Schuetz

So.... you want to buy jewellery over the internet?

You can get some really great deals by purchasing jewellery online. Gold and precious stones are very expensive to purchase in New Zealand (and indeed many countries), and you'll find there are some great wholesale stores online, where the jewels are a fraction of the retail cost.

If you are looking to buy check out our directory for a good range (www.grizzlynut.co.nz). There are some fantastic shops that ship to New Zealand. I can assure you - once you find the right ones, you will never go back to shopping offline again - the selection and prices are fantastic.

But.... there are also some really awful buys online as well.

I was looking to buy some products to resell earlier this year and thought I would try an auction site & look for some Gold rings.

And WOW - the auction sites have some cheap rings - the pictures looked awesome, they were real gems, real gold - and they were only going to cost me $30 each ring to bring in to New Zealand (and that included shipping, customs & tax). I thought - "wohooo I'm on to a gold-mine here! I can sell these things for hundreds of dollars!!", and straight away I bought 3 rings from the one supplier. I mean - what could go wrong (after all the seller had a fantastic trader rating)?!?!?

WELL - when I got the rings (and the shipping was great - the rings arrived within 2 weeks), but when I opened the package the smug grin I'd been wearing for the last couple of weeks vanished - the gold was so thin you could have only worn them twice, the jewels were real - but they looked fake, were very badly cut & certainly didn't glisten in the sunlight! (Needless to say I did not make my millions from that venture).

Now - don't get me wrong - I'm not saying don't buy off auction sites (I've bought some stunning pieces of jewellery since then for fantastic prices) - just be careful (and use any pictures that they have as a guidance - the actual product may look completely different). Don't rush into a purchase and buy a bulk load of goods. Purchase 1 ring - take note of how it is described, and do a full inspection when you get it. If it's a good buy - purchase in bulk. If not - you haven't wasted too much money.

And... this rule doesn't apply only to online auctions. It also applies to online stores. You don't know whom is running the stores, and you can't visually see the goods (pictures may lie). Don't take up the "buy in bulk & save loads of money" offer, or you may be kissing your hard earned moola away. Buy small - check out the goods, then go back for more.

My second piece of advice - Don't always go for the cheapest jewellery on the internet (but certainly don't go for the most expensive). Generally the cheaper the jewellery, the lower the quality of the product. Even if you are purchasing for resale, you want to be able to sell the product with honesty and integrity (I mean - if you think the ring is junk, you really shouldn't be selling it for a high price).

My third piece of advice - check out the jewellery store onine. Do a search on google, and see if anything bad comes up. Believe it or not I got scammed out of $US650 recently when I bought some bulk nappies for resale off an auction site and they didn't show - I did a search on the manufacturer afterwards to find 269,000 results which showed other people had been scammed) - if only I'd done that before wasting my money (which I still haven't got back by the way - so I'm not talking about that!!). The one thing to remember during your search, is that some of the people giving the bad reports may be competitors (but I can assure you if you get 269,000 hits - SOMETHING IS WRONG!!)

There are some really good jewellery stores online that have fantastic prices, will ship to New Zealand, and are just overall great shops.

Some jewellery shops with great prices:

www.pugster.com - This is an international store. They have really great pricing (and a fantastic range) of italian charms I have ever seen. They do have free shipping if you spend over $US45 (but... remember my rules - just because I like them, they may not be to your liking)

www.bargainsforyouall.co.uk - This is another international store. They offer wholesale prices on jewellery and they Dropship if required!!

www.ringsandthings.co.nz - This is a New Zealand Store which I had to mention because the jewellery looks so stunning! If you are looking for gorgeous, and unusual jewellery that not everyone owns check this shop out - the prices are not wholesale but they are really good for what you are getting, and the items are unique.

www.echinastone.com - This is an international store. Are you looking to buy gemstones? Look no further! Very well priced, very nice - and free shipping if you sepnd over $US100 (I'm not going to repeat the shipping rule here...)

www.jgoodin.com - An international store with unbelievably low priced jewellery ...

That's it for this week.... Check back soon..

Don't get ripped off like me!!

Shirlene
www.grizzlynut.co.nz