If you’ve looked into the advantages of shopping for jewelry online and you’ve educated yourself enough to know a good buy when you see one, your next step is to find the right online jewelry store. There are literally hundreds of jewelry stores on the Internet looking to meet your jewelry needs.
You should thoroughly investigate any store you purchase from online, but this is especially true when it comes to online jewelry stores. Buying jewelry is a major investment and you want to make sure that your investment is in the right hands.
One of the advantages of using an online jewelry store is that you’ll be able to find the exact piece that you are looking for. After doing an Internet search on your piece of jewelry, you’ll be presented with a list of results. These stores are carrying what you want, but you’ll have to carefully evaluate each store to make sure that it is trustworthy to purchase from.
Click on the first link in your results and take a look at the page. Right off the bat, you should be able to tell if the store passes your first test – usability. Quality online jewelry store websites should be clear and easy to read. There shouldn’t be any formatting errors on the site and it should be well designed. It should be searchable, clearly laid out and have a professional look. If an online jewelry store has a good reputation, it will be able to afford quality web design.
While you are on the website, you should also look for clearly displayed contact information. The online jewelry store should have an e-mail address and a phone number displayed on the website. A physical address or live customer support chat is even better. Make sure to take note of when the customer service options are available. Some stores have limited phone support hours in different time zones.
Customer service should be a primary concern for an online jewelry store. They should make it easy for you to contact them, and also have their customer service policy on their website. The customer service policy should include all the information that you need to know about ordering from the website, delivery information and return policies.
Pay very close attention to the return policy. One of the risks of purchasing jewelry online is sizing. You want to be sure that the store you purchase from allows you to return the jewelry to get a different size. Before you purchase, be sure to read the return policy in its entirety. Many stores have a time limit on when you can return an item. Be sure there aren’t any hidden fees associated with returning pieces.
Investigate the shipping policies of the store. Their shipping method should be very secure and shipping insurance should be included with your purchase. You should also be able to upgrade to priority shipping so you can get your pieces faster.
To be particularly cautious, some online jewelry buyers limit their browsing to the large and well-known jewelry websites. This is a wise strategy, with the added bonus that you can often get nice price breaks, frequent coupons and promotions and even (on some of these large jewelry websites) free priority shipping on your purchase.