No one likes getting ripped off.
Whether you’re buying a new car or fruit at the grocery store, finding the best prices for products is in our nature as humans. In fact, 79% of people responding to a survey from Ask Your Target Market considered themselves to be bargain hunters. We like to find the best items, and then we love to get a good deal on them. This is especially true when we’re shopping for traditionally more expensive products like engagement rings.
Where do you even begin?
The first step to any comparison shopping begins with education, and that’s no different when it comes to engagement rings. In order to know if you’re getting a good deal on a product or not, you need to know the value of what you’re looking at. Should this ring be more expensive than that ring? What is the carat weight? How about the clarity grade?
To educate yourself about the engagement ring to make sure you know what you’re looking for when comparison shopping, start with learning the four C’s of a diamond: Carat, Cut, Clarity, Color.
The fours C’s, along with some additional guiding metrics like fluorescence, polish, and what kind of certificate a diamond has, are the key factors when it comes to knowing your way inside and out of an engagement ring.
Look to online retailers like Ritani
Starting your search for an engagement ring at a store in the mall is like looking for a seashell in a children’s art class. Sure, you might find something you like, but why not start on the beach where you know you’ll have thousands of options?
Online engagement ring retailers are a great way to sort through not just the dozens of options you might find in a store, but tens of thousands of diamonds. We love Ritani for this because they make it easy to filter out specific diamonds based on your budget and preferences on the fours C’s (not to mention several other filters including length to width ratio, symmetry, depth and many more). Also, they have over 100,000 items to compare. From earth diamonds to lab grown diamonds, from round cut to emerald cut – you can compare just about anything to find the right price for the perfect stone.
Use Price Comparison Tools
Sometimes, the tools you need to compare prices already exist. Take for example the site stonealgo.com. This site is dedicated to aggregating information from many different diamond and engagement ring retailers, putting it into one algorithm, and allowing you to search and even compare across companies for the best deal.
Additionally, many companies who are ahead of the curb and embrace tech in the name of their customers provide more tools to really help you narrow your search. Ritani’s Best Value algorithm highlights only those diamonds that prove to be the lowest priced for the highest quality of stone.
Ask for help
When you think you’ve found what you’re looking for, but still aren’t sure – ask for help. Ask customer service representatives or certified gemologists to help you decide exactly what is right. Ask friends and family who might have experience engagement ring shopping. There’s nothing embarrassing with getting a little help finding the ring of your dreams.
What are your top tips for comparison shopping engagement rings? Let us know!
