How to buy jewellery online

Our quick guide to help you find your way through the Aladdin’s Cave that is the internet.

Searching for jewellery online can be thrilling, who wouldn’t agree? After all, the next best thing to owning a drawer full of sparkly adornments is looking at all the possibilities. “I have enough jewellery”, said no-one. Yes, that quote always brings a smile to our collective Scarab Jewellery faces.

This post is not intended to teach you how to use a browser, but I’ll cover a few basics – just in case.

Since this post is titled “How to BUY JEWELLERY online”, I’ll make the assumption that you’ve already decided what kind of jewellery piece you’re ready to buy – like colour for example, or whether it’s a necklace or pair of earrings. Great, let’s get started…

What to type in the search bar:

Type in the words you would use to describe what you’re looking for – “necklace with diamonds and pearls” for example. And if you’re like me, you’ll head straight to the pretty pictures and click on those. Gets me every time. But after a while, you’ll realise that you’ve lost track of time, and that not all of what you see and like is available in your area or actually sold online.

So you refine your search – “necklace with diamonds and pearls online South Africa”. Great. Fewer images. But now you have results that are specific to location. But then you discover that all the ones you like are way out of budget. Refine your search again adding a price – “necklace with diamonds and pearls online South Africa R10,000”. That works. To a degree. But at least it’s a lot more specific to a location and a price point.

Sometimes however, a website that sells perfectly lovely jewellery, may not show up in the image results. Why? Well, without getting into technical detail, perhaps their images just haven’t been set up properly for Google to find. It happens. More often than not. That’s why I also look at the pure text results too. You’ll be surprised at how many hidden gems there are.

The other option is to visit websites that focus on jewellery. In South Africa, we really love Confetti.co.za

This is like a one-stop shop for South African jewellery – not exhaustive, but we love it because they have a very clear purpose to assist the bride with all things wedding – from invitations, photographers, dresses… to jewellery – all in one place.

Security online:

Okay, so you’ve found a site that sells jewellery, that you like, and they offer FREE SHIPPING. (What? They don’t? Well, at Scarab Jewellery Studio, we decided that’s a must.) The first thing to look for before taking out your credit card, is whether they have a SECURITY CERTIFICATE. The easiest and best way to know if they do, is to look for the GREEN PADLOCK in the search bar. The best type of security certificate turns green.

Without this certificate, the website does not provide a safe environment for online transactions. At Scarab Jewellery Online Shop, we have the best money can buy. And we use MyGate – an online payment gateway with 3D secure – an extra layer of security to prevent online fraud.

What if you cannot find what you’re looking for?

Most reputable jewellers offer a “bespoke jewellery” service – a very posh word for “custom made jewellery”. The pieces you’ll find on our online shop are in fact custom designed by Janine Davidson, owner of Scarab Jewellery. But here’s a tip, if you decide that you want a slight change, I’d encourage you to contact us with your suggestions. Custom Made is not always more expensive. Janine LOVES to take a brief. It’s her life’s work to design jewellery – and she has worked very successfully with all sorts of budgets.

That’s about all I can write on the subject (for now). Leave a comment if you think there is more that needs to be said regarding how to buy jewellery online.