For many, buying a diamond or an engagement ring can be a first time experience. With what seems to be millions of diamond retailers, and an endless diamond inventory available, how are you to know if you’re making the most of your budget? Now more than ever, people are purchasing their engagement rings online, and while there are many pros to doing so, it can be a daunting task to start this process, alone. Enter, Rare Carat. This diamond marketplace allows customers the ability to search and compare millions of diamonds from a range of well-known diamond retailers. The company describes itself as “kayak for diamonds.” Their mission is simple, they want to empower customers with the knowledge and tools it takes to make an intelligent buying decision. The founder, Ajay Anand, started Rare Carat when he too was in search of an engagement ring. When he found the process to be unnecessarily confusing and scary, he decided to create Rare Carat, providing customers with unbiased information about diamond rings and the ability to compare millions of diamonds in one place. Here, we’ll provide our thoughts on Rare Carat and why you will not find our diamonds on their platform.
How It Works for Customers
When you search for a diamond on Rare Carat, you begin by either taking a short quiz (for those that are new to the diamond buying process) or start with a diamond search based on the filters you specify. The quiz asks customers if they want a lab grown diamond or a mined diamond, what their budget is, what diamond shape, and carat size they want. They’ll then ask you about what quality diamond you want; super high quality, a balance of size and quality, or the maximum size. Next, you’ll be shown a list of diamonds that meet your criteria, where you then can view the retailers selling these diamonds. You can also filter your search by specific retailer offers like lifetime warranty, free resizing, or return policy. If you want your search results to be sent to your email inbox, Rare Carat will send daily updates when new inventory is available. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, Rare Carat also has gemologists that are available to chat online, via phone or email.
How Does It Work for Retailers?
If you are a retailer looking to sell your diamonds via Rare Carat, you must go through an application to be approved. Rare Carat has a list of requirements for retailers in order to be included on their website. The requirements include having customer reviews, information regarding the diamond certification, and you must have at least a 30-day return policy. Rare Carat claims that they have a very strong screening process, which is why they typically only accept 1 in 5 retailers that apply. Some of the retailers that you’ll find on Rare Carat include Do Amore, With Clarity, Yadav, and many others. Similar to Google, Rare Carat is paid a commission when customers click on a diamond listing from one of the retailers.
Pros of Rare Carat
As mentioned above, Rare Carat only receives commission based on an advertising fee for the retailers. This removes any incentive for them to push a customer in any direction, making them an unbiased source for diamond shopping, based on the brands that they have on their site. That way you can fin the exact lab grown diamond that you have been dreaming of.
Rare Carat provides information to a customer, who may be shopping for a diamond for the first time. To be able to compare millions of diamonds in one place, showing you exactly what you want (and don’t want) to see, helps tremendously to the average buyer. Rare Carat also provides education via their ‘Diamond Buying Guide’ blog. Here, you can learn everything you want to know about diamonds, how to get diamonds certified, the 4 C’s, and so much more. It’s extremely important to educate yourself before buying a diamond as there are many tips that can help you save.
Cons of Rare Carat
While Rare Carat is a great resource for customers looking to purchase a diamond for the best price, this doesn’t necessarily mean you will find the best diamond in terms of quality. While Rare Carat does simplify the process for many first-time diamond buyers, it’s important to remember that they do not show you the full scope of diamonds available. And while you may think you have found the best diamond for the cheapest price, the fact is that Rare Carat only features less than 20 diamond retailers on their website. Rare Carat is not allowed to feature diamonds that are owned by the same supplier (i.e., Blue Nile, James Allen, Zales, Kay, and Jared). Regardless of why they aren’t allowed to sell on Rare Carat, the point of the matter is that consumers do not see this inventory to compare.
While customers may be better equipped to make an educated decision on their diamond purchase, purchasing on Rare Carat dilutes the customer and brand relationship. Buying directly from the retailer, you have access to their customer service, and the ability to talk directly with the team to ensure you’re picking the best diamond for your budget. Only the retailer knows their diamond inventory. If, for example, you do not see a specific diamond on Rare Carat, you may believe it just doesn’t exist. But if you have a one on one conversation with the retailer, they may have diamonds coming in, or other suggestions for you. When you’re making this huge purchase, you want to talk to people directly and build that relationship. With Rare Carat, that one on one communication is eliminated. You have to decide if you want that one on one service, or if you’re comfortable with having that brand relationship removed.
Clean Origin and Rare Carat
While Clean Origin sold diamonds on Rare Carat at one point in time, we no longer work with them. For us, it wasn’t a good fit and we prefer to have a one on one relationship with those looking to purchase our diamonds and products. We pride ourselves on our world-class customer service, and would rather the customer come to us directly when searching for the perfect diamond. And while you are also able to compare our diamond selection, our team is happy to work with you to understand what exactly you want from your diamond purchase, and how we can get that dream diamond.
Conclusion
As always with any diamond purchase, do your research. Educate yourself to become better equipped to make an informed decision on this, oftentimes, expensive purchase. Purchasing a diamond online has many benefits, including being able to browse at your leisure, and compare diamonds from all over. But this can also be an intimidating experience. Rare Carat is a great resource to have, but it shouldn’t be your only one.
