Costco is a great place to shop for groceries… furniture… clothes… and engagement rings!? Is there anything they don’t sell? With exclusive access and a membership card, are Costco engagement rings any good? In this guide, we’ll go over why shopping for your engagement ring at Costco is both a great and a terrible idea. We’ll dive into their shopping experience, quality, selection, pricing, and how well they compare against other fine jewelry retailers.
| Short Answer |
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| In our opinion, we’d advise against looking for your perfect engagement ring at Costco and instead explore your options at places like James Allen or Clean Origin. |
Advantages of Shopping for an Engagement Ring at Costco
Shopping for a Costco diamond ring comes with a few perks, including:
Value for money
No-hassle return policy
Convenient shopping experiences
Let’s dive into each.
Value for money
Costco is well-known for their high quality at lower prices. All you need is a membership card and you’ll have access to large, bulk items at affordable price points.
Although it’s unlikely anyone is buying diamond jewelry or a diamond ring in bulk from Costco, the price savings are still something to consider. We’ll dive more into this in our Pricing Review section
No-hassle return policy
Another thing that Costco is very well-known for is having a no-hassle return policy, even on open and used items.
For Costco’s engagement rings, shoppers can enjoy a lifetime warranty and no-questions-asked on any returns.
This way, shoppers have a peace of mind knowing that if anything goes wrong or if they need to exchange/return their diamond ring, Costco will have them covered.
Convenient shopping experiences
If you’ve been a longtime reader, then you know that we’re huge fans of shopping online for fine jewelry and engagement rings.
Although Costco doesn’t prioritize their online shopping experience, they still have multiple locations in very convenient spots.
This makes it perfect to check out some Costco diamonds in-person while doing your grocery shopping in the same building!
Why is shopping for diamond rings at Costco a bad idea?
Costco definitely has its perks. But shopping for diamond rings at Costco can also be a bad thing. Here are some reasons why:
Limited selection
No customization
Lack of employee knowledge
Less flexibility for financing
Let’s dive into each…
Limited selection
It’s quite obvious that Costco isn’t a boutique jewelry store. As a result, their selection for engagement rings is rather limited compared to other specialty fine jewelry stores like James Allen, Tiffany & Co, or Clean Origin.
Read also: James Allen vs Tiffany: The Answer May Surprise You
No customization
A quite big downside to shopping at Costco for engagement rings is the fact that you can’t customize your ring.
Most couples prefer a unique, 1-of-1 engagement ring to represent their one-of-a-kind relationship. But at Costco, you can’t design a ring that is custom to you and your partner.
Lack of employee knowledge
Let’s face it, most employees that work at Costco aren’t necessarily experts in their department. With the exception of a few kiosks, most Costco locations don’t have a professional jeweller or a certified gemologist on standby ready to answer any of your questions.
If you choose to shop at Costco, you’ll miss out on the high level of expertise that you’d find otherwise at specialty diamond stores.
This can make it a frustrating and challenging experience if you’re looking for some advice and detailed information on finding the perfect diamond engagement ring.
Less flexibility for financing
At the time of writing this, Costco currently does not offer financing options for their diamond engagement rings.
For couples on a budget, this can be a real deal-breaker.
What is it like to shop at Costco? (Shopping experience)
Shopping for a diamond ring at Costco is very similar as shopping for anything else at Costco.
Similar to how someone would walk in to the store and pick up a couple produce items, Costco jewelry is no different.
There isn’t much of a personalized experience whether you shop in-store or online. And this isn’t exactly an ideal scenario, especially if it’s your first time shopping for engagement rings.
In short, the engagement ring shopping experience at Costco lacks individual service and attention.
How is the quality of diamond rings at Costco? (Quality review)
The quality of diamond engagement rings at Costco do vary quite a bit depending on the type of engagement ring you’re looking at.
A few ways to determine if a diamond ring is high-quality is by understanding the 4 C’s (cut, clarity, color, and carat).
And the other way is to make sure that the diamonds are inspected and verified by a reputable and independent organization like the GIA or the IGI.
Upon further inspection, it appears that Costco diamonds are inspected by their own first-party team of “Graduate Gemologists”. The problem with this is that there may be a conflict-of-interest and we wouldn’t know for sure if the quality of the diamonds are as good as they say they are.
Costco also has a guarantee that all their diamonds supplied by Costco Wholesale have a clarity of VS2 or better, and a color grade of I or better.
All in all, there’s no doubt that the quality of Costco diamonds is generally high. But with their own team of Graduate Gemologists inspecting the diamonds, we can’t know for sure.
If you find a diamond engagement ring you really like, we recommend you to purchase it and take it to a reputable and trustworthy jeweller to verify and inspect the quality. If the quality is not what you hoped for, you can always return it to Costco with their no-hassle return policy.
How many rings does Costco offer? (Inventory review)
This is a tricky one to answer because it appears as if the selection of engagement rings at Costco depends on your location whether you choose to shop in-store or online.
And this isn’t ideal in a scenario where you’re bound to one area but another location has an engagement ring you really want.
We visited our local Costco to see how many engagement rings we could find in-store. We found about 10. Then we visited the Costco website online, entered our location, and found 84 engagement rings ready to be delivered.
We decided to play around with the location and changed it a few times to somewhat nearby cities. To our surprise, we found 391 engagement rings.
Costco’s selection of engagement rings can be both plentiful and limited. It entirely depends on your location. More specifically, how far you’re willing to drive to the next Costco location, or if that Costco Wholesale location can ship to you (if you shop online).
Are Costco diamond rings more affordable than other retailers? (Pricing review)
In this section, we found a diamond engagement ring from Costco and we’ll compare the price with other retailers for the exact same specifications.
Here are the details of the ring we’ll compare:
Cut: Round
Clarity: VS2
Color: I
Carat: 0.5
Setting: 14K White gold
Style: Solitaire
Costco – $2,399.99
James Allen – $1,492 [Click here to view]
This James Allen ring is actually an exact copy of the previous ring from Costco.
Related: The Truth Behind James Allen: Know This Before You Buy
Clean Origin – $1,455 [Click here to view]
Note: Clean Origin did not have a VS2 clarity diamond in stock so we opted for VS1 in this example. Even thought VS1 has better clarity than VS2, we’re still impressed to see that Clean Origin remains as an affordable option.
And the results are in! Costco engagement rings are not cheaper than other retailers.
| Costco | $2,399.99 |
| James Allen | $1,492 |
| Clean Origin | $1,455 |
Here we can see that Costco is not that much more affordable at all. In fact, stores like James Allen and Clean Origin offer the same ring for a much better price.
James Allen and Clean Origin also take it a step further and have a world-class customer support team to guide you through the shopping process if you have any questions or need advice.
Not to mention both James Allen and Clean Origin allow you to custom make your own engagement ring!
Related: James Allen vs Clean Origin: Head-to-Head Comparison
Bottom Line Recommendation
The truth is, we’re not quite sure who would want to buy a diamond engagement ring from Costco when there are better options that offer more selection, better quality, better customer support, better personalization, and more affordable pricing.
To sum it all up, Costco…
does not offer any level of customization
has no financing options
has limited selection entirely dependent on your location
employees lack product knowledge
has no personalized experiences
diamonds are inspected by a first-party team (conflict of interest)
diamonds are not affordable compared to other retailers
But on the flip side, Costco…
has a convenient shopping experience due to their locations
has an amazing no-questions-asked return policy
We’d go ahead and say that these pros don’t outweigh the cons.
In our opinion, we’d advise against looking for your perfect engagement ring at Costco and instead explore your options at places like James Allen or Clean Origin.
