You have met the love of your life and are ready to pop the question. Should you buy an engagement ring in a store or online?

Before you get down on one knee or arrange for space on the electronic scoreboard, be confident in the ring you will bestow on your future life partner. And give yourself the best ring-shopping experience by purchasing from a local jewelry store.

Here are 10 advantages of in-store engagement ring shopping vs. shopping online.

1. If you want a custom ring, in-store is the only way to go.

If you want to design a custom ring, there is no substitute for collaborating with a jewelry expert IRL (in real life). Not only can you learn whether your design will work the way you see it in your imagination, you also have access to someone who can discuss variations on gems, metals, and settings.

2. Someone is there to show you options.

As with purchasing a custom ring, at a physical jewelry store, you have someone there who has a wealth of knowledge about how a ring will look and feel. A jeweler can tell you about the various options available to you to find the ring that best fits your partner’s lifestyle and tastes.

If you are thinking of purchasing an engagement ring now and having it placed with a ring surround for the final wedding ring, an in-store expert helps you find the best option for the engagement ring you select and provides services for welding the resulting pairing for a lifetime.

3. You can see the diamond or other gems you are purchasing.

You know exactly what it looks like, because you have held it, looked at it, and tried it on. No surprises or missing items, no misunderstanding or difference between what you see and what you get as can happen online.

When you order an engagement ring online, you are trusting that the vendor is sending you a ring that looks exactly like the image on the screen. But what if your engagement ring arrives and it’s markedly different from what you bought?

Many women have encountered this issue when purchasing clothing. Would you want it to happen when you are planning to ask someone you love to marry you?

4. You can see the quality of the gemstones and compare them to others.

No two diamonds are alike. Online you may purchase a diamond, but it will be chosen by whoever fills your order. You can’t look at the diamond in various lights or see it under a microscope.

You cannot truly see how various gems appear together from a computer or smartphone screen like you in brick-and-mortar store.

5. Questions are answered in real-time.

With a purchase of this type, you will have plenty of questions. In a jewelry store, you have the opportunity to have all your questions answered and to ask follow-up questions on the spot. It’s one thing to read about the 4 Cs (color, cut, clarity, and carat), but do you know what those mean?

An online vendor has no way to provide an adequate explanation or examples to help you determine the best engagement ring.

6. You know you are talking to an expert, not just someone at the other end of a chat or email thread.

You can have no real idea if the person on the other end of your chat thread or answering your email is an engagement ring expert or simply sending canned answers. At a jewelry store, you can speak directly to someone who can share credentials and provide the opportunity to show you what they know.

7. Access to better credit plans and long-term financing, buy-back policies, and future trade-up.

An engagement ring is a financial commitment. Online jewelers typically do not offer the best credit plans or financing terms. There is also the question of security. With in-store engagement ring shopping you have the advantage of negotiating terms and rates while ensuring your information is safe.

8. Makes the purchase into an important occasion and adds weight to your decision.

Buying an engagement ring is a once in a lifetime experience. It should be an occasion that is almost as serious and exciting as the proposal. Simply picking a ring online and clicking “buy” seems so mundane. There is no gravitas or sense of importance. It’s just another online buying experience.

Show your true love the effort you are willing to expend to get just the right ring.

9. You know you are buying from a reputable jewelry store.

Scams proliferate on the internet. It’s difficult to determine which website is authentic and reputable. If you shop for your engagement ring in-store, you are buying from someone who is invested in maintaining a reputation for quality and plans to remain in place for years to come.

10. You have access to after-purchase services: cleaning, sizing, tightening, and upgrading.

Your engagement ring will require sizing so it fits your sweetheart’s finger, and later it will need maintenance. Over its lifetime, the ring may need to be resized, tightened, or loosened. You may choose to upgrade the stones in the future. None of these are available through online retailers.

BONUS: Immediate gratification.

You see the ring. You buy the ring. You walk out of the store with the ring. No waiting, even for overnight or one-hour delivery.

The final advantage of in-store engagement ring shopping is the instant gratification of buying the exact ring you want with high-quality stones and taking it with you when you leave the store. No waiting, even for overnight or one-hour delivery. No worry about intercepting the package before it’s stolen by porch pirates.

There are many arguments for buying everything online, but with engagement rings you are far better off shopping and purchasing such an important item in a store, where you can become educated about gemstones, settings, and metals. You can select a store that provides after-purchase services and that has stood the test of time in the retail market.

There is no substitute for holding a ring in your hand, seeing it in real life, and having all your questions answered immediately. Purchasing an engagement ring is an event, and not one that can be duplicated on the screen of your phone.