Online Vendor vs Local Store

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet... perhaps discuss the topic in more details in subsequent post.

I was on a particular message board and read a thread where someone suggested buying from an online vendor.

In my opinion, it is not in your best interests to buy from an online vendor unless you are extremely knowledgable about diamonds and have done your research (and know of the few reputable online vendors). Here are the reasons why not to:

• You cannot truly see the diamond, even with all the fancy images that online vendors post, it's hard to believe 100% that those images are from the same diamond that will be shipped to you, or they're not enhanced in any way to hide inclusions or black dots, or the pictures merely do not show them due to the angle or lighting in which the picture was taken.
• You cannot truly estimate any broker, customs, duties, taxes, and/or other fees that could come with your purchase. Typically, these are estimated at 25% on top of the final price, after tax of your diamond/diamond ring. Some could be less, some could be more. But the point is, you never know and any unknowns when it comes to money should be avoided.
• There could be procedures and documentations that you have to fill out and fax and distribute to different parties before you can properly receive the ring from your online vendor (of course, we're talking from another country)
• Returns (if they have such a policy) may be difficult since shipping time could come into play.
• At the end of the day, you're making a pretty big purchase without ever even seeing or touching the diamond. What if it comes to you and you're not in any way satisfied?

There are however, some pros in buying online...

• Price! Online vendors tend to have lower prices than local retail stores due to the fact they have much less overhead in running their businesses. There is probably a whole slew of other reasons as well.
• You can find higher quality diamonds such as Hearts & Arrows, AGS000 (more about these as well) and in different carat weights from online vendors. Even Tiffany may not have these high quality diamonds in their selection and you wouldn't be able to tell from their certification.
• Accompanying these high quality diamonds, sometimes, are idealscope images or those "red x-ray" pictures of the diamond which show how much light is reflected, resulting in a more brilliant, fiery, shiny diamond.

Always, Always, ALWAYS see the diamond before you make a purchase. And when I mean see, I mean take your time, use a loupe, use a idealscope (more about this later too), use whatever higher magnification means you have to view the diamond. Look at it from different lightings (retail stores, especially Tiffany's has superb spotlight and other means of making any diamond shine with fire, so beware!), different angles. Heck, look at it on different days, get your friends to look at it, and then look at it yourself again. When you're truly satisfied with the diamond, that's when you can confidently pay for it.

So much for a short post, I hope you find this helpful! =)