Buying jewellery online has exploded over the last 5 years, local jewellery stores and big chain stores are having trouble surviving. There are still many buyers who are uncomfortable purchasing online, and that is understandable. I have been buying jewellery online for 8 years and have some advice.

Traditionally, people have been uneasy purchasing anything online for fear of someone stealing their credit card information. While nothing is 100% foolproof, the internet can be as safe as using your credit card at local stores. There are some precautions that should be taken of coarse, you should ensurethe site you are purchasing from is protected (most are) and you could join a site such as paypal that offers protection and ease of use for your credit card transactions online.

Paypal is the best known, it is owned by Ebay and has a very good reputation for security, but I’m certain if you looked around, you could find others.

When its time to pay for your purchases, there are certain things to avoid, the biggest is using cash or money orders.

There are many companies that will send or “wire” cash anywhere for a small fee, don’t do this, you have absolutely NO protection, just don’t do it. I have bought literally thousands of pieces of jewellery online and yes, I have been burned a few times, but I’ve learned.

I use Paypal when possible or my credit card, because I have the same coverage with my credit card company if there is fraud involved, and it does happen. But, if you run into trouble, you can get your money returned through your credit card company.

Once you are comfortable with the payment part of your purchase, now comes the most difficult part, finding a reputable online supplier. There are literally thousands of jewellery websites online as well as the big department stores, Walmart, Costco, Sears…etc…etc…and of coarse auction sites such as Ebay, Bidz and many others.

Because of lower overhead you can absolutely get premium deals when you buy jewellery online, it’s much cheaper than your local jewellery store. You will give up some things, such as service, online stores don’t compare to talking with your local jeweller, however, if you know what you want, that won’t really be a problem.

The key is research, take the time to look around, locate what you are looking for, find a number of different suppliers and do some comparing, the same as you would do at your local malls.

The one thing you have to do is learn the “lingo” so you know exactly what is being described, an example is Gold, advertised as 14K or 14K/20.

The first one 14K is Solid 14K Gold, the second one 14K/20 is 14K Gold Plated – 20ml, there’s a very big difference – if you are not sure ASK, don’t be afraid to ask before you buy don’t wait until after the transaction is completed. While most honest jewellers or sellers online accept returns, there are usually conditions, usually a time limit, 7 – 30 days and you have to pay to ship the item back. Depending on the location of the seller, that could get costly, plus, they rarely refund the original shipping cost…so you are out of pocket two shipping fees and you still don’t have your item.

If you buy wedding rings for example, with shipping cost and return shipping cost sometimes it would be better just to sell it to cash for gold rather than send it back. Ok, so that’s a little humour,however, while that may be an exaggeration, I’m sure you get my point…don’t lose your money buying and sending back items, do your homework.

There are other considerations, quality of the jewellery is very important, you can learn much from the descriptions given by the seller. The descriptions, go back to understanding the jewellery language. Even simple things, like understanding gold weights, that will give you a very good idea of how heavy a ring will be when you purchase it, you can’t always tell by onlinephotos if it’s a “thin” ring or a “heavier” band.
I find you can have fun buying online if you take the necessary precautions and do some research online. I’ve been buying jewellery online since about 2001 and I have many tips and recommendations. I’ll put a few more together in my next posting.

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