Has anyone seen this site?
http://auction.idonowidont.com/categories.php
Thought it was kind of interesting !
http://auction.idonowidont.com/categories.php
Thought it was kind of interesting !
Interesting site - hope its ok to post this!
- Thread starter niccia
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I’ve seen their press releases before saying this is something revolutionary and I must say, I don’t get it. There are a bunch of dealers, a few of whom are presumably consumers, who have listed things for sale on the site. If you buy something, it gets sent to an unknown ‘appraiser’ who verifies that it’s the correct item and passes it on to you. There’s no recourse if you’re unhappy or there’s something about the piece that you don’t care for that’s not mentioned in the original ad. Things like cut quality, grading accuracy, craftsmanship and condition come to mind although there are plenty of other choices for troubl. For this they charge 5% of the sales price.
Yikes. As a buyer this is a dreadful offer. For starters, it’s both better and cheaper to hire your own appraiser to do the inspections. It eliminates the obvious conflict of interest, it allows you to use whatever shopping criteria you want rather than just what the seller wants to include in the ad. It allows you to choose dealers based on criteria like quality of information, quality of service, quality of craftsmanship, etc. The only hope I can see is the possibility of a ‘deal’ because a private seller who is eager to sell might underprice something. This may happen, but the venue makes it nearly impossible to tell. There is so little information provided about each item that there’s way to tell if it’s a bargain or not. Odds are against and your only hope is to assume the worst and lowball the bids by enough that it doesn''t matter.
As a private seller it’s almost as bad. Presumably the benefit is that it reduces the dealer commission on the resale, but does it? 5% is certainly cheap enough but it’s important to know 5% of what. I don’t see any benefit over using ebay, which has a much larger audience, craigslist, which is free (and has a much larger audience) or direct consignment to a real dealer (who usually charge a higher commission but also can command higher prices.). Since there’s no way to inspect the piece or have it inspected by your own expert prior to committing 100% to buy, a sensible shopper has no choice but to assume the worst and bid accordingly. This leaves you in the position of either taking a low price or waiting for a buyer who lacks sense and will pay big bucks based on sparse and unreliable information.
The only real winners I can see are dealers who can use it as an advertising venue to sell items that are otherwise difficult for them to move. It costs nothing to list an item so a 5% sales commission to the ‘appraiser’ is really pretty cheap if it results in a sale and the dealer anonymity and lack of recourse for the buyer make it an ideal place for the sharks to hang out. At the same time, the reputable dealers gain nothing for their 5% so they have no reason to sell there. If they are offering a decent inspection period on their own, offer more complete information to help you make a decision and stand behind the work of the craftsmen doing the work they are building a direct relationship with the buyer already and the veil of anonymity gains them nothing and the disguised escrow service can easily be arranged for less elsewhere.
What am I missing here?
Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver
Yikes. As a buyer this is a dreadful offer. For starters, it’s both better and cheaper to hire your own appraiser to do the inspections. It eliminates the obvious conflict of interest, it allows you to use whatever shopping criteria you want rather than just what the seller wants to include in the ad. It allows you to choose dealers based on criteria like quality of information, quality of service, quality of craftsmanship, etc. The only hope I can see is the possibility of a ‘deal’ because a private seller who is eager to sell might underprice something. This may happen, but the venue makes it nearly impossible to tell. There is so little information provided about each item that there’s way to tell if it’s a bargain or not. Odds are against and your only hope is to assume the worst and lowball the bids by enough that it doesn''t matter.
As a private seller it’s almost as bad. Presumably the benefit is that it reduces the dealer commission on the resale, but does it? 5% is certainly cheap enough but it’s important to know 5% of what. I don’t see any benefit over using ebay, which has a much larger audience, craigslist, which is free (and has a much larger audience) or direct consignment to a real dealer (who usually charge a higher commission but also can command higher prices.). Since there’s no way to inspect the piece or have it inspected by your own expert prior to committing 100% to buy, a sensible shopper has no choice but to assume the worst and bid accordingly. This leaves you in the position of either taking a low price or waiting for a buyer who lacks sense and will pay big bucks based on sparse and unreliable information.
The only real winners I can see are dealers who can use it as an advertising venue to sell items that are otherwise difficult for them to move. It costs nothing to list an item so a 5% sales commission to the ‘appraiser’ is really pretty cheap if it results in a sale and the dealer anonymity and lack of recourse for the buyer make it an ideal place for the sharks to hang out. At the same time, the reputable dealers gain nothing for their 5% so they have no reason to sell there. If they are offering a decent inspection period on their own, offer more complete information to help you make a decision and stand behind the work of the craftsmen doing the work they are building a direct relationship with the buyer already and the veil of anonymity gains them nothing and the disguised escrow service can easily be arranged for less elsewhere.
What am I missing here?
Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver
ImpatientOne
Brilliant_Rock
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I completely disagree with both of you. I think the site is great. One of my close friends actually bought a diamond ring through them and was beyond satisfied.
The site offers safety and security. Differing from Ebay, they use a certified GIA gemologist to verify all the rings sold on the site. Additionally, the rings come with certification so you know exactly what you are buying. Lastly, posting is free and you can post as many times until the ring gets sold. Sounds like a great deal to me.
Although Ebay and Craigslist may have a larger audience, there is way too much inventory to sort through and it can be quite overwhelming, and lets not forget all the scamming that takes place on both those sites.
Oh, and I failed to mention that the ring he bought was bought from an individual seller.
The site offers safety and security. Differing from Ebay, they use a certified GIA gemologist to verify all the rings sold on the site. Additionally, the rings come with certification so you know exactly what you are buying. Lastly, posting is free and you can post as many times until the ring gets sold. Sounds like a great deal to me.
Although Ebay and Craigslist may have a larger audience, there is way too much inventory to sort through and it can be quite overwhelming, and lets not forget all the scamming that takes place on both those sites.
Oh, and I failed to mention that the ring he bought was bought from an individual seller.
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There are a lot of items listed there with no bids and fairly high starting prices. It is interesting to visit and sort of look around for price information, but not a bit better than other blind buying sites like ebay. Using their, in house, gemologist and implying that this gemologist has some equivalence to the GIA itself just because the gemologist has GIA training may well make many consumers think that this gemologist is somehow special, when the opposite case is more true.
You are paying a good amount for a third party opinion which could be a biased opinion. The gemologist is in the employ of the selling website and might have a vested interest in helping promote sales on the site. You can''t possibly know and blind trust often leads to a good ...... in the dark. If ya know what I mean!
You are paying a good amount for a third party opinion which could be a biased opinion. The gemologist is in the employ of the selling website and might have a vested interest in helping promote sales on the site. You can''t possibly know and blind trust often leads to a good ...... in the dark. If ya know what I mean!
Imdanny
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James234,
I’m glad to hear that yours worked out nicely. Congratulations.
GIA doesn’t certify gemologists. They are a college and they have lots of graduates, some of whom are capable gemologists, some of whom are highly ethical, some of whom know some things about jewelry, some of whom are capable appraisers. None of these things are required for graduation and jewelry appraising and ethics aren’t even on the GG curriculum. I have no clue who their gemologist is and I’m not disparaging them, they may be the best expert ever, but the fact that they are anonymous and that they are employed by the seller renders their opinion in this matter largely meaningless.
They are offering neither safety or security for reasons that I explained in my last post.
Verification that a stone mounted in a ring a diamond and is the same as the stone described on an accompanying EGL report is a moderately useful service as far as it goes but it’s FAR less than what most shoppers require, especially when buying a used ring from an unknown 3rd party seller with no recourse. That opinion coming from an unknown and unidentified ‘GIA certified gemologist’ who has a vested interest in the deal going through (they only get their money if the deal happens, right?) is effectively useless for purposes of buyer protection.
Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Jewelry Appraisals in Denver
strmrdr
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metro
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Tacori E-ring
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idreamofice
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Okay...I was just looking at this site out of curiosity and noticed that one seller is using MY picture!! WTF?!
The first pic is my ring and it's the pic that I posted in SMTR!! I know it's my picture because of the scar on my finger and my turquoise sweat pants!!
http://auction.idonowidont.com/150-Emerald-Center-VVS1-I-color-----UD460551-EGL-Cert-------,itemname,15702,id,auctiondetails
The first pic is my ring and it's the pic that I posted in SMTR!! I know it's my picture because of the scar on my finger and my turquoise sweat pants!!
http://auction.idonowidont.com/150-Emerald-Center-VVS1-I-color-----UD460551-EGL-Cert-------,itemname,15702,id,auctiondetails
My Pic (6th pic) : https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/sharing-my-new-engagement-ring.75343/
luvmyhalo
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idreamofice
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Hmmm...interesting.Date: 3/6/2008 4:13:47 PM
Author: idreamofice
Okay...I was just looking at this site out of curiosity and noticed that one seller is using MY picture!! WTF?!
The first pic is my ring and it''s the pic that I posted in SMTR!! I know it''s my picture because of the scar on my finger and my turquoise sweat pants!!
http://auction.idonowidont.com/150-Emerald-Center-VVS1-I-color-----UD460551-EGL-Cert-------,itemname,15702,id,auctiondetails
My Pic (6th pic) : https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/sharing-my-new-engagement-ring.75343/
idreamofice
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I am so mad.
This seller has other listings and none of his pictures match!
How can these pics be of the same ring?! (look at the prongs)
http://auction.idonowidont.com/229ct-I-color-Si1-ROUND-EGL-Certified-UD527752---------,itemname,15618,id,auctiondetails
How can these pics be of the same ring?! (look at the prongs)
http://auction.idonowidont.com/229ct-I-color-Si1-ROUND-EGL-Certified-UD527752---------,itemname,15618,id,auctiondetails
CaptAubrey
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777_LDY
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Man,this drives me crazy every time I see it!! GIA "certified" gemologist!
Jeff Averbook, GG
www.metrojewelryappraisers.com
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