I Do ... Now I Don't
I won't delve into the intricacies of human emotion, I will however, report on something I find fascinating. Hear me out.
Marriage is a hot-button issue these days, "I Do" & "I Can't" & all that is in a lot people's minds. Now, in the case of "I don't think I really want to anymore," the real question is, who keeps the engagement ring?
Well, in an interview held by JCK's own Laura Finkelstein with recent reality TV heartbreaker Jen Schefft we learned that the general consensus is the woman keeps the ring regardless of the reason. A court in Michigan, however found otherwise.
I am, of course, citing Meyer v. Mitnick, 244 Mich.App. 697 (2001 WL 171453, Ct. App., Mich., 2001) which found that: "A determination of who owns the engagement ring following termination of the engagement does not require a determination of which party was at fault. Marriage is an implied condition of the transfer of title to the ring, so the gift does not become absolute until the marriage occurs. The ring must be returned to its donor."
Joshua Opperman found himself in a similar situation as Barry Meyer, sans lawsuit. He come home one day from work to find his apartment half-empty, yes half-empty, with the engagement ring that he had "depleted [him] of [his] life savings" left behind and quickly learned that he could only recover a third of his former fiancée's ring's cost. So what did he do? What any American would do, besides sue; he started his own website!
I Do … Now I Don't.com acts as an eBay of sorts for jilted/thrifty lovers who wish to find happy/thrifty lovers to buy their engagement rings through online auctions.
In a Bridezillas & My Super Sweet Sixteen world, so what if you get your engagement ring at a discount? It's the (conditional) thought & carat-count-for-less that counts. Plus, you've still got a ceremony, reception & honeymoon to pay for, in hopes of not having a Waiting to Exhale style divorce.
Bacilio's Buyer Beware: It is free to post a ring on I Do … Now I Don't, but the site does charge 5% of your final sale for its services. Just so you don't have delusions of getting off completely scott-free. Also be aware that IDNID has in-house appraisers & IDNID can cancel your sale if it turns out that your ring is not exactly what you claim it to be & suggests that you obtain a diamond grading certificate from GIA, AGS or EGL. (Good for them!)
Frida commented:
I actually purchased a diamond off their site a few months ago. Everuthing went really smoothly and I was extremely satisfied with my purchase. My husband and I would have never been able to purchase a ring of that caliber in a regular store.
Linda commented:
I just attempted to purchase a ring off this site. I started at the
starting bid, because why whould you put more when no one else has
bid on it. Well....After the auction was over I was let know I did
not meet the reserve price which was never posted. I contacted the
owner and asked what he was looking for and he was asking 850.00
more then the starting bid. I thought this interesting because why
would a person wanting 850.00 more not just start the bid that much
higher. Well....I contacted the company and they said that the
owner can set the reserve price anywhere above the starting bid and
that I could go to e-bay for there definition of reserve price. I
basically told them that there was something wrong with a company
that can not put this condition of the auction in writing on their
own web site and there was something even more wrong when they had
to send people to e-bays web site to explain how they run things. I
told them to cancel out my account. I would be very cautious of any
company that feels the need to hide things from the people who are
bidding, especially when they don't have that info on there own web
site and have to send you someplace else for the information.
Rick B commented:
In looking at the site it appears to have been started with great
intentions, but it appears to have become another inexpensive venue
for dealers to post offcut diamonds of questionable value in
addition to it's intended marketplace position. This could be
misleading to an uneducated buyer looking for a good value. I'm not
sure how he could legally restrict it to fulfill the original
intended market position though. One example would be the
"47thstnewyork" jeweler that lists here and on Craig's Lists across
the country. A great site if it can get back to it's roots!
Hedda Schupak commented:
What's the old saying? One man's trash is another man's treasure?
Jennifer Heebner commented:
Bacilio, you are full of such clever and interesting information!!!
