Imagine going back in time and being able to see the past of your spouse or potential mate, or even your soon to be trist. Sound impossible? Well, yes it is, however a new iPhone application and companion website allow you to run a background check on a date, crush or just about anyone you can think of. The application’s tagline, ‘Look up before you hook up,’ is bound to join the ranks of slogans such as ‘just say no,’ or ‘crack is whack,’ which are (or have been) used by concerned parents to steer their children away from harm.

The application is called ‘DateCheck,’ and is created by the people search company Intelius (intelius.com/mobile). The application is a comprehensive people search tool that provides information such as social network profiles, educational/professional background, birth date, compatibility (horoscope), and the all too helpful heads up if the person has a criminal record.

While the previously mentioned features are useful, the application also helps to assess whether the person of interest actually has the wealth they claim to have by providing information on their home details (square feet, number of bathrooms, etc.), assessed property value, and property ownership information. You can rest assured that when you visit the person’s ‘house’, it’s actually their home and not the location of the basement they rent from their parents.

The Intelius website also provides a DateCheck service which provides a basic overview of the person in question; however the information provided is by no means a complete background check. For thorough in-depth results, users are required to pay varying sums of money and go through the Intelius website or another provider.

Now, should your prospective mate pass the background check and you eventually get married or engaged, remember the phrase ‘Not another diamond needs to be mined.’ This quote is from David Becker’s presentation at the New York Bootstrapper Summit III event. Becker is the CEO of I Do Now I Don’t (idonowidont.com), a website founded in 2007 which is essentially an eBay for used jewelry.

Inspired by the quest of Josh Opperman, the co-founder of IDNID, regaining the cost of an engagement ring after a breakup, the site allows users to sell used jewelry, for (what the site mentions are) prices of up to 100% more than what users would receive at a traditional jewelry retailer.

According to his presentation, Becker’s business relies on the three constant drivers of jewelry sales: death, divorce and debt. While pawnshops and retails stores are stocked with jewelry, according to David, such venues only offer about 25% of the retail price of the gem on average. IDNID sets its self apart by not only allowing users to sell their jewelry, similar to eBay, but they also have a certified gemologist who checks the authenticity of every diamond sold on the site. On top of the checks, payment is not delivered to the seller until it is confirmed the diamond is authentic. While the site offers a guarantee, it is limited to store credit. David mentioned, however, that not a single customer has used the guarantee.

As for pricing, the IDNID founders’ story page says prices for jewelry on the site range from $500 to upwards of $50,000. A quick check of the first few pages of the diamond ring section of the site turned up results, mainly around $1,000, but a view of the initial pages of the diamond ring section of BlueNile.com, an online only retailer of jewelry, also turned up numerous results around the $1,000 range.

It should be noted that my check was completely unscientific and simply consisted of looking at photos and prices of the rings on each site. I did not compare or verify specifications due to time constraints. The check was done simply to see whether an online jewelry retailer would offer diamond rings at similar prices, and it appears IDNID beats BlueNile by at least a couple hundred for visually comparable products.

Ultimately it is up to user preference as to where to buy jewelry, but, should the road get rough and your spouse say ‘I don’t’ after the joy of saying ‘I do,’ then I Do Now I Don’t is worth looking into as a way to recoup your losses.