When most young men go out to buy an engagement ring or other piece of jewelry for the special someone in their life, they often go to the mall jewelry start and end up paying too much. Some of the more savvy individuals will buy from online retailers such as Blue Nile or from less expensive diamond brokers and jewelers. You won’t go wrong by going with a place such as Blue Nile, but you can get the job done for much cheaper than that. You can buy engagement rings and other used fine jewelry on places like eBay and in pawn shops for a fraction of what you would pay in retail.
A lot of men think that they’re cheaping out on their significant other if they don’t the jewelry brand new and polished from a jeweler. The woman in your life won’t care where it came from as long as it looks pretty and it’s something she wants to wear. When I forked over $1000 for an engagement ring, she didn’t even ask where it came from. Paying twice the price to have the same product but new just isn’t worth it. It’s okay to buy used jewelry, don’t be afraid to.
When buying jewelry from a secondary market, you can save a lot of money. Because most people like to buy jewelry new, there’s just not a very strong secondary market. My engagement unfortunately did not work out, and the ring was sold on eBay and returned a mere $350 of the initial $1000 I paid. It was a good quality ring too! You do have to be careful in what you’re doing though. You have to make sure the source is reputable. You have to know if you’re getting a deal, and make sure you know what you’re getting.
Some pawn-shops are great places to buy jewelry, and some you should avoid like the plague. It would really take a pro at going to pawn-shops in your local area to help you determine which are worth going to, and which should be avoided. Ask them questions about fine jewelry to see if they’re knowledge. If they don’t know what the 4 C’s are, you should probably head for the hills. If you’re looking on eBay, make sure that the person selling the item has an excellent reputation rating. Anything less than 98% positive, you should probably look elsewhere.
Once you have selected a source and picked out an item that you like, you have to make sure that you’re getting a good price. Try to create a similarly configured ring on BlueNile.com and see what they’re charging. You can also check out other online jewelers and see what kind of prices they’re offering. Generally you shouldn’t pay more than half of what you would at a retailer such as Blue Nile when buying used.
You also have to be absolutely positive in knowing what you’re getting. Always look for a picture, know what the cut, clarity, color and carat weight of a diamond, Make sure the diamonds have a GIA or equivalent certificate. Make sure you get an in depth and thorough description. Know where the ring originally came from, and make sure it has a very detailed description. If there are any questions about the ring, ask!
Finally, make sure there’s a 30 day or so return policy. You don’t want to get a ring in the mail only to find out it’s really not what you were looking for. You’ll probably have to pay to ship it back, but that’s part of the process when buying rings online. You can generally avoid this by doing some in depth research on knowing what you’re getting ahead of time.
There’s plenty of quality jewelry on the secondary market that can be had for a fraction of what you’d pay in the mall or even at an online retailer such as BlueNile, if you know where to look.
