Engagement Rings Buying Guide
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Engagement Rings Buying Guide


When you’re ready to purchase an engagement ring, establish your budget, determine which ring style she’ll love, and learn how to select a diamond. Conventional wisdom tells you to spend about two months of salary on a diamond engagement ring. Remember, your fiancée will wear her engagement ring every day. Couples traditionally choose a diamond engagement ring because diamonds represent purity and strength, but you can also choose a unique engagement ring that has sapphires, rubies, or other gemstones. By shopping on eBay, you'll be able to search through thousands of engagement ring styles and seek out great deals. You can even purchase a new engagement ring setting and design your own ring with a diamond or gemstone from a family heirloom.

Discover Her Favorite Engagement Ring Style


Discover Her Favorite Engagement Ring Style

In order to discover which engagement ring style your future fiancée will love and cherish most, you'll need to do some sleuthing. If you've never discussed ring preferences, asking her friends or sisters for advice is a wise thing to do. Taking a look in your beloved's jewelry box can also help lead you in the right direction. If your fiancée only owns yellow gold jewelry, a yellow gold engagement ring and wedding band may be in order. If she prefers the look of silver, white gold, or platinum, she'll likely prefer a platinum engagement ring or white gold engagement ring.

Modern brides seeking a simple, classic look may also want one of the most popular diamond engagement ring styles:

  • Diamond solitaire rings: Diamond solitaire engagement rings have a single diamond set alone on a band. This style makes a good option when you’re unsure of style. Your love can even choose a final setting later.

  • Diamond solitaire rings with accents: Diamond solitaire engagement rings with accent stones feature a main stone, such as a diamond, and use smaller gemstones, such as diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, as decorative accents. Carat weight on accent rings includes the weight of all the stones on the ring, not just the main stone.

  • Diamond three-stone rings: Diamond three-stone engagement rings, also called trilogy rings or past-present-future rings, have three brilliant cut round diamonds that represent the past, present, and future of your relationship.

You can also buy a wedding band to match your honey's engagement ring right away, with a bridal ring set. Featuring limitless combinations of stones and styles, bridal sets include a matching engagement ring and wedding ring that fit together. If your betrothed prefers antique or vintage jewels, consider a vintage engagement ring and wedding ring combination.


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Select a Diamond She’ll Love


Select a Diamond She’ll Love

When you buy a diamond engagement ring, consider choosing quality over size and choose the nicest engagement ring you can afford. The jewelry industry uses the four Cs to evaluate diamond quality: cut, carat, clarity, and color.

Look at diamond cut and shape

The cut of a diamond determines how well a diamond reflects light to show its brilliance. A standard grading report describes cut by the shape or outline of the diamond and the facet arrangement pattern, also known as cutting style. Shapes range from traditional round to hearts, pears, emerald, and more. Choose a shape that reflects the tastes of the person who will wear the stone.

Choose diamond carat weight

Diamond size is measured by weight in carats. Prices rise quickly as carat weight increases. Choosing a slightly smaller carat weight, even 0.05 less, can save you money and still allows you to present your future spouse with a dazzling stone.

Seek diamond clarity

Most diamonds have tiny flaws called inclusions, often invisible to the naked eye. eBay sellers often describe diamond clarity using the industry letter grading scale, from “flawless” (FI) all the way to “imperfect, flaws visible to naked eye” (I1, I2, I3).

Determine what color diamond you want

While most diamonds appear white, all include trace amounts of yellow. Colorless diamonds rated D, E, and F typically hold the most value, with nearly colorless diamonds (rated G, H, I, J) following suit. However, deeply colored "fancy diamonds," also called Z+ diamonds, can sometimes cost more than colorless diamonds of the same carat weight. Fancy diamonds, popular in many celebrity engagement rings, come in a variety of colors, including deep yellow, pink, green, blue, and black.

Spot certified diamonds

Certain gemological laboratories issue grading certificates that describe the qualities of a particular diamond, including cut, carat, clarity, and color. Before you make a purchase, make sure a reputable gemologist or gemological lab issued the grading certificate. Popular labs that certify diamonds and gemstones include:

  • Gemological Institute of America (GIA): Many in the industry consider GIA the gold standard of diamond graders. Established in 1931, the not-for-profit GIA has its headquarters in Carlsbad, California, and has a presence in a number of locations worldwide.

  • International Gemological Institute (IGI): IGI grades diamonds and gemstones from its headquarters in New York and several other U.S. locations.

  • American Gem Society Laboratories (AGSL): Founded in 1978, the AGSL is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.     

  • European Gemological Laboratory USA (EGL-US): There are a few independently owned grading labs that carry the EGL name. EGL-US certificates, however, are the only EGL certificates permitted in the United States. EGL-US has been independently owned since 1986 and is based in New York.

When you read item listings describing a certified diamond, make sure it includes a photograph of the grading certificate and its serial number as well as a picture of the engagement ring.

Avoid conflict diamonds

Conflict diamonds, diamonds sold to fund wars, originate in countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ask sellers how they confirm the origin of their diamonds so you can avoid buying a conflict diamond, if you choose.


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Find Engagement Rings on eBay


Find Engagement Rings on eBay

If you know what type of engagement ring you want, go to the Jewelry & Watches portal, click the Diamond Engagement/Anniversary link under Rings, and start searching for items on eBay.

  • Engagement & Wedding Jewelry Hub: Browse and be inspired by the wide selection of diamond and gemstone engagement rings on the Engagement & Wedding Jewelry Hub.

  • Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you narrow down your listings by item type. You'll find links for Diamond Solitaire Rings, Diamond Solitaire with Accents, Diamond Three-Stone Rings, and Sets, Bridal Diamond Rings. When you choose to search for a set of bridal diamond rings, you'll see another Categories list that will help you narrow your choices further by following links to Gold, White, Gold, Yellow, and Platinum.

  • Product Finder: When you land on a listings page for diamond solitaire rings, diamond solitaire rings with accents, or diamond three-stone rings, you'll see a Product Finder on the left side of the page. Use the drop-down menus to find items by metal, shape, carat, and size.

  • Keyword search: Search eBay listing titles for specific words. For example, if you want to find an engagement ring with a platinum band, type "platinum" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay will email you when a match becomes available.


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Buy Engagement Rings With Confidence


Buy Engagement Rings With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

  • Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

  • If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

  • Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay are not covered by eBay protection programs.

  • Never pay for your eBay item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

  • What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

  • What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

  • Most top eBay sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay and PayPal are there for you.

  • Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorized payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to $1,000.

  • eBay Security & Resolution Center: Visit the Security & Resolution Center to learn how to protect your account and use eBay's quick and efficient resolution tools.


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