[Jewelry making - Article 01213] - Re: [Orchid] [Source] small good quality diamonds

[Helen Hill]

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>     You can try eBay; I've seen stones like that in the past, usually
>     by the 20-50's. Quality and clarity etc. are all unknowns in that
>     market place though. 

    I post this with a degree of trepidation and with the fear that I
    will get lots of flack! 

    Ebay seems to have a bad name on Orchid when it comes to buying gems
    so I didn't answer this question publicly when it was posed, but did
    recommend ebay in my offlist reply. Think about it - you're buying
    on trust, just like ANY other online company you buy from. There are
    some very honest, decent and fair sellers on ebay, just as there are
    in any market place but for some reason, the bad ones tarnish the
    opinions of many people. 

    I have bought diamonds from ebay from a jeweller in Hatton Garden
    (London's jewellery quarter) who has very good feedback. I've also
    bought most of my coloured gems from ebay, both from the London
    supplier and direct from companies in Thailand as well as others in
    the UK and the States. The first two diamonds I bought from ebay
    were from the Hatton Garden supplier. They were listed as VVS1-VVS2
    clarity, G-H colour. When they arrived I could immediately see that
    they were more like I1-I2 clarity as one was very cloudy and the
    other one had a visible swirl around the pavilion and visible carbon
    spots under one edge of the table - and that was without using my
    loupe and they were only 6 pointers! Needles to say, I emailed him
    and then sent them straight back on his instruction. He had had some
    problems with his supplier and so was changing to a new supplier. The
    two I got were from the original stock. Perhaps he was hoping I
    wouldn't notice - I don't know. He said it would be a few weeks
    until the new stock arrived and so I waited. I'd done plenty of
    business with him previously and had been perfectly happy with most
    things and had sent back anything I wasn't happy with and they'd been
    replaced with ones I was happy with - so I trusted him. I waited and
    didn't leave feedback. After the few weeks he said it would take, he
    emailed me to say that I would be very pleased with the replacement
    he'd just put in the post. Sure enough, the next day my two VVS
    clarity, G-H colour VERY sparkly and "alive" diamonds arrived and I
    was able to complete the transaction by leaving very positive
    feedback. I will happily buy diamonds from him again in the near
    future. From my ebay experiences, 

    I've learned some valuable lessons: 

    1) Only buy from sellers who post a photograph of the actual gem
    they are selling. It's easy to tell by looking at their inventory.
    If the same pictures are cropping up repeatedly then they are not
    the actual gem for auction and you may well be disappointed when it
    turns up. As soon as they arrive I compare them to the photograph to
    ensure it's the gem I bid on. If it's not the same or I'm not happy I
    send it back for a full refund. 

    2) Only buy from sellers with excellent feedback (above 99.5%
    positive) for both the transaction and communications. 

    3) Read feedback thoroughly. Find out what they're like for returning
    things if you're not happy and generally get a feel for other
    customers' experiences with that seller. 

    4) Test communications by asking seller questions. If you don't get
    a satisfactory answer or even an answer at all, walk away. 

    5) Have REALISTIC expectations. If you see something that looks too
    good to be true then chances are it is too good to be true. For
    example, I found a company selling "genuine earth mined tanzanite"
    and "genuine earth mined" pink sapphire, both in very large sizes
    (12ct), perfectly clean and for only a few UKP38!!!. Now anyone
    with an ounce of sense, ie most on this forum will immediately know,
    as I did, that you CANNOT buy such things as 12ct tanzanites and pink
    sapphires for a handful of UK pounds or US dollars. Even with my
    limited gem buying experience, I've noticed that pink sapphires tend
    to come in much smaller sizes and if there was a 12ct pink sapphire,
    it would probably cost a fortune! The 6x6mm one I bought from
    Thailand for 15 UKP was closer to a realistic price. The same goes
    for tanzanite but even more so. Clean tanzanite fetches plenty of
    money even in very small carat weights. I reported that company to
    ebay. They were clearly CZ, even just looking at the colour of the
    "stones". 

    6) If a gem you want is an auction item (rather than a buy-it-now
    item), it's easy to get into a bidding war with others, so set a
    limit for what you are prepared to pay and don't exceed that limit -
    just auction common sense in general really. 

    7) Don't bid early and then keep bidding so that you're the highest
    bidder - you'll just push the price up for yourself if you win or
    for others if you don't. I watch the item and bid in the last twenty
    seconds. If I win I win, if I don't then c'est la vie. You know what
    they say "all's fair in love and war" - and in business in this
    case. 

    8) If you think something is worth 12 (UKP or USD or whatever
    currency) to you, don't bid 12.00, but bid something like 12.01 or
    12.51 as your bid will beat anyone whose highest bid was 12.00 or
    12.50 - obviously. 

    9) Don't leave feedback too early. For example, if there's a delay
    with shipping the item (especially if it's coming from the other side
    of the world), don't leave negative feedback saying you never
    received it. Email the seller and try to resolve the matter. Wait a
    little while longer and hopefully your item will turn up and you'll
    be able to leave positive feedback. A lot of people are too quick to
    leave negative feedback for sellers and that can ruin the buying
    experience of others and of course the seller's reputation. 

    Most of this is just common sense, but I've been surprised at just
    how little common sense people use when buying on ebay and I've
    learned a lot, to the point where I can bid with confidence on items
    I'm interested in and 99% of the time I am more than happy with my
    purchases - and if I can pass on such tips to help others who are on
    a budget but want to buy nice gems, then all the better. 

Helen
UK
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