There is more than one reason for you to buy your diamond or diamond ring online. Given the advancement of IT technology and 3D visualization for the past 10 years, the shopping experience of buying diamonds online has improved tremendously. This has truly minimized the ‘touch and feel gap’ between the physical diamond and the diamond you see online through an enhanced 3D visualization graphic interface. Here we shall not hesitate and list down the reasons why we are advocates of shopping diamonds online.

Advantages
Secured shopping and quality buys
Other than the huge similarities in shopping experience (minus the pesky sales person), shopping online for diamonds is a highly secure activity. With technology these days, your credit card information is highly encrypted (but be sure to go to the legitimate one that offers secure ordering features). There has got to be a reason why internet sales are increasing exponentially each year right? To maximize the shopping experience, diamonds sold online are verified by reputable agencies such as GIA/AGL to assure quality, in addition, most online diamond shops even offer you a complementary gift!

Makes sense to save money
Set your budget and take your time to choose the best value-for-money diamond by stretching your dollar! Just think about it, how many physical shops can you visit in one day compared to online shops? You can never beat the record! Shopping online for diamonds gives you the buyer’s power. For example, for an over $2.5K 0.5 carat good cut ring in retail shop, you can find another one with higher quality on web with the same budget!

Go for variety
How big is a brick and mortar diamond shop? 100ft²? 200 ft²? How big is an online shop? Infinitely big! So is its selections of diamonds and settings! Customize all you want on the online diamond shop software or simply find a setting or design created by renowned international designers. And did we mention? Colored diamonds such as pink, red or blue hardly found in retail stores are quite common in online diamond shops!

Want to know why diamond online stores have more varieties? Check the secret behind diamond online stores.

Cutting out the middle man
Direct contact with diamond manufacturers and wholesalers from the US, Israel, Canada, Russian through their online shops cuts out the middle man or the retail shop, hence resulting in a cheaper buy! For example, Bluenile and Diamonds-USA have its own diamond manufacturing plant in Israel. So far, US online diamond stores sell comparatively cheaper diamonds as they own the largest market and network chains lowering the cost involved and heightening the competitors in the market to consumers’ advantage. In addition, upgrading of your diamond which has always been an option only available for customers of retail shops is now offered to online buyers of diamond. Hence, if one day you felt that the diamond you bought previously online is too small for you, it is now possible for you to exchange it for a bigger one from the same online diamond shop while retaining 90% of its original price!

WYSIWYG (almost)
Though technology has not been so advance to reach to the stage where you could actually touch and feel that diamond like the real thing on the screen which you are looking at now, 3D and digital technology have progressed enough for consumers to reconsider about shopping online for diamonds. Now, anyone can examine the exact diamond you are considering from different angles and even look at hi-res 10X close ups to inspect the clarity of the diamond. Information about the diamond including the 4Cs are also included side-by-side for you to compare the description with the actual diamond. Though the software still lacks the touch, feel and sparkle, would you make a better decision in the shop where the diamonds are all shined upon by bright white lights?

Find out the latest 3D technology of diamond rings online, which can substitute to retailers.

Good customer service (when needed)
Not needing to deal with the pesky salesman and customer service that will only be available upon request are ideal scenarios that will only happen for online diamond shops. Customer service for online shops tend to be more objective than subjective when answering your questions as they already know that online shoppers like you have the power of information and only will only ask them as your last resort. As online shops are available globally, some online diamond shops offer 24 hrs customer service who would reply quite promptly to your email.

Satisfaction guaranteed
Not only you get to pay only upon receival of your item but return your diamond for a full refund with no questions asked within 30 days.

You never need to leave your house
From the pleasant shopping experience of online diamond shopping to the receiving of the diamond at your doorstep, you would never need to leave your house! Delivery of your diamond by online shops is usually couriered by reputable transport companies such as Fedex. Lead time to delivery ranges from 3days to 1 week depending on your location. Depending on the online diamond shop, the shipping cost is usually bore by them (since the item is so small/light).

Not forgetting to be objective here, we want to give you a fuller picture of buying diamonds online. Hence we decide to come up with the list of disadvantages. After all, there has to be some reasons why retail shops are still around in the neighborhood.

Disadvantages
That physical connection
Well, some things just cannot be explained, like your gut feeling, six sense and your intuition (though they might mean the same thing). Many buyers feel uncomfortable to shop for their diamonds online since they could not feel that physical connection to the product also known as the touch and feel.

Social interaction and relationships
All of us or rather most of us are born in the generation when there were only the brick and mortar shops. There bound to be shops which you used to frequent or a shop where your dad bought his proposal ring and his dad and his dad’s dad long time ago. It is also because of this need to reconcile your relationship with the shop owner who your family has for the past 3 generations that you go back and buy diamond ring. In addition, not all sales persons are pesky and irritating, there are definitely ones who have gained your trust and are competent with their knowledge of diamonds.

It is just next door!
Buying your diamond from a retail shop at a close proximity to your home is always a bonus. At anytime, they would be happy to resize your ring and also polish it at no additional charge for as long as the shop is still around. There also would not be text full of written policies you have to read before purchasing your diamond ring. Some retailers even accept a 1 to 1 exchange for your diamond within a time frame of 3 years.

The secret behind online diamond stores

Does diamond online stores really hold thousands of diamonds?

Online diamond shops do not hold inventory of loose diamonds. A strong online shop has good connections with their vendors and partners or at times just a front for a diamond manufacturing factory. After receiving electronic feed on the list of diamonds from vendor/manufacturer, they post it online with their standard mark up. These diamonds are then available for sale.

Once the diamond is sold online, the item will be automatically removed from the list. Usually the online diamond shops need to pay their vendor in 60 days, compared to a 30 days credit terms between the shop and the online customer. This is the way they maintain their positive cash flow. Online diamond shops do not need to bear the carrying cost for huge amount of inventories. They can survive easily by a lower profit margin since the fixed cost to maintain their virtual shop is almost negligible. However, this can also mean a small barrier to market entry to the likes of online customers as the prices posted will become more and more competitive.

And what make it a success?
In addition, online diamond shops like Bluenile employ fewer staffs, smaller office spaces (or none at all) and market their products through online mediums such as Google, eBay and Yahoo which are relatively cheaper. Retail shops due to their physical presence need more than that. It becomes inevitable for them to leverage on TV advertisements, road shows, infamous celebrities, magazines and multiple shops to create branding and recognition.