Are you planning on proposing your loved one? Then you need to buy a beautiful engagement ring first. If you are looking to surprise her, then you need to be little sneaky in buying the engagement ring. You should not give her any chance to figure out what’s coming.
The process starts with finding the ring size of your partner. The ring size is very important in buying an engagement ring. You also need to find out her tastes on rings styles and wedding. There are different types of engagement rings available at RockHer where you can customize the perfect ring. Figuring out which is your partner’s favorite style will help you to narrow it down.
The final decision will be how to buy the engagement ring. Mainly two options are available in front of you; either to buy the engagement ring online or buy it from a retail store. Some couples design their own engagement rings, which is a really expensive way.
In this article, we will discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of buying an engagement ring online or from a store.
Buying Engagement Ring From A Store
Advantages
One of the main advantages of buying an engagement from a jewelry store is that you can actually see the diamond with your eyes. If you know what you are seeking inside the store, then seeing the diamond with your own eyes is an invaluable opportunity. You will be able to inspect the diamond and the selection process will be far simpler. You can look at the sparkle of the diamond, and in case of internet pictures you cannot do that.
Most of the jewelry stores have long term policies that are beneficial for the customers, such as a maintenance policy, upgrade options and return policies. If you are buying expensive wedding rings or engagement rings from a store that has return policy, then you will be able to return the ring if it does not match the tastes of your partner or if the engagement is called off. A local jewelry store might have credit plans that help you to spread out the cost of the engagement ring.
If your engagement is not going to be a surprise, then you can shop with your partner. This is because some engaged couples buy their engagement ring after the question is popped. If you buy the ring online, you will be in a constant worry that may be your partner will receive the package at home and open it. This will ruin the whole surprise. If you are buying the ring from a store, you can avoid that.
Disadvantages
One of the most glaring and annoying disadvantages of buying an engagement ring from a local jewelry store is that you have to deal with some annoying salespeople. Some salespersons declare themselves as experts in diamond rings and persuade you to buy particular engagement ring that may be either expensive or do not match your priorities. These types of salespersons are hoping to fill their own wallet, not yours. Therefore, when you are going to buy the ring from a local store, you can expect a certain level of deception.
Jewelry stores often spend a lot of money on payroll, rent and fixtures, just for opening the store. They do it on the hope that customers will pour in to buy the jewelry. This will result in the passing of higher prices onto the customers. They will raise the prices of the rings and other jewelry to compensate the money they spend on the store. The price of the rings will be even more in the jewelry stores at big shopping malls.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Can check the diamond physically | Annoying Salespersons |
| Good maintenance and upgrade options | Limited choices |
| Credit plans available | Expensive |
Buying Engagement Ring Online
Advantages
If you are planning to buy your engagement ring online, you will get a wide variety of selections. Local jewelry stores are limited by space, costs and security concerns. Online shopping sites do not have these problems and you will get an endless variety of engagement rings to choose from. An online store has a website and logistics for the sale of the jewelry instead of staffs, furnishings, rent, cash registers, etc. This means that online shopping can reduce the prices of the jewelry.
Many reputable online stores have good return policies. If you buy your engagement ring from such stores, you can send back the ring if you don’t like it. Most of the reputed online stores will refund the amount you spend on the ring. Go through their return policy and make sure that you will get a refund and not an exchange or get hit with the restocking fees.
Disadvantages
You cannot always trust the online stores for buying engagement ring. The online market is unregulated and there will be some unscrupulous merchants who are only looking to make profit. Those types of merchants may not sell good quality products. Another major drawback of online shopping is that you are unable to assess a diamond ring before buying it. If you are not buying the ring from a reputable online store, there is a high risk of getting cheated. Sometimes you may not receive what you ordered.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Large selections | Unregulated market |
| Good return policies | Cannot assess the ring |
| Reduced prices | Waiting time |