Importing a diamond ring into Australia

Two things that will affect the price you pay to import a diamond ring into Australia

1. Foreign Exchange rates

Depending on where you’re importing from, the relative strength of the Aussie dollar against the currency of the exporting country can make a significant different to how much you will pay for a ring from an overseas retailer, and can be a big factor in deciding whether it is even worth buying internationally.

If we look at the Aussie dollar compared to the US dollar over the last couple of years, it was fluctuated between a high of AUD1.44 and a low of AUD1.56 to the USD:

This is actually a much smaller spread than we have seen in previous years, particularly over the Covid years, where it swung much more significantly.

At the high of a US Dollar being worth AU$1.44, a ring that would cost US$10,000 on a US retailer’s site would cost you AU$14,400 here.

Conversely, at the low of $1.56, that same diamond ring would cost you $15,500.

This is a $1,100 difference, so pretty significant.

While foreign exchange rates are outside our control, I wanted to include it to explain that, while I often recommend US retailers (and used to a lot more then I do currently), they aren’t always the best option. 

The exchange rate at the time that you are looking to buy will make a big difference to their competitiveness.

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2. Tax and custom duty when importing jewellery to Australia

The second big consideration when importing diamond jewellery into Australia is the tax that needs to be paid.

When you buy anything in Aus, you obviously pay GST on it, and this is almost always baked into the price, so we don’t think about it too much.

Import tax has also already been paid by the person you are buying it from, so again this isn’t something you need to worry about.

If you are importing a something as significant as an engagement ring, you do need to ensure you are across what taxes you are going to the liable for, and which the retailer will cover.

What complicates things further is that different retailers handle taxations differently and different countries have different agreements with Aus.

For most jewellers in the US, the person buying the ring is the ‘importer of record’. This means that they are liable for paying all duties, taxes, and fees assessed by customs or the carrier.

However, jewellers from the UK e.g. Taylor & Hart include all taxes when shipping to Aus.

There are three parts to this:

1. Import duty on a diamond ring when importing to Australia

Australian Import duty on a diamond engagement ring is 5% of the cost of the ring over $1,000.

However, under the Free Trade Agreement with the US, no import duty needs to be paid on a loose diamond ie. one that has not been set into a ring.

2. GST on an engagement ring when importing to Aus

GST of 10% needs to be paid on both a diamond engagement ring and a loose diamond.

This is the same GST that is paid on all goods within Australia if you are buying from a jeweller here.

3. Additional fees when importing jewellery into Australia

There is also one additional fee which may be paid on a diamond engagement ring – the ‘Formal Entry Fee’:

• Orders AU$ 1,000-AU$ 10,000 may be subject to a Formal Entry Fee of AU$50.00
• AU$ 10,000 and higher may be subject to a Formal Entry Fee of AU$153.00

These fees are sometimes waived and there doesn’t seem to be a firm reason why this is the case.

So, while it’s prudent to account for the formal entry fee in your budgeting, you may not end up having to pay it.

Calculating the tax to import jewellery into Australia

Working out the exact tax that needs to be paid can be pretty tricky, but James Allen have provided a great online calculator.

You can enter the cost of your ring and find out the total of the import duty, GST tax and other charges that will be payable.

It will also show you the difference between just importing a diamond, and importing a diamond and a setting.

Click the button below and then just select ‘Australia’ from the dropdown to find the tax and duty calculator.

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Other things to think about when deciding whether to import jewellery into Aus

Once an order ships, it should arrive in Australia within 3-5 business days and once it arrives the shipping company will contact you and to finalise any taxes that are due before they release the ring.

Insurance

Most jewellers will include insurance within the cost of the shipping. Some may add a small charge to the ring.

For example, Blue Nile add a fee of 0.20% of the value of your order which protects your order from the time it leaves Blue Nile to when it arrives at your door. Technically this is an agreement between you and the insurance company. As an example, if your ring is going to cost AU$10,200, 0.2% insurance on top is an extra $20.

Returns and service

Most online retailers in the US offer great service. No-quibble returns within 30 days and the ability to have your ring resized for free at no cost.

If you do need to send the ring back to the US for any reason, most retailers will ask you to cover the cost of shipping back to the US.

Tax and ring returns

If you need to return the ring to the retailer for any reason, the Australian government doesn’t make it easy to reclaim the duty. Circumstances such as ‘a change of mind’ don’t allow for a refund of duty under the current legislation.

However, there may be a workaround if you do need to return your ring – you may be entitled to a ‘drawback’ of the duty paid. For information on Drawbacks, you can read the Government’s Export Concessions Duty Drawback Scheme factsheet.

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Is it worth importing an engagement ring into Australia?

You may have read all of the above and wondered whether it is worth the hassle of importing an engagement ring into Australia. Fair question.

My recommendation would always be that you investigate importing a diamond ring into Australia because compared to local retailers, it is very likely to end up being significantly less expensive. You could get a higher quality diamond at a lower price.

For example, a typical diamond that I help people find is:

• 1 carat
• Excellent cut, polish and symmetry
• H colour, minimal fluorescence
• VS2 Clarity
• GIA grading report

If you aren’t sure what any of this means, there are some great online education resources about diamonds to help you learn.

Diamond prices are constantly changing, but at the time of writing , the price for a diamond that meets these criteria is anywhere from around AU$5,800 upwards on the most competitively price Aussie diamond retailers:

Note: back in 2018, this was more like $11,500 to around AU$12,000, so Australian retailers have definitely sharpened their pencils and got more competitive in that period.

If we compare this price to the Australian website of US engagement ring retailer James Allen, the prices are much lower – they start from $4,600 plus taxes:

The additional costs to import one of these diamonds would be (based on a AU$4,600 diamond):

ITEM	COST
10% GST	AU$460
Formal entry fee	AU$185
Total additional costs	AU$645
Total cost for diamond	AU$5,245

Depending on which diamond you are comparing this to on the Australian site, this could be a saving of between 7 – 10% by buying from a retailer like James Allen.

Should you import an engagement ring into Australia?

Whether importing your diamond ring into Australia is right for you is a decision I can’t help with, unfortunately.

But I would say that before you decide either way, you should have a look at US retailers and see how they compare to local jewellers. James Allen’s sales tax calculator here is a really useful tool to understand what the total cost will be.

Two of the US retailers I recommend most are Brilliant Earth and James Allen.