Reputation – Check forums such as gemologyonline.com and yourgemologist.com to read posts from the dealers. Check the back links of site in Yahoo using link:www.example.com to see who links to the dealer. Reputable dealers often have links from other reputable websites.

Photography – Are the dealer’s photos high quality allowing you to make an honest assessment. Are the photos actually of the item you will receive or stock photos?

Lab reports – Does the dealer have lab reports for their more expensive gemstones from third party labs such as AGL, GIA, or AGTA. Dealers should not offer their own lab reports.

Return Policy – minimum return should be 7 days after you receive the gemstone – 15 days is better. Restocking fees should be minimal if at all.

Merchant Account – Paypal is fine but more established dealers have merchant accounts that go through payment gateway companies such as Authorize.net, Verisign, or Linkpoint. Dealers must qualify for a merchant account through their bank and have much stricter guidelines than getting a Paypal account.

Physical address and phone number – Can you reach the dealer if you are unhappy with your purchase. Online dealers, however, often do not have physical stores and P.O. Boxes are acceptable.

Appraisals – Dealers should not offer their own appraisal reports as they are not independent and can mislead customers.

Shipping Costs – Dealers should offer free shipping for expensive gemstones and reasonable shipping for less expensive gemstones. Typically the customer pays for shipping if the gemstone is returned.

Email address – The gemstone dealer should have a domain type email address not a free email account. Owners of free accounts such as hotmail, yahoo, or gmail are nearly impossible to track down if you have a problem.

Discloser – Does the dealer willingly disclose detailed information about specific treatments/enhancements with respect to each gemstone sold.

author:  www.directorygemstones.org