Are Diamonds & Jewelry Real on eBay? Our Review

eBay offers buyers the chance to find reasonably priced items, with a large selection of items from different sellers. However, the same only sometimes applies to diamonds and engagement rings.

If you consider purchasing a diamond from eBay, you should be prepared to spend significant time acquiring more information on the diamonds you see. Many listings show stock photos rather than 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 a 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 its value should be. They are often overlooked when making a diamond purchase from eBay, given that many people only see the price and think 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.

Expansive inventory: eBay allows individual sellers to list their diamonds and engagement rings on the site. It offers customers a wide variety of jewelry and stones with 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, but the downfall is that you will purchase the diamond from an individual seller and not eBay itself.

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 of selling on eBay, prices on engagement rings and diamonds tend to be inflated.

Ordering a custom-made piece from eBay is impossible 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 without a chance to custom design it.

It is a massive downfall of buying engagement rings from the site. Therefore, heading to James Allen or Blue Nile to purchase a custom ring instead would be worth your time and money.

eBay's website is relatively easy to use, with simple navigation and many categories.

However, there are only so many filters to use when it comes to diamonds. This results in visitors sifting through hundreds of listings that are not applicable simply because the filtering features needed are not available.

Often, only stock photos of engagement rings and diamonds are shown, meaning you will only see the product after purchasing. It leads to uncertainty about the quality and authenticity of the purchase.

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 often need to be solved.

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 does not provide as much financing as private jewelry and diamond retailers like James Allen. Most clients use private financing options, credit cards, or bank transfers.

It is always a good idea to pay cash where possible, but many people need this luxury, and unfortunately, with private financing options, eBay gains many clients.

• Large inventory of diamonds from individual sellers.
• Ready-made engagement rings to choose from.
• Shipping can be offered to many locations.

If you are looking for great deals and low prices on many different items, eBay is the site to visit. 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 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 receive excellent quality, certified diamonds at an affordable price.