All You Need to Know About Shopping for Jewellery Online

Are You Thinking About Purchasing Jewellery Online? Here's What You Need to Know

We are heading towards an increasingly digital market for most things – making shopping online a quick, easy and convenient alternative to going to the shops. Everything that you can think of can be purchased online, from your household groceries through to expensive estate jewellery.

Unfortunately the digital marketplace, like its real life predecessor, is not without its fair share of scams and fraudsters. When purchasing jewellery online you want to be sure that your money will be spent on quality pieces that are authentic and that will arrive once they have been shipped. Here are a few things you need to know about purchasing jewellery over the internet.

Look For a Reputable Seller

You can do this in a number of ways. A nice, sleek looking website with in-depth production descriptions, customer testimonials and good quality content is one way to ensure that the seller is reputable – but it is not always the case. You’d want to couple this with the seller’s reputation. Ask around if you have friends who have purchased jewellery online, check out some review websites and jewellery blogs. Research each potential seller thoroughly and via a number of avenues.

Give Them a Call

One of the signs of a scam website is that often there is no phone number listed, or if there is it is disconnected or no one ever picks up. Go to the “contact us” page and look for a number. If it’s there, call it and ask whoever answers some questions – about their business, about themselves and about their products. Hopefully they will be confident, knowledgeable and informative enough to give you confidence in their business.

Read Every Word and the Fine Print

When looking for a piece that you are interested in buying, read everything. All of the fine print, every little bit of description about the item. You want to insure that you are as informed as it is possible to be prior to purchase. Sometimes fine print can hide vital pieces of information. You want to be on the look out for terms such as “plated” or “simulated” or anything that may hint that the item is not entirely authentic or as advertised.

What Payment Methods are Offered?

You want to be able to pay either via PayPal, or with a credit or debit card.

PayPal has very good built in buyer protection, and your bank can be very helpful if you are scammed or have any difficulty with the seller once you have paid them.

If they request a money order, or direct debit transfer you should be very careful before proceeding and perhaps consider choosing a buyer who offers the above payment methods.

These above tips are not meant to scare you from buying jewellery online – quite the opposite. They are intended to help guide you and make the process easier and less risky.