Gemstones from Madagascar

[Maratimus]

Dear users,

A friend of mine has collected lots of gemstones (sapphires, rubies, emeralds etc) from Madagascar. He is looking for someone who could be interested to purchase them. Could you recommend someone? Many thanks in advance for your help.

Regards,
Marat

 

[chrono]

He can sell them himself via FB, EBay, Etsy and such avenues. Most store jewellers will not purchase from private individuals unless it has proper paperwork and is of unusually good quality or priced very low. Some online vendors might be open to considering such stones, depending on the quality.

 

[Edward Bristol]

Correct.

I think online you need even better paperwork because at least the local jeweller can see and judge the goods himself if you walk in his door.

We get a dozen email every day from people all over the world. Many do not know what they are trying to sell. Nobody buys an identified bag of unseen roughs from a stranger online.

Even for free it is too much trouble.

I learned that the hard way last year when somebody pestered me into sending us- for free, just to look- a parcel of rough.

I said ‘OK, lets see’. He sent us a pack of synthetic sapphire and emerald. We told him the truth.

Now he is threatening us with lawyers and murder because we stole his valuable gems.

 

[Roger Dery]

As those above have pointed out, selling online may be the option.

And, as Edward has experienced, we too receive emails and phone calls from people who have acquired presumed gem rough and want us to evaluate whether it is suitable for faceting - or whether we want to buy it.

We will no longer give permission for non-trade related people to ship their goods to us, as we cannot afford to be hit with a scam. The scam being that what they are sending is non-usable rough or non-gem-pebbles. After we've opened their package it is our word against theirs. And, of course they will claim it is worth thousands of $$$$ when it is actually worth the cost of shipping it.

I hope someone finds this helpful.

 

[JewelFreak]

This is one I hadn't heard of, but it's not suprising, I guess. There never seems to be an end to the lengths people will go to to scam someone. It's repulsive.

--- Laurie

 

[Edward Bristol]

This is one I hadn't heard of, but it's not suprising, I guess. There never seems to be an end to the lengths people will go to to scam someone. It's repulsive.

Yep.

And the sad part is that small new-comers get ignored and treated like crooks.

Despite this scam (and others) I still try to vet out people who are really just seeking to start a new business or small miners who want to reach beyond their usual sales channel.
I do frequently regret it later, but then I remember when we started our business and people treat you badly just because you were new.

 

[Roger Dery]

This is one I hadn't heard of, but it's not suprising, I guess. There never seems to be an end to the lengths people will go to to scam someone. It's repulsive.

Yep.

And the sad part is that small new-comers get ignored and treated like crooks.

Despite this scam (and others) I still try to vet out people who are really just seeking to start a new business or small miners who want to reach beyond their usual sales channel.
I do frequently regret it later, but then I remember when we started our business and people treat you badly just because you were new.

Very well said, Edward.

 

[JewelFreak]

Good for you for remembering what it felt like to be a rookie. True of so many areas, isn't it, that the honest folks get treated like crooks because of the real ones. Makes it more discouraging to get started in many things.

--- Laurie