[Jewelry making - Article 00066] - Re: [Orchid] Customer selling their own stones

[John Donivan]

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>     EBay is a flea market. Period. You get lots and lots of traffic
>     there, but every single one is a tight fisted bargain hunter. 

    That's not really true (ebay stores, for one), but I appreciate that
    the sentiment is pretty right on, still. I've seen many fine things
    on ebay - saw an Enigma machine for sale there, once (German WWII
    code machine) - the real thing, by the look of it. That's neither
    here nor there, though - E-Bay is tough, for sure. I had much the
    same thing happen to me just lately, though. A young man called me
    and said his Aunt had died, and left a safety deposit box of gems,
    and she traveled extensively, and all that. We talked, and he hoped
    to pay for the funeral with the stones, and then he came in with
    some. He told me he had picked some certain parcels. Mostly they were
    parcels of stones put in heat sealed baggies, probably "native"
    packed, and it looked like many were the same source, by the packing.
    Mostly they were the sort of things they sweep up off the floor and
    sell to bargain hunting tourists - there was nothing worth more than
    $20, and if you could get anybody to buy them - most were just junk -
    you maybe could get a couple hundred bucks with luck. I went to
    Stuller to show him - This garnet is worth $2, that amethyst is $4 -
    on and on. This isn't to say that the original thread is that, If
    it's some decent rubies and the similar you might have some hope. If
    it's quartz and garnet and the like, well I know people who have jars
    of the stuff just laying around, much of it unsaleable at any price.
    First thing is to find out for real: are they "gemstones" or are they
    Gems? There are appraisers and there are appraisers. We use quality,
    certified appraisers for insurance work that straight and legitimate.
    The thing to understand, though: If their appraiser said that there
    is a 1 ct. ruby that's worth $500 (say), meaning that it likely will
    pull $100 in the real world, what you have is low-end material that
    will be tough to sell to anybody. I'd suggest taking them to a stone
    dealer to evaluative not the price but the value - every stone can be
    priced, but is anybody going to buy it? If your 50 stones have an
    aggregate appraisal of $50 or $100 thousand, then it's just a matter
    of finding a buyer and negotiating a price. If those 50 stones are
    $2,000, then you're just going to be another stone-hawker.... 

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com
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