Ebay vendors that you''ve been happy/unhappy with

[T L]

I know ebay isn''t everyone''s cup of tea, but are there any ebay vendors that you''ve been happy with their colored stones or jewelry, or if you weren''t happy, please tell us the ones to avoid, or the bad experience you had. I hope this type of thread is allowed, if not, the moderator feel free to delete it (I''ll get the message

).

I avoid allgemstone (heard really bad things)
I hear good things about Thanex, but wasn''t very pleased with my last sapphire purchase.
Got a gorgeous sphene from exportgems.
Got my color change tourmaline of 6 carats that I adore from Bangkokgemonline with the GIT memo
I got some drop dead gorgeous pearls from pearlsource
Used to love LOGR before the prices went up, up, and up!!
For gorgeous native handmade silver jewelry with semi-precious stones, tu3wang.

 

[mus]

Got some good stuff from SettGold : not the best quality but with quite reasonnable prices.

 

[mochi]

I have ordered from allgemstone, tangogemstone, chantragems, and liaoxaifeng789. This was just last week so I haven't received the stones yet. So I will let you all know what I think of them and post the pictures.

Tourmaline lover, if you don't mind, what have you heard about allgemstone? I'm so glad that you started this thread, I think this is very helpful.

 

[T L]

An avid ebayer and gem expert I know through another website (can''t name the website on PS, sorry) had these words about allgemstone. I trust his opinion, and he gives good advice about ebay. I think some people got synthetic stones from allgemstone. I can ask more about why he said these comments. They may be more harsh than reality, but I do trust his opinion on things.

Quote: This vendor, allgemstone, is a scammer. I don''t trust them as far as I can throw them

 

[cushioncutnut]

This is great information. These sellers are a mix of gemstone sellers and diamond/jewelry/estate sellers. All have 100% positive feedback.

Gem sellers over seas Bashirgems (where I got my kunzite from)
gemspresentation (I never ordered from them...but a friend of mine has... She was very impressed)

USA gem sellers...............rockstooriches (My recent Blue Zircon purchase)
rumrunner (My recent peach/honey zircon purchase)


Various USA jewelry/diamond/estate sellers Kareem5
firenzejewels
heritage_estate_diamonds

Alot of my Ebay purchase have been through individual sellers too............

 

[flowerladytoo]

I bought my 18k wg pave wedding set from ebay seller brileante. It really was a steal. Since it was special made in my size and with the proper crown to fit my solitaire, I received it right after the time to leave feedback was over. I was unable to leave feedback, but I was so impressed and glad I took the chance. The quality was amazing, the rings are well made, solid and the diamonds were VS-SI-1 and sparkle like mad. The set alone(without my center diamond) was appraised at more than 4x what I paid for it on our insurance appraisal. She has gone up a bit in prices, but is still very reasonably priced.

 

[CharmyPoo]

I purchased from a few ebayers but I am not sure how I feel yet. I will report back once I make a decision!

 

[gongjoo143]

I bought a round red spinel from allgemstone and it didn''t look anything like the picture. It was hideous with a huge inclusion across the table. I didn''t pay much for it, but I won''t be buying from them again.

 

[Harriet]

I buy from ParaibaInternational and am happy with them. Buy from their website rather than their ebay site, though.

 

[kelpie]

Uh oh, I just won an auction today with allgemstone.

Do you guys think I should I pay for it to try to cancel? I figure can always ask amex to do a chargeback. It would only be about $45 shipped. I ordered more from thailand because I had fabulous luck with gemvillage. I got this smokin'' morganite that arrived in literally 3 days. I was amazed by the stone and the service, so I figured with a very similar setup and good feedback allgemstone was worth a shot. I canceled all the rest of my snip.pl shots with them.

 

[T L]

Date: 10/28/2008 11:03:54 PM
Author: Harriet
I buy from ParaibaInternational and am happy with them. Buy from their website rather than their ebay site, though.

Super expensive though!! You really pay a lot for stones you can find for less money even through other PS vendors. My opinion only. I do hear that they have nice stones and good service.

 

[Harriet]

Try negotiating.

I scored a pair of Afghani mint tourmalines from them that I love.

 

[CharmyPoo]

I have concluded that eBay is just not my cup of tea. I have received items from 4 sellers and still waiting on shipment from 3 other sellers. I have been pretty disappointed with the quality of gems from all 4 sellers. I am picky with my jewelry and stones. Typically, I only purchase and own high quality stones and jewelry. I have never purchased any stones myself but have received several as gifts (most of which have been appraised and certified to my satisfiaction).

Anyways, here is my review below after examining all the stones in detail.

1) gem_cove
I purchased a spinel, aquamarine and garnet. I tried really hard to like the spinel and convinced myself that I liked it but the truth is .. I have a black stone. I can't really blame the seller since I should have known better based on the photos. The aquamarine is really scruffed up and it wasn't shown in the photo. The garnet is acceptable but nothing to brag about. However, the seller is a good communicator. I have requested a partial refund since I don't want to bother with shipping but may just return the stones for a full refund.

2) vivid-diamonds-jewelry
I purchased a diamond/pearl pendant. The pearl has 3 huge dents on the front of it. I requested a partial refund as well since I will never wear something that looked like cheap plastic with 3 dents to boot. Again, didn't want to bother shipping it back and can gift it to my little cousin-in-law.

3) royalauctioneers
I purchased a ton of stones (like over 30) through live auctions. I paid a cheap price for cheap stones. They didn't send me all of my stones and some had huge cracks or chips. In short, I didn't like any of the stones. All had HUGE windows and I am not sure if their photos are even of the real stones. You get what you pay for so I can't really blame them.

4) To come. I only got one stone from them and it isn't too bad. They are shipping me some other stuff so I will let you know later.

I will be back to let you know how the other 3 sellers are. I am looking forward to getting 2 of the stones (but have low expectations). One is the red round spinel I posted in this thread. The other is a blue oval spinel. I usually purchase several stones from the same seller because of the high shipping cost.

In conclusion, no more eBay stone shopping for me. I know some people get great deals but I am thinking that is really a needle in a hay stack (and they say finding a nice cushion is hard). You really need to be able to understand what the photos are showing. I personally don't have the patience to figure it out. I no longer believe that you can get an amazing gemstone on eBay for a bargin. From now on, I am sticking to the gifts or one of the respected gemstone cutters.

 

[T L]

Thanks for the great reviews ChamyPoo,
I'm sorry about all your disappointments on ebay.

I've been doing ebay for over ten years, so I have a good eye for photshops and when things don't look 'quite right.' Here's an example of an auction that is way too good to be true. I was so tempted to bid, but something just didn't seem quite right with that stone even though it came with a certification.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=370101191747

And this seller has a bit too many negative feedbacks. However, I did buy a tourmaline from him that is a very pretty blue/green color, it has a slight window, but I didn't pay much, and I'm happy. I am a bit ambivalent about buying more expensive and typically treated stones from him, like sapphires.

I also scored some gorgeous Mozambique tourmalines off of ebay in past years, this minty pear shape is one of my favorites for what I paid, but I don't remember the seller's name. I also recently got two gorgeous rare purple tourmalines from bangkokgemonline, but they were not cheap. There were tons of bidders, but the colors were very very rare, they had non-forged GIT memos, and I've seen them for much much higher prices than what I paid. As a tourmaline nut, I just had to add those to my collection.

I have a drop dead gorgeous pistachio/bronze Tahitian pearl necklace lariat in 18K gold from pearlsource. I paid around $700 for it (with lots of bidders), but in a store, OMG, it would be much much higher. These are top notch pearls with no blemishes, and the pistachio is a very rare color. The funny thing is that I hardly ever wear it for fear of scratching the pearls since they're so blemish free and the orient on this is spectacular. I also bought a drop dead gorgeous tahitian and freshwater necklaces from him, that again, would be much more in the retail world. There are some people that do great on ebay, but I tend to stay away from certain kinds of stones. I was bitten in the but by Thanex with a purple sapphire with a huge window. I think I'll stay away from sapphires, rubies and emeralds on ebay for the time being. Spinels also don't seem to be faring well on ebay, so I stay away from those.

 

[T L]

Here's my lariat with the pistachio and bronze pearl drops in 18K with diamonds. I feel like a Queen when I wear this. Yes, there are actually good pearls on ebay, and as a colored stone nut, I love the rare colors.

These are from ebay seller pearlsource, and he also has his own website store.

 

[T L]

Here''s my purple sapphire from Thanex with the gargantuan window, and my decent tourmaline from Thaigemstore.

 

[T L]

Around 10 to 12 years ago, there was an emerald dealer on ebay with some gorgeous stones. I scored this 2 carater for around $300. I had it appraised for a ton more by a GIA gemologist that specialized in colored stones in downtown chicago. It is fracture filled, but she said the color wasn''t tampered with and although this picture doesn''t clearly show it, the color is that deep velvety Columbian green you see in some of the finest emeralds. I still have to get a setting for it. It''s also very clean, which again, this picture does no justice to the stone. She was very impressed with this stone. The emerald dealers on ebay today are either charging a lot more, or the stone color has been tampered with (they used colored fracture fillers for that).

The dealer was luis2000 and he was out of Columbia. I don''t think he''s been selling in many years on ebay.

 

[cushioncutnut]

Thanks for sharing pictures of the items you bought. I can see why you are smitten with the pearl lariat necklace. It is beautiful!!!

 

[CharmyPoo]

Thanks for sharing the photos! See - the thing is you know your stuff and can find great stones. One day - I will be ready

I did buy a stone from thaigemstone. One of the ones I am excited about. I will report back when I get it.

 

[cushioncutnut]

I also bid on a few gemstones from thiagemstore.......... they are pretty inexpensive so my expectations are not set very high. I will keep you posted if I won them.

 

[mochi]

I have been looking at Bangkokgemonline''s store off and on but the pictures of the the gems are not the best. Maybe it''s me, but it''s so hard to tell the quality or the look of the stone and you almost have to go with the description that the seller has written. Or maybe it''s just me??

 

[T L]

Date: 11/1/2008 11:32:02 AM
Author: mochi
I have been looking at Bangkokgemonline's store off and on but the pictures of the the gems are not the best. Maybe it's me, but it's so hard to tell the quality or the look of the stone and you almost have to go with the description that the seller has written. Or maybe it's just me??

He photshops his pictures, but to tell you the truth, I thought I was going to be very disappointed with my tourmalines since they were photoshopped, but they looked a lot like the photoshopped pics, at least to me they did. In the feedback, I saw that many people thought the same thing (that their stones looked a lot like the pics). I saw the same exact color of tourmaline in a 4 carat stone on ebay, with eye visible inclusions, and it was THOUSANDS on ebay. I paid around $300 for a 6 carat eye clean stone. I think I did good! It came with a GIT memo, so that was important to me.

I saw a way more included gem of this color on a vendor website, and it was far more expensive as well. The vendor site said it was a very rare color that changes colors. I have to tell you that this tourmaline color does not come along without a high price, and it is so difficult to find vendors with violet tourmalines, so ebay was really my only choice in being able to get one. I looked at ebay for a very long time until this color popped up again. I have to say that I was a very happy camper the day I opened that package.

This dealer used to do regular pictures, but now that he photshops, I think he probably sells more. I still all want you to proceed with caution with him since although I've had two very good experiences, I can't vouch for all his stones.

Here it is. The picture doesn't do the stone justice, but it is a tanzanite violet that changes colore (purple in sunlight, violet blue in incandescent light). It reminds me so much of a color change sapphire, except it's huge.

Hey, people should share their great ebay finds in this thread. I know you're all out there. Ebaying is a lot like gambling though. You never know what you're going to get, and there are a lot of scam artists on ebay. Unfortunatley, there are many honest dealers on ebay as well, and the scam artists give them a bad name.

 

[cushioncutnut]

That is absolutely beautiful TL! I would love to see some outdoor pics of that stone! I can''t believe that is a tourmaline... YOU really got yourself what seems to be a beautiful rarity!!!

 

[currada]

I''m more of a lurker than a poster. I have posted a few of my favorite things and I''m always checking in to see all the beautiful gems posted but to also learn from all the knowledge available on the forum. Buying on Ebay is risky. When you purchase something sight unseen you are taking a risk. My first few buys on Ebay were not so good. I wasn''t really informed and shouldn''t have been wasting my money on things I didn''t know much about. My buying has improved greatly and I have really gotten some awesome deals on Ebay. This isn''t new advice buy any means but it''s important to buy from reputable sellers with return policies. Every once in a while I still make a bad purchase but have always been able to get my money back back through their return policy. Also most importantly YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR... I see all the stones listed from dealers for pennies on the dollar. They look great but they are going for ridiculous prices why would anyone think they are going to get a great deal at this price. I mostly find the great deals are from sellers that don''t know what they have or sellers that are listing something because they they need money and are willing to take a hit to get a fast sale. Be careful protect yourself on the purchase and don''t buy thinking you are going to get the deal of a lifetime they are few and far between. I did buy a ring once and had it appraised. The GIA appraiser was shocked where I got it from and said the seller should have sold it at a fine auction house. Long story short the seller later contacted me and asked me if he could buy the piece back. I said noooooo way...I still watch this sellers items each week you never know

 

[T L]

That reminds me of the story I had about my Mozambique blue cuprian tourmaline that I purchased from a dealer because he didn''t really know what he had. He wanted to buy it back later on. That''s the one in this thread.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mozambique-copper-bearing-tourmaline-in-logr-setting.96638/

The appraiser for my emerald above couldn''t believe I got it on ebay either. She was shocked. Didn''t LaurenThePartier get her fabulous OEC diamond on ebay? That stone ended up being a better color than what it was advertised for on ebay.

I''m not saying you''re going to walk away with the Hope diamond on ebay, but there are lots of goodies if you know where and how to look.

I will tell you this, there is no way, no how, I could get some of the bargains I do anywhere else. In fact, I do know for a fact that many vendors get their stones on ebay and resell. They are just gem experts and have much better luck on ebay because of their advanced knowledge on what and where to buy.

 

[T L]

Date: 11/1/2008 10:36:59 AM
Author: CharmyPoo
Thanks for sharing the photos! See - the thing is you know your stuff and can find great stones. One day - I will be ready

I did buy a stone from thaigemstone. One of the ones I am excited about. I will report back when I get it.

What kind of stone did you get?

 

[T L]

Sphene -
Another ebay find here that I love!!

They were just selling these on gemshopping for around $250/carat, and not as nice as this, and with a muddy brown background color.

This is around two carats.

 

[T L]

Here's the sphene. It's from exportgems. Can you tell I'm an ebay junkie. I do get stones from vendors as well (that's where I'm currently looking for a blue sapphire), but it's so much fun exploring on ebay. There's so much variety in one place!!

 

[T L]

Date: 11/1/2008 3:42:04 PM
Author: cushioncutnut
That is absolutely beautiful TL! I would love to see some outdoor pics of that stone! I can't believe that is a tourmaline... YOU really got yourself what seems to be a beautiful rarity!!!

Thanks!! This is Widget's color change sapphire. It's a dead ringer for my tourmaline except that my tourmaline may not have the same sparkle since it's a different RI. The shape and color change are very close to my tourmaline. I had to take a double take when I saw this stone posted.

 

[cushioncutnut]

That sphene is really lovely. It has a nice sparkle factor to it. Widget has some asbsolutely stunning jewelry. If you tourmaline looks like her sapphire... YOU HIT THE MOTHERLOAD!! AWESOME!!!

I too am an Ebay junkie.
It took a few bad auctions in my early Ebay days to know what to look for, but now I think I have gotten quite a knack for weeding out the junk and somewhat fishy sellers.