So, you’ve begun your quest for the perfect engagement ring. You’ve found a gorgeous statement piece, but the price is slightly over your budget. Negotiating with your jeweler for a better price is an easy solution to this problem. But is this standard practice? Will the jeweler be offended? And how do you even go about it? And will negotiating even work?
I’m Afshin Shaddaie, and I’ve been selling jewelry (especially rare and vintage) for decades. In this article, I’ll reveal all the insider secrets on negotiating for a better price on your jewelry.
Is it Rude to Negotiate on an Engagement Ring?
I’m happy to tell you that the answer is no. It is not rude to negotiate the price of your jewelry.
It is indeed wholly appropriate to negotiate the price of any piece of jewelry. Jewelers know this and will expect it.
That being said, it’s important to note that commercial jewelry chain stores (and brand-name jewelry stores) will almost always immediately shoot down your negotiating attempts. They have fixed (and heavily inflated) prices, and they have no intention of going down even a little. Honestly, I wouldn’t even bother trying to negotiate with them.
On the other hand, smaller boutiques and online websites will almost always be entirely open for a bit of haggling.
Our company, Estate Diamond Jewelry, for example, has been in business for over 40 years and has one of the largest collections of vintage rings in the world, and yet we still work with each of our customers to find a price that works for them. Negotiations are a part of our day-to-day.
The critical key for customers to learn is how to negotiate and what not to say or do.
Top Insider Secrets on Negotiating Your Engagement Ring Price
Here are my top hacks on how to help you negotiate like a pro when buying an engagement ring (or any jewelry for that matter).
1. Find a Promo Code
This is the easiest and most effective technique for scoring a better price.
Jewelry stores (especially online jewelry stores) always run discounts and promotions. These promotions will usually range from 5% to 10%.
Search their website, social media platforms, and email lists for their latest promo code. Even if the code has already expired, you can usually ask if they’re willing to extend it for you.
Chances are – if you ask nicely – the jewelry store will agree to apply the discount.
Expert Tip: Use a website like dealspotr.com to find promo codes for your desired engagement ring store.
2. Determine a Good Price to Start Negotiations
Let’s say you can’t find any promo codes, or the promo codes are for a 5% discount or less. In that case, you may want to try negotiating the price without mentioning a promo code.
Once you settled on a ring, look at the price and determine how much you can reasonably counteroffer.
One of the biggest mistakes when negotiating for an engagement ring is starting off on the wrong amount.
If a diamond ring is listed online for $1,800 – for example – and you call them up and counter-offer to buy it for $500, they will reject your offer and be reluctant to continue the conversation. Most jewelers will dismiss you as not serious – rightfully so – and you will miss your chance at getting a good discount.
The trick is to pick a starting number that is somewhere around 20% off their listed price. Using the above example, I recommend putting a starting negotiation offer of $1,440 on a $1,800 ring.
By the time you and the jeweler finish counter-offering each other, you can hope to land yourself a sweet 8% to 10% discount.
3. Never Get Confrontational When Bargaining
One of the customers’ biggest negotiating mistakes is thinking that “being extra tough” will get them a better deal.
As someone who has been in this business for decades, I assure you that confrontational bargainers never get the best prices. In fact, they consistently get a much worse deal than the easy-going customers.
Let me explain.
For most jewelers and jewelry stores, their profit margin on each ring (once you factor in all their overhead costs as well) won’t be too dramatic.
Don’t get me wrong, they will always be ready to push themselves to make a sale, but they won’t be willing to lose too much money to make it happen.
If you “aggressively threaten to walk away” unless you get your heavily discounted price, the jeweler will drop the deal on the spot. And if you’re rude, angry, or aggressive about it, he may even nudge you towards the door (with help from the security guard).
In short, the moment the negotiations get even slightly hostile or threatening, the jeweler will emotionally shut down. He’ll either give a tiny discount and call it a day or hold onto the ring and wait for a better customer.
If you want to learn how to bargain effectively without being hostile, skip to number 9.
4. Don’t Fall for the First “Discount”
Say you enter a store and narrow down your choices to two rings. You love them both, and you ask about the price. The seller says that the price is generally this, but they will “give you a discount” and sell you the ring at a lower price. You think you’ve just got a discount, but the truth is, you have no idea if the price they offered is the lowest they can go.
So, don’t say “yes” immediately to this “lowered” price; keep gently negotiating and see if you can get an even better deal. So long as you are respectful and courteous, the jewelry store will want to make you happy.
Important Note: If a gentle nudging doesn’t get you a better price, you’ve probably hit their lowest price. If you keep pushing, you’ll ruin the original deal.
5. Never Volunteer to Disclose Your Budget
If you visit a jewelry store in person, don’t give away the exact price you’re willing to pay the moment you walk in. Give the jeweler an overall ballpark figure and ask for a few options within that general price bracket.
Sometimes, the jeweler may eventually ask you directly for your exact budget; if they do, you have no choice but to be upfront.
Even if the jeweler discovers your exact budget, and then you end up falling in love with a much more affordable ring, you can still ask for a better price. If you put in your request kindly, the jeweler will likely still give you a discount.
On this note, remember that giving a misleading or incorrect budget amount will waste everyone’s time and always backfires when the jeweler realizes they’ve been misled.
6. Work with Your Partner
If you’re buying a ring together, which many couples do today, ensure you’re on the same page.
Agree on a budget, decide whether you’re willing to stretch it and in which circumstances, and agree on the purpose of your visit (is it to make a final decision today, or are you going to think about it and come back later).
Once you find a ring you’re set on, it’s a good idea for one of you to keep the excitement contained and not give away what you’re thinking to the seller. If the jeweler thinks you’re both “absolutely” sold on a particular ring at the current price, they will unlikely offer their very best discount.
In short, one of you should play “good cop” (see below) and the other “bad cop.” Of course, the “bad cop” can’t be nasty or rude, or the entire deal will fall apart. And you both will risk losing the opportunity to buy the jewelry piece.
Try our engagement ring calculator if you haven’t calculated your budget yet. It will give you a mathematical figure for how much you may want to spend.
Of course, it should be noted that no one should ever put themselves under financial strain in order to pay for their engagement ring. That’s never a good idea and usually creates further problems.
7. Give Yourself an Educational Edge
Another great way to impress the jeweler and leverage yourself towards an easier negotiation is to study everything that there is to know about diamonds and engagement rings, especially within the niche that you’re searching.
If you’re interested – for example – in vintage rings, I recommend spending a lot of time on a vintage jewelry blog (like our vintage blog) and becoming an expert on the topic.
The jeweler will usually be impressed by your knowledge and keen to negotiate favorably with you.
Of course, don’t leverage your knowledge to try to “lecture” or “educate” the jeweler. That will not work out well when trying to coax a discount out of him. This is obvious, but unfortunately, it needs to be said.
8. Praise (and Never Criticize) the Ring
Conventional bargaining wisdom would tell you that the more you criticize the ring, the better discount you’ll get.
Trust me. This is 100% wrong.
Jewelers are proud and vain (and yes, I know I’m also a jeweler). If you insult a ring that they handcrafted, curated, or collected, they are likely to get very defensive really quickly. If someone insulted one of the rare vintage rings from my collection, I would try to be polite, but I would probably be a bit insulted. I’ve spent decades curating my collection, and I take tremendous pride in how impressive each ring is.
But that’s not all bad news because, on the flip side, if the jeweler sees that the customer has fallen in love with one of their rings, they will bend over backward to help the customer walk away with their “dream ring.”
Jewelers (and jewelry collectors) are artists. They’d rather sell to a customer who appreciates their art than a customer who couldn’t care less.
Not always. But usually.
Final Thought
Be polite and upfront with your jeweler; they will generally extend themselves to make you happy when you ask if you can get a better price. It’s really that simple.
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