Tax, tariffs and importing: What Buyers Explain

• Buying a ring abroad, in this case in Japan, added significant extra cost in import taxes on top of the roughly $4,000 the ring itself cost.
• A buyer says import sites like AliExpress can sometimes beat even Amazon's cheap ring prices, though there's a learning curve to ordering from them.
• Importing a ring from overseas into the UK adds a 20% VAT charge plus a roughly 5% duty fee on the total price, slightly less if the ring is under £1,000.
• A buyer described a bad experience trying to buy a stone from Loose Grown Diamond directly: heavy taxes were tacked on at checkout and PayPal repeatedly failed to process payment, which made the site feel untrustworthy.
• A buyer notes that tariff and customs problems have recently started affecting international jewelry shipments arriving in the US.
• US jewelry prices have risen sharply because of tariffs, so price comparisons from even a year earlier may no longer apply.
• Ordering a diamond from overseas can bring unexpected import taxes or tariffs on top of the quoted price.
• Gold rose from under $2,000 an ounce in 2020 to nearly $3,700 by September 2025, a roughly $200 jump in about a week, which buyers tied to tariff fears.
• Several US-based jewelry brands told customers by email or social media that gold jewelry prices would rise starting October 1 because of tariffs on gold and stones sourced from countries like India, China and Thailand.
• Tariffs are affecting the cost and pace of ordering custom jewelry from overseas makers.
• Having a ring custom made abroad to a described design can end up costing more overall once import tax is added on bringing it back into the US.
• A Canadian buyer reported paying about a $150 tariff on top of a $350 US jewelry order in 2025, citing new tariffs on US jewelry entering Canada.
• Buying from a Canadian jeweler while living in the US (or vice versa) can add customs duties collected on delivery, on top of the sticker price.
• One buyer guessed the gold-price upcharge was really a tariff-driven cost increase that the store should have built into its original quote instead of billing separately after the order was placed.
• A custom engagement ring made to order overseas (in this case made in India and imported) reportedly cost roughly half of what a comparable ring would cost at a retail jewelry store.
• A forum moderator warned that discussing under-declaring a shipment's value to dodge import tax is against the rules and traceable by law enforcement through registration and IP records.
• Buyers said seeing a custom jeweler's past finished work, not just their CAD or wax renderings, is important before committing to a one-time reset, especially if you haven't used that jeweler for custom work before.
• One shopper found that importing a nice pair of antique-cut diamond studs into the EU pushed the total well above $1,000 once shipping, duties and VAT were added, even though the pair itself wasn't especially expensive.
• Tariffs and import or duty fees can erase the savings that made an overseas custom cutter look competitive on price.
• Multiple buyers guess the price jump traces to new tariffs on stones cut or made in India, not a change in the diamonds themselves.
• A UK-sourced old mine cut diamond ring was originally bought when import tariffs on UK jewelry purchases were only about 10%, implying tariffs have since risen.
• Importing a diamond from the US into Australia added roughly 10-15% import tax, about $4,000-6,000 AUD on a $45,000 AUD stone.
• AliExpress orders from Kalala ship internationally and clear customs, so delivery can take a while after the order is placed.
• Shoppers found that buying diamonds in the US, or following UK-focused buying guides, tends to get noticeably better prices than local European jewelers, though importing a stone into Europe can add tax cost.

Sources and method

Price reports on this page come from 23 public discussions where buyers answered in their own words. Each comment that stated what someone paid became one row; notes are paraphrased, never quoted.