eBay Jewelry Review | Are They Trustworthy?
eBay Jewelry Review | Are They Trustworthy?
Posted by Rebecca B. on 17th May 2021
eBay Jewelry – A Review
Our Rating 2.8 out of 5.
Compare eBay Jewelry with James Allen.
eBay is one of the largest online auction sites in the world. Hundreds of thousands of listed products appear on the site, offering new and secondhand goods. These are sold by resellers, acting as middlemen.
You can buy loose diamonds and engagement rings on eBay, sold by different individual sellers. However, it is essential to note that purchasing something as expensive as an engagement ring from eBay is risky.
While eBay does facilitate sales for honest sellers, the presence of scammers looking to make a quick dollar off of an unsuspecting victim is quite substantial. Besides, there is no way to check beforehand the authenticity and quality of your desired diamond.
Is eBay worth the risk when purchasing diamonds and engagement rings? Hopefully, this review will help you decide whether or not eBay is a worthwhile site to visit for diamonds and engagement rings.
A Brief History
eBay is an immensely successful site, facilitating the sales between individual sellers and private customers. Founded 24 years ago, it has grown with the online retail industry and is now a multi-billion-dollar business, available in over 30 countries worldwide.
eBay sells a wide variety of products, including diamonds and engagement rings—there is hardly any limit to what can be sold.
What eBay Offer
eBay offers buyers the chance to find items at a reasonable price, with a large selection of items from different sellers. However, the same does not always apply to diamonds and engagement rings.
If you consider purchasing a diamond from eBay, you should be prepared to spend a significant amount of time acquiring more information on the diamonds that you eye. Many of the listings show stock photos and not the actual diamonds, leaving room for flaws hidden from the customer. It can completely change the buyer's mind if they can view the diamonds in real life.
Another common occurrence pertains to the hiddenness of crucial information—especially whether a diamond is clarity enhanced or natural—among the lines of the description provided for each diamond.
The aforementioned qualities of a diamond make a considerable impact on what the value should be. They are often overlooked when making a diamond purchase from eBay, given that many people only see the price and think that they are getting a fantastic deal.
If you compare a diamond with a price tag from eBay to a diamond with the same price tag from James Allen, you will notice that a James Allen diamond's quality is by far superior.
What Makes eBay Stand Out?
Expansive inventory: eBay allows individual sellers to list their diamonds and engagement rings on the site. It offers a wide variety of jewelry and stones to customers who have enough time to search for a good deal.
Reliable site: eBay has been around for 24 years. The site is reliable and safe to use, though the downfall is that you will be purchasing the diamond from an individual seller and not eBay itself.
eBay Pricing
While eBay is known to offer great deals and prices on goods, the same does not apply to diamonds and engagement rings. With individual sellers trying to make the most out of a stone or piece of jewelry, coupled with the overhead involved in selling on eBay, prices on engagement rings and diamonds tend to be inflated.
Custom Orders
It is impossible to order a custom-made piece from eBay because many individual sellers retail their pieces. Hence, there is no way to link up communication with a seller carrying your desired diamond to discuss an engagement ring setting of your choice.
Every engagement ring sold on eBay comes as-is, set with a stone, and with no chance to custom design it.
It is a massive downfall of buying engagement rings from the site. Therefore, it would be worth your time and money to head over to James Allen or Blue Nile to purchase a custom ring instead.
Website Ease of Use
eBay's website as a whole is relatively easy to use, with simple navigation and plenty of categories to choose from.
However, when it comes to diamonds, there are very few filters to use. This results in visitors sifting through hundreds of listings that are not applicable simply because the filtering features needed are not available.
Oftentimes, only stock photos of engagement rings and diamonds are shown, meaning that you will never actually see the actual product before purchasing. It leads to uncertainty about the quality and authenticity of the purchase.
Customer Service
As a large online site, eBay has reasonably helpful customer care, though it has its limits since you will be purchasing from a private seller. Admittedly, though eBay does try to ensure safety on the site, certain problems are often left unsolved.
Full-time Customer Support: eBay has full-time customer support, but this has more to do with online help. As for purchasing from a seller, it does not offer much help.
Return Policy: You will not be guaranteed a return policy from many sellers on eBay. If you want to buy from the site, make sure that you check the return policy, if any at all, offered by the seller.
eBay Financing Options
eBay does not offer as much financing as private jewelry and diamond retailers, such as James Allen. Most clients choose to use private financing options, credit cards, or bank transfers.
It is always a good idea to pay cash where possible, but many people do not have this luxury, and unfortunately, without private financing options, eBay loses many clients.
Why You Should Choose eBay
- Large inventory of diamonds from individual sellers
- Ready-made engagement rings to choose from
- Shipping can be offered to many locations
eBay – For Everything Other Than Diamonds
eBay is the site to visit if you are looking for great deals and low prices on many different items. However, it is not the best place to purchase a diamond or engagement ring.
There is no way to verify the authenticity or be assured of after-sales care. When it comes to purchasing an item with such a high price tag, you are better off visiting James Allen or Blue Nile. There, you will be treated with valuable customer care and will receive excellent quality, certified diamond at an affordable price.