Diamond Rings! Same Designs, Same Prices,
Same Photos, hmmm...

Isn't is disappointing when you go to search for diamonds online you rarely see the actual diamond for sale. What I'm saying, is why do most high end companies that sell diamonds online only use Stock Photos of their diamonds? All it takes is just a few minutes of Googling, and your search will likely have led you to one of these diamond dealers. You can't miss them, they are the ones selling thousands of diamonds, and for a picture they always give the same generic picture of diamond in a white background usually. Without mentioning names, I went to many of these sites and was really looking for a nice diamond, however what I found was driving me up the wall! I couldn't see an actual picture of the real diamond to save my life. Here's a situation that occured when I was dealing with one of the largest diamond sellers online.

Why was the price so low

I wanted to know about a 2.1 carat diamond that they were selling for $1099.00. I was thinking "WHAT" why is this price so low for such a huge carat diamond? So I sent them an email asking what is wrong with this diamond, if there was anything wrong at all with it. I asked many different questions about inclusions, shape, dimensions, color, uniformity etc.., and when I received an email back it blew my mind. He told me that they don't actually have the diamond in stock, or even a picture of the diamond. However that he could order a picture for me. He did say, however, that he had the appraisal for it on hand, and most certainly that something was probably wrong with it because of the low price! That's some pretty pathetic information, and also very odd. So I used another email address, and asked about another diamond they also had on their site, and I received the same response. So what am I to gather from this, is it possible that one of the largest diamond dealers online actually has no diamond stock at all, but rather they are getting their diamonds from some place else? A wholesaler perhaps, possibly a dropshipper, I wasn't sure.

Why is everything the same?

I did this with a few other places as well, especially ones on Ebay, and received pretty much the same email. "Sorry, we haven't actually seen the diamond" but you can try our 15 or 30 day money back guarantee, and if you don't like it you can send it back! I did this approach on 33 different diamond sellers. 6 actually could tell me everything I needed to know about the diamond. But curiously the other 27 had something very much in common that the other 6 didn't. The prices were all the same for the most part across the board. The 6 who could actually tell me everything about the diamond actually had cheaper prices, or more expensive prices. Either way it was nice to know that some diamond sellers out there actually have what they are selling.

What's my point in all of this? I'll tell you. How come all the major big time players selling diamonds online all have stock photos of everything? How come very few of them could actually tell me about the diamond I'm purchasing? How come all of the prices of the stock photo diamond sellers all have pretty much the same prices? How come most of these same sellers all have diamonds that look almost exactly the same. Could it be they are all dipping into the same trough. That may be too harsh of word. Are they all getting their diamonds from the same place, same pool of diamonds? The answer is, on most occasions, YES!

There are major diamond manufacturers out there that offer their diamonds for sale. They produce so many diamonds from their mining institutions that they can do so. They offer a membership to basically anyone that can afford the entry price, which is not cheap, and then these people who pay the price will go out and call themselves diamond sellers or retailers, or wholesalers, and start selling diamonds they have absolutely no first hand knowledge of. Sure some may offer a money back guarantee, but do they offer all of your shipping back? Do they offer no restocking fee? Most don't.

So what's the big deal? Here's why!

You may ask, "What's the big deal? So what if they dropship everything, and you never see an actual picture of the diamond in question. Here's a few really good reasons to care. They are asking you to purchase a loose diamond, or diamond ring, necklace, etc.. that they personally have never seen, verified, or inspected, and asking you to trust their dropshipper, for the most part, that they are telling the truth. They are saying if you don't like it, don't worry you can send it back, but you'll have to eat your shipping costs. Mind you that shipping both ways including insurance can easily cost $150 on up. They are asking you to take a huge leap of faith, and it costs them nothing. You pay for everything. Not to mention if you don't like it, and outside of eating the shipping costs, you have to wait sometimes up to 10 days or more to actually get your money back. 10 DAYS. That's a long time to wait while a big corporation takes their sweet time giving you your money back, and actually making a profit on the interest while you wait in frusturation. Think about it. They could be selling you junk, and they would be none the wiser, you would be none the wiser till you get the item 3-5 days later. Now you have to fill out any form for a refund, or go through any refund channels they offer which can take another day or two. They you have to send it back which could take another day or two as well. Then they have to inspect it to make sure no damage as occured on the diamond, as if they would know in the first place since they never have actually seen the diamond, which could take another day. Then they would probably send you out an email telling you that you have a refund coming, but according to their terms and conditions this could take up to 10 days, and they WILL use all days if possible. So another words because you trusted a company like this, you could be out as much as 150 or more on shipping fees, not to mention be out the thousands you spent on the ring for 15-20 days. That's half a month or more!!! Now can you see why it's so important if you're buying a diamond online that you actually get a chance to see the real deal in a nice clear, non enhanced picture?

What are you to gather from this?

In my experience I've found that the smaller diamond companies out there that actually know what they have, and personally inspect all of their diamonds, are the best to deal with. They offer unbelievable customer support, they even checked back in with me to see how happy I was with my purchase with a phone call. These are people who want your REAL testimonials, and they know you will be happy because they know exactly what they are selling you! These are diamond companies that have REAL pictures of the diamonds, or diamond rings on their site, so you can really take a good look at what your purchasing, so you don't waste your time having to send back garbage, and then wait even longer for your refund. I also found the smaller diamond companies will have the ability to negotiate with you because they don't have a drop-shipper price they have to contend with.

So what should you gather from all of this. If you deal with diamond companies that only have stock photos up than you never know what you will get, let alone, any reliable information from the diamond seller. If you're dealing with diamond sellers who sell by using stock photos you are basically going to pay the same mark-up price every other diamond seller out there with stock photos has. However...

If you deal with the smaller companies with first hand knowledge of the diamond your asking about, you will know exactly what you're going to get. You will get all the information you need. You will get follow up calls to see how happy you are. You will most likely pay smaller prices as well. Think about it. end

Article written by Jeremie Calvin
I wrote this article based on my own personal experience, and findings. If anyone has another story relating to this please let me know.Whether it's contradictory to my own thoughts, or not.