What is the purpose of a loaner ring?
Why do some esellers offer "loaner" rings to their customers? What is the purpose and how does it work? Who pays for shipping? How are they returned? What kind of ring are they?
First of all at Mens Wedding Bands we do offer loaner rings to our customers for a variety of reasons. Some customers order a custom made ring - a handmade solid gold with genuine diamonds - and these rings are not in stock but take sometimes 4 weeks to create and ship. For these customers we offer them a loaner ring just so that they have a ring while they wait - some even use the loaner ring for the ceremony until theirs arrives.
For others, they may have ordered a ring but the size is wrong so they want to know how to make sure that the new size is accurate - exactly? We sometimes ship 2 or 3 loaner rings to the customer in 2 or 3 different sizes so that they can try them all on and make a determination as to which one fits best. This is an excellent solution for someone with a question on sizing.
As to who pays shipping - it is our policy that we pay to the customer and the customer pays back to us. When using USPS First Class Mail it is typically under $5.00 each way - not enough to break one's pocketbook!
Our loaner program includes pure tungsten carbide rings in sizes 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.6, 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5, 12, 12.5, 13, 13.5, 14, 14.5, 15, 15.5 and 16. Tungsten carbide rings are virtually scratchproof so if we send one to a customer they will not show any signs of wear once they are returned. They are still new. Additionally some customers want to purchase the loaner ring to have for the dirty jobs around the house or yard or they might even like it so much they want to give one to a friend or loved one. We provide loaner ring discounts to our customers who wish to keep them.
Remember, happy customer, happy store!