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Tips and Tricks to Save Money at Blue Nile

Buying jewelry, especially an engagement ring, is one of the most important and most expensive purchases in a person's life. Blue Nile is the world's largest diamond retailer and claims to have the best engagement rings at the best price, every day.

Because Blue Nile has exclusivity deals with wholesale diamond distributors around the world, they can offer pricing up to 40% lower than traditional stores.

But even with Blue Nile’s low prices, there’s still work to be done to make sure you are getting the lowest price for the best diamond.

How to Get the Best Deals at Blue Nile

• Know the four Cs of diamonds - cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. Blue Nile has thousands of loose diamonds for sale at any point, but it doesn’t have individual photos for each diamond. To help narrow down your search and ensure you are getting a good diamond, familiarize yourself with the basic diamond measurements and find what fits in your budget.

• Use a coupon code. We'll list the current ones here. Blue Nile often has coupon codes available for things like 20% off select jewelry (not diamonds of course!), $20 off your purchase, or even 15% off wedding rings.

• Buy a ring for just less than a carat. Blue Nile allows you to search for diamonds by carat weight. To save money, look for a diamond between .9 and .99 carats. A diamond is significantly more expensive once it is a full carat, but a slightly smaller stone has a very similar look. Many brick-and-mortar stores don’t sell diamonds slightly less than a carat, so Blue Nile can lead to big savings.

• Use the price match guarantee. If you find a diamond from another jeweler with comparable size, cut, and clarity for a lower price, contact Blue Nile before you make the purchase. If their experts determine the rings are indeed comparable, the company will match the lower price.

• Sign up for the Blue Nile credit card. If you can’t pay for a ring in cash, consider applying for the Blue Nile credit card, which allows you to pay flexibly over time. Or consider using a low interest credit card with a 0% intro APR.

• Diamond upgrade. Blue Nile offers a diamond upgrade program for life. If you purchase a new diamond worth at least double the original diamond, Blue Nile will give you the full value of the original GIA or AGSL graded diamond as credit to the new purchase. Certain exclusions apply (such as if the original diamond has been damaged).

• Refer a friend. Send a special email through the website to a friend. Once they make a purchase, you and your friend both get rewarded based on how much you spend, up to $100 of an order of $1,000 or more.

• Ship for free. All Blue Nile purchases come with free insured shipping. If your order is $1,000 or more, you can also get free overnight shipping. Blue Nile also has a 30-day return policy.

• Gift wrap for free. Blue Nile offers free gift wrapping on all purchases, which can be convenient and frugal for presents.

• Enter sweepstakes. Blue Nile often runs sweepstakes on its website, with prizes including a $5,000 signature diamond.

When to Shop at Blue Nile

• June to August. The most popular time to buy a ring and get engaged is between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, which is also the time of year diamond prices tend to be more expensive. Beat the rush by purchasing a ring in the summer, when demand and prices are down.

• Before Christmas. If you are going to purchase a ring during the popular winter months, do it before Christmas, when jewelers like Blue Nile typically offer sales and promotions. Prices tend to increase depending on the precious metals and gemstone market after the first of the year.

What to Buy at Blue Nile

• Create your own ring. Blue Nile offers pre-made and custom rings. For the most part, choosing a diamond and then choosing a setting is cheaper than purchasing a pre-made ring and gives you a larger diamond selection.

• Jewelry insurance. Blue Nile offers free quotes for insurance, and their partner rates tend to be very competitive. Jewelry insurance can be incredibly useful in case anything happens to your ring.

• Pearls. Aside from diamonds, Blue Nile sells a huge selection of four types of pearls at very competitive prices. The pearls can be put in most any type of custom jewelry.

• Jewelry. Blue Nile also sells jewelry, including custom design earrings and necklaces.

What Not to Buy at Blue Nile

• Low-end diamonds. Because you can’t see the individual diamond before making a purchase, you don’t know if there are any imperfections or impurities. This isn't a big issue for high-end diamonds, but for diamonds below grade VS2, it can be a gamble. In there cases, it can be better to purchase where you can see the actual diamond.

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