Is that a pretty standard payment option for most?
 
bps413 said:
That's a terrific point about splitting payment to meet multiple sign up bonuses. I didn't even realize that was an option!!! Have you been able to split payment with PS vendors on here with no issues? Is that a pretty standard payment option for most?
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I'm in the process now so I haven't done it YET personally, but I've asked several vendors and they said it would be no problem. WF, JA, BN, HPD (CBI) and VC all note in their FAQ that they can split payments, you just need to purchase over the phone and give your info to them there. I'm not sure how many you can split it between but I'm just going to do 2 to hit two bonuses.
 
headlight said:
If you are considering doing it with Brian Gavin, Whiteflash, or High Performance Diamonds I would not have any concern. Just make sure you check and double check and triple check that the info you provide when you do the wire is 100% accurate as once the wire goes through you have no recourse so you want to ensure that you sending the funds to the correct recipient! The savings you could get on a purchase with any of these 3 vendors would be significant given the price point for the super ideals.
Click to expand...

@headlight gives excellent advice above. It is always best to do it correctly, although there is recourse.

I had a client send the money to the wrong place once. It took about ten days to get it sent back to him, so all was well in the end. It just took longer than necessary.

Wink
 
bps413 said:
That's a terrific point about splitting payment to meet multiple sign up bonuses. I didn't even realize that was an option!!! Have you been able to split payment with PS vendors on here with no issues? Is that a pretty standard payment option for most?
Click to expand...

Also to add on another point - CC also gives an alternative to financing if you're looking to go for a more expensive ring. Some cards like Amex Cash Preferred, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Paypal Credit have intro 0% APR offers for the first 12-15 months.

Some places offer up to 5% wire transfer (some none or 1.5%), but even if you don't go the sign up bonus route, the points you can get from the transaction if used correctly can net you more than 5%.
 
Credit card for the added insurance on a purchase.
 
When buying from Whiteflash, Victor Canera, High Performance Diamonds, or Jonathan of Distinctive Gems, I have done or would do wire payment for large purchases such as diamonds or diamond jewelry. For smaller purchases (settings or inexpensive jewelry), I'd just do credit card to save the trip to the bank.
 
I only deal with highly reputable vendors VC, HPD and they are big purchases so I do the wire-transfer as the savings are significant and I trust the vendors. I am thinking of one smaller purchase (a necklace from VC) but I still would do the wire-transfer as I do not doubt his integrity. I have never had issue with the wire-transfer.
 
Wink said:
I had a client send the money to the wrong place once. It took about ten days to get it sent back to him, so all was well in the end. It just took longer than necessary.
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I can imagine that was a stressful ten days for the client but glad to hear everything was able to get sorted out!
 
Even with a trusted vendor, we would only use CC, doesn’t matter if it costs us more, the peace of mind is worth it alone.
 
Only credit cards for us. Prefer the protection plus the miles or cash back.
If I bought something for $25K I would probably get at least 50,000 miles vs. a $750 (3%) discount. I can get way more than $750 value out of 50K miles.

A one way business class ticket to Europe is around 50-60K miles but would cost probably $3K.
So for me the wire transfer discount is not a good value. Plus I don't want to give up the protection the CC provides.

On top of that--I work in real estate and there is a huge problem with wire transfer fraud at home closings. So I am cautious about wire transfers.
 
Elizabeth35 said:
Only credit cards for us. Prefer the protection plus the miles or cash back.
If I bought something for $25K I would probably get at least 50,000 miles vs. a $750 (3%) discount. I can get way more than $750 value out of 50K miles.

A one way business class ticket to Europe is around 50-60K miles but would cost probably $3K.
So for me the wire transfer discount is not a good value. Plus I don't want to give up the protection the CC provides.

On top of that--I work in real estate and there is a huge problem with wire transfer fraud at home closings. So I am cautious about wire transfers.
Click to expand...

Agree I tend to believe I can get a bit more value out of the credit card points (although who knows when I'll be able to use them again with covid!). Interesting about wire transfer fraud with home closings - this is news to me but I can understand how easy it would be.
 
I mainly use CCs (often through PayPal) to make any large purchases. Peace of mind and we get cash back too.
 
diamondseeker2006 said:
When buying from Whiteflash, Victor Canera, High Performance Diamonds, or Jonathan of Distinctive Gems, I have done or would do wire payment for large purchases such as diamonds or diamond jewelry. For smaller purchases (settings or inexpensive jewelry), I'd just do credit card to save the trip to the bank.
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Banks around here aren’t doing in person appointment right now, and my husband needed to send a wire the other day. He called, and someone talked him through sending a wire through our bank app. I don’t know if that has always been an option or if it is new since Covid, but he was able to wire from our home office, which is pretty cool...and could have major jewelry purchasing implications!
 
Tonks said:
Banks around here aren’t doing in person appointment right now, and my husband needed to send a wire the other day. He called, and someone talked him through sending a wire through our bank app. I don’t know if that has always been an option or if it is new since Covid, but he was able to wire from our home office, which is pretty cool...and could have major jewelry purchasing implications!
Click to expand...

That is both wonderful and very scary at the same time!
 
Being overseas I have paid for my 2 WF purchases with bank wire, after calling them to confirm the bank details. All other local purchases are with my credit card or PayPal for the extra protection.
 
i have always wire transferred as mentioned before in post #5. but i have only received a discounted price if a vendor clearly states a bank wire price in addition to the regular price.

all other times, i just wire the listed price, at my computer, often paying additional for fedex shipping. i haven't approached a seller to seek a reduction in the listed price by whatever small percentage to receive a discounted price.

clearly, im going about this all wrong ... no discounted price, no points, no miles, no cash back, no extra protection ... :confused2:

goodness, gracious, i have got ALOT to learn!!
 
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