One of the benefits of buying an International Selection diamond from us, is that you don’t have to pay in full until the diamond (or ring) is ready to be shipped or collect.
Our policy is that we require $150 deposit for diamonds under $10,000, and 10% deposit for diamonds $10,000 or more. If something goes wrong (eg – diamond gets lost or is not eye-clean), then we’ll either refund your deposit or find another diamond for you. If you simply change your mind, then we keep the $150 to cover shipping, import and insurance charges to and from the vendor, as well as our labour analysing the diamond.
Whilst not “free”, like consigning diamonds from a local wholesaler and showing them to customers, we have found this method produces far better quality diamonds at a much cheaper price.
One fact we do disclose is that we act as brokers between an overseas vendor and you. This means that things sometimes go wrong – diamonds do get lost in transit – even damaged, may not be eye-clean or may simply be the wrong stone. Whilst 99% of times, things run smoothly, this is one reason why we do not ask for full payment upfront.
The other reason is to build trust with our clients. As the song goes, with seemingly dangerous waters ahead, you shouldn’t pay the ferryman until he gets you to the other side. When dealing with either an individual or company of any size, there is always a chance that they’ll “do a runner” or, in the case of a company fall into administration or receivership. Unfortunately, this happened last year with Kleenmaid and with it, many customers who paid upfront for whitegoods never recovered their money.
Of course, the safe way of buying anything online or having to be ordered is through your credit card. This page details how credit card chargebacks work. On a side note, with the onus being on the retailer to prove to the credit card company that they supplied the goods to the owner of the credit card, many merchants are implementing extra security features to protect themselves and the consumer.
Unfortunately, there are many vendors who are insolvent, that is unable to pay their bills when they’re due. In the diamond business, one must have sufficient capital in order to buy stock, pay overheads, and, unfortunately, to cover for when things, like I mentioned before, go wrong.
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