How to buy pre-loved? (and f- you, the realreal)

[Bigjoec]

So,
Preloved jewelry isn't anything I've considered before. I don't buy much, don't buy often, and don't buy for myself, so I didn't want the stress of buying and never really being sure of what I got.

But my wife had used therealreal.com for something once, trusted them from their brand positioning in the media she follows, and decided she wanted a Trinity de Cartier ring (the $1580 one, classic width with no gemstones) and saw they had some at a 40%-50% discount from new. So I went on, found one in what I estimated was the appropriate ring size, and bought it for her for Christmas.

I gave it to her (and turns out I guessed right on the ring size), but with her eagle eye she could tell it's not the right band width. I could barely tell the difference, but I see now that the classic is like 3.5mm, whereas what I purchased is 2.6mm. Now, therealreal didn't claim it was the Classic size, nor did they lie about the width (the listing says 2.6mm) but what they DID do is misrepresent the estimated retail value. They claimed it to be $1580 (which is the cost of the classic ring), when it should've been $1140 (the slightly smaller one). They claim to authenticate their pieces, and the only direct way to validate which piece it was supposed to be was with the estimated retail value, so I am quite frustrated and disappointed with them that they misrepresented it. Needless to say, the ring is going back.

But what's happened now is it's whet my appetite for getting a good deal on this ring. So I started looking on eBay, and am seeing them for even cheaper (makes sense, I would expect to pay a markup for the assurance I _thought_ I was getting from therealreal). E.g, https://www.ebay.com/itm/Trinity-de...old-Ring-US4-5-EU48-w-Cert-D6094/283297689033 . But I have no idea how to validate what I'm getting is the real thing.

So, any tips on ways of getting some peace of mind? Like, is there a way to get it appraised/validated after I've bought it?

Thanks!

 

[Bron357]

Hi, I’m an eBay shopper over 15 years and almost 2,000 purchases.
Cartier and Tiffany pieces are amongst the most copied / faked pieces of jewellery (like Louis Vuitton bags) so you have to be very careful.
These days neither Tiffany nor Cartier will “authenticate” jewellery, if you don’t have the original sales receipt they aren’t interested.
You need to research font sizes of hallmarks (there are differences if assayed in different countries) and pay close attention to any accompanying boxes and bags. Though the Chinese replicas often kindly include a replica Cartier /Tiffany/ Louis Vuitton receipt as well!
One way to be sure is to know the gram weight of the piece of jewellery you’re interested in ie a Cartier Love bangle size19 should weigh 31 / 32 grams. If it’s not that weight, for its size and shape, it isn’t 18ct gold. The same can be applied to rings BUT there are copies that are real gold but just not real Cartier. Because there is such a huge premium connected to the name you don’t want to be paying $1,000 for $200 worth of gold!
I would recommend sticking to business sellers on eBay, people with over 3 years on the platform, hundreds if not thousands of transactions. Check the feedback, a few “negs” is usually ok as some buyers are just problem makers. Check the value of other items sold. You don’t want to be buying an $8,000 bangle from someone who sells only 99 cent items ! And Anyone selling Cartier or Tiffany with (0) feedback is a scammer.

 

[Weecam]

I agree with everything @Bron357 said. I have over 1230 feedback and only purchase expensive items from business sellers or someone who has a receipt. I usually read through the feedback and if there’s a negative, I find it. Many times it’s a new buyer being bitter.
I purchased a preloved XS Cartier trinity ring on Etsy.

ETA: you can also check Loupetroop, there’s a few on there.

Good luck in your search.

 

[jetmal]

I purchased my Cartier Trinity from an Etsy seller named CanadaCartier. She is excellent! It came with all of the paperwork. Very reputable. Good Luck

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Agree with Bron. I sold all my own Cartier jewellery on eBay years ago. The struggle was incredible! I had to compete with scammers and wound up getting very little for authentic pieces I’d bought from the Atlanta Cartier store, in person. Scammers are the buyers, too. Horrible.

These days, if I were in the market for Cartier, the only place I would buy is direct from Cartier. Recently I wanted a Tiffany keychain and bought from them at full price, just to have the peace of mind that I wasn’t buying fake.

Good luck to you! I hope you find what you’re looking for! The only way to know for sure is to pay the real price from the real store. And then relax and enjoy your Cartier.

 

[Bigjoec]

Thanks for the advice, folks.

So I'm diving in more on this seller whose auction I had linked. They have about 3,000 transactions, 97.4% positive feedback, so the numbers look good at a glance. Digging into the individual transactions, looks like everything is jewelry in a reasonable price range. The one thing that makes me concerned is that it looks like 80% to 90% of their transactions show only the listing price and NOT the actual sale price, because they were sold "Best Price Offer Accepted". By itself that's not concerning, but I suppose that could be a way to scam your feedback -- eBay takes a percentage of the sale price, so it would be too expensive in eBay fees to gin up fake feedback by making fake accounts and self-selling a bunch of $1,000 dollar listings and leaving yourself good feedback. But if you listed something at $1,000 and then sold it to yourself "Best Price Offer Accepted" for a dollar in order to leave fake feedback, well that could be worth it.

Thoughts? And thanks again!

 

[bludiva]

Agree with Bron. I sold all my own Cartier jewellery on eBay years ago. The struggle was incredible! I had to compete with scammers and wound up getting very little for authentic pieces I’d bought from the Atlanta Cartier store, in person. Scammers are the buyers, too. Horrible.

These days, if I were in the market for Cartier, the only place I would buy is direct from Cartier. Recently I wanted a Tiffany keychain and bought from them at full price, just to have the peace of mind that I wasn’t buying fake.

Good luck to you! I hope you find what you’re looking for! The only way to know for sure is to pay the real price from the real store. And then relax and enjoy your Cartier.

It never occurred to me how hard this must be from the individual seller's side as well ...+1 on the caution with cartier and tiffany pieces...I've seen fake ones knowingly or unknowlingly presented as authentic by private sellers via all kinds of sales channels including those that supposedly verify authenticity...you really need a good return policy wherever you buy from.

 

[Weecam]

I purchased my Cartier Trinity from an Etsy seller named CanadaCartier. She is excellent! It came with all of the paperwork. Very reputable. Good Luck

Actually mine was purchased from her as well! Came with the paperwork as well.

 

[DorotheaBrooke]

I've bought a Cartier necklace from Fashionphile. Other trustworthy shops are Ann's Fabulous Finds and Yoogi's Closet. The Real Real has a huge selection and lower prices, but they don't seem to know the products well, which is worrying when buying brands with a high level of fakes, like Cartier. I see mistakes and misstatements in their listings often. I once bought an Hermes agenda that was listed as the completely wrong size. At least they let me return it, even though it was final sale.

I don't know enough about ebay or etsy sellers to buy with any confidence, but looks like you got some helpful info above. Good luck!

 

[scarsmum]

I demure somewhat from other feedback, having used eBay to sell some trinity rings and to buy two. I did pretty extensive research and in my experience trinity rings have not been effectively copied. It’s another story for love rings and bracelets, but with trinity the weight, unique serial numbers, and quality of inscription are east ways to validate the rings. The fake ones and there’s aren’t many, have extremely amateurish inscription, easily distinguished; and are a completely different color of Rose gold in particular. I believe the trinity is too much bother to effectively replicate, so scammers seem to stick to the easily forged love range of jewelry. Check the weight against the known trinity weight, and examine the inscription. I honestly don’t think you’re in danger of bing fooled.

 

[scarsmum]

Here’s a fake - note the metal colors https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/303019528250

Also fake - note the inscription quality https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/264125174213

 

[Matilda]

That is interesting, The last one is obviously fake but the first ones other than the price which I find suspicious convinces me! Although the width seems off and can't properly read inscription so I would avoid.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Here’s a fake - note the metal colors https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/303019528250

Also fake - note the inscription quality https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/264125174213

Definitely fakes. Both links you posted show rings that are supposedly over 11 grams of 18k gold being sold for much less than scrap value. I mean really- 11 grams of 18k gold for $85 or less? The sellers should be kicked off Ebay.