Engagement Ring Cash Payment Question

howtolive

Hi All,

Hopefully at some point this year I will be able to pop the question to my better half. All going well, I'd like to bring her shopping for the ring.

Just a few quick questions:

1) Do jewellers (in Dublin) generally accept cash? I'd be spending more than my credit card limit so can only really pay in cash.

2) If yes, do they generally only accept notes up to 50s or would they accept 100 / 200 EUR notes if I was given these from my bank upon withdrawing?

3) Are they usually flexible with offering cash discounts?

Any advice/feedback from experience would be great.

Thanks!

Gee_G

howtolive wrote: »

Hi All,

Hopefully at some point this year I will be able to pop the question to my better half. All going well, I'd like to bring her shopping for the ring.

Just a few quick questions:

1) Do jewellers (in Dublin) generally accept cash? I'd be spending more than my credit card limit so can only really pay in cash.

2) If yes, do they generally only accept notes up to 50s or would they accept 100 / 200 EUR notes if I was given these from my bank upon withdrawing?

3) Are they usually flexible with offering cash discounts?

Any advice/feedback from experience would be great.

Thanks!

They would accept cash but expect a wait as if you are handing over a couple of thousand in notes they are going to check the notes.
Do you not have a visa debit card with your bank account?
Can you not have your credit card in credit and just use the card?
As I said, they will take cash but will check it(I used to work in a jewelers).
To be honest, cash discounts seem to be a thing of the past, more of a passing joke from customers, if they're going to /able to give you a discount, they will do so regardless of how you're paying!!

howtolive

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies!

@CazSpeak: Thank you very much! Not counting my chickens just yet though! I've heard of Voltaire, I know of someone who got their ring there too. Think it's by appointment only though?

@Gee_G: Paying in card would have been my preferred option, but I can't as my limit is only a small amount of the amount I'm planning to spend on a ring. I do have Visa Debit, but again the max single transaction and max daily transactions aren't high enough.

It'll have to be cash or buying a ring at a third of the price I was going to.... Do jewellers usually accept 100/200/500 notes or will I need to request 50s when withdrawing?

Thanks!

whiskeyman

howtolive wrote: »

@Gee_G: Paying in card would have been my preferred option, but I can't as my limit is only a small amount of the amount I'm planning to spend on a ring. .

Is your credit card on the same bank as your current account?
I was going to post what Gee_G said - Transfer whatever your budget is onto your Credit Card account.
This put your card 'in credit', so you can pay for the ring and it won't go below your limit.
There's certain purchase insurance on paying with a card also.

Also, Voltaire are very friendly. It's no bother to arrange an appointment. Just give them a call. They will explain everything to you, and work within your budget with no pressure. You can have a look and walk out and think about other options.

Best of luck

wuffly

I would get 50s from your bank, most places wont take 200/500 notes. As far as I know you are likely to get a discount for cash. Best thing to do is call the jeweler you are planning on going to and asking about the notes and the likelihood of a discount, if you don't ask you won't get. Most likely you wont take the ring on the day so you will only be paying a deposit anyway. Best of luck!

howtolive

Hi,

@whiskeyman: It is, but it's against the T&Cs of having the card to do that. I've only heard good things about Voltaire so they are definitely on my list if happy to accept (relatively) large cash sums!

@wuffly: Yeah that seems like the best thing I can do re: cash.

Thanks all!

MarieOC

howtolive wrote: »

@whiskeyman: It is, but it's against the T&Cs of having the card to do that. I've only heard good things about Voltaire so they are definitely on my list if happy to accept (relatively) large cash sums

I've never seen it against the T&C of any card I had, we only did this last week going to NYC as the limit on the card wasn't high enough so we front loaded cash onto it

howtolive

@MarieOC: Hi, unfortunately the T&Cs on mine state specifically that The card must not be used to increase the balance above the limit provided.

MarieOC

Oh sorry never came across that before, yeah cash is your only bet so if the daily limit on the debit card is too low. Unless you go for a large deposit and the balance on collection

Toots

howtolive wrote: »

@MarieOC: Hi, unfortunately the T&Cs on mine state specifically that The card must not be used to increase the balance above the limit provided.

That sounds to me like it means that you're not allowed to intentionally spend more than what is available on your card or put it in 'overdraft' so to speak ie: your credit limit is €1000, so you're not allowed to go and spend €1100. I've worked in banking for 10 years and I've never heard of a T&Cs like that, in fact we'd usually be encouraging customers to put their credit card into credit for big purchases, rather than carrying large sums of cash. Aside from avoiding the potential hazards of carrying wads of money around, you also get more purchase protection if you pay by credit card. If I were you I'd ring your credit card provider and clarify exactly what they mean by that.

westernlass

Can you not put your credit card in credit by adding the money in advance?

wuffly

You can put additional cash on your card but banks don't want you to as they can't charge you interest if the card is in credit, they shouldn't be able to stop you unless they've figured out a way to block excess payments to the card, just try transferring it online.

Callanutd

Hi, just been through this in September. I brought all cash with me. I made sure to have it in 50's. I brought cash on the advice of both friends and reading posts on here. The truth is there was no cash discount available. We went to John Brereton, Bespoke, Applebys, Weir and Son and Rocks. All willing to knock a good bit off the ticket price but the cash element had nothing to do with it.
We ended up going with John Breretons, back to the first shop and the second ring she tried on after a full day around Dublin!
The one thing I will say is that I was nervous enough carrying such a large amount of cash around with me. I had told my Fiancee that if we get mugged to just run cos no way was I handing the cash over!! You should be able to preload your credit card with your cash but your visa debit card should be enough. The only limit on that should be the amount of cash in your account. Withdrawls are different but purchases should be ok. If I was doing it all over I wouldnt take cash, I would have left it in my account and used the debit card.

Pawwed Rig

The only reason for a discount for a cash transaction is if the dealer is dishonest and declaring less than the sale price for tax (barring credit card fee). I doubt anyone would recommend buying diamonds off someone who is dishonest.

me and the biz

I paid in cash just before Christmas and got a discount but I don't think it was to do with the cash. I don't think it matters just how you feel walking around with a large sum.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

The only reason for a discount for a cash transaction is if the dealer is dishonest and declaring less than the sale price for tax (barring credit card fee). I doubt anyone would recommend buying diamonds off someone who is dishonest.

Not necessarily. Shops are charged a fee every time a customer uses a credit card or visa debit so there is a reasonable incentive to provide a small discount for cash sales

Pawwed Rig

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

Not necessarily. Shops are charged a fee every time a customer uses a credit card or visa debit so there is a reasonable incentive to provide a small discount for cash sales

Is that not what I said?

Gatica

Actually our jeweler said that if my OH paid by card, he'd have to pay for the 3% card fee (or something around that) as well as it's quite significant for such a large sum of money. I can see someone getting that equivalent discount for buying cash if the store normally pays the fee, otherwise, as Pawwed Rig said, I don't see what benefit a shop would get from getting cash off you, other than under-declaring his tax to revenue.

AFAIK, my OH got a bank draft made out to the shop where we got the ring. I think that's a good compromise, cos the draft is a flat rate fee, and there's a record too.