Sunday, November 30, 2008

The Beginner's Guide to Buying Jewelry on the Internet

By Megge Enots

If you are about to take the leap and order a piece of jewelry online, the very first thing you must do is confirm that your online store of choice is who they say they are. To do this, simply visit your search engine of choice and enter their name. Take a quick look at what comes up. Do you see a lot of negative complaints? Do they have a poor rating with the Better Business Bureau? If so, you may want to think twice. Sometimes all make look good on the surface but something inside just says you need to be wary. Above all else, trust that inner voice and move on. There are far too many jewelry sites out there to risk being scammed.

To make sure that you are buying your jewelry as safely as possible when you are looking at an online vendor, there are a few things that you want to look for.

Does the online store have a clearly visible and easily understandable return policy? If you are not able to locate it on first glance then that might tell you something. Every detail from "re-stocking fees" to the replacement of damaged goods needs to be addressed to your satisfaction. The worst thing to do is act before understanding this and finding yourself stuck with merchandise that is the wrong size or color.

Certification When you are buying diamonds, remember that you want to make sure that you are going to get a certificate along with it. You will find that GIA and AGS are two of the top services in the world, although some stores offer certification from other labs or an in house lab. Certification will not add to the value of the piece that you are buying, but it can reassure you that you are getting the piece that you have been promised.

Secure transactions When you pay for your jewelry, are you going through a secure page? Secure ordering will give you a real level of additional safety when it comes to putting your credit card number online. Whenever you put your credit card numbers down anywhere, look to make sure that the web address reads "https" rather than "http."

Insured shipping The more expensive the item that you are purchasing, the more you should think about choosing a site that uses an insured carrier. Getting your jewelry shipped through an insured carrier mitigates the risks and is typically worth the money paid for it, if only in terms of peace of mind. You will find that this makes lost or damaged items much easier to replace.

Ordering jewelry on the internet is fast, easy and very convenient. If you follow the rules above, you can be assured of having a rewarding experience without any risk. - 15634

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