Love eBay?

[Kya]

In addition....starting in September, all jewelry items over $500 will be shipped to GIA to verify the item meets the description.....
So eBay sellers will no longer be able to ship directly to the buyer
The hits just keep on coming!!

Authenticity Guarantee for Jewelry | eBay.com

Sell fine jewelry with confidence.

pages.ebay.com

Would anyone even trust their authenticators?
How much commission are they even taking for this service?

 

[Rockdiamond]

Would anyone even trust their authenticators?

really!!
eBay clearly stated there's no charge at all for this service ( other than the 15% commission)
But they've clearly stated so many things they've gone back on.......

 

[MissGotRocks]

They are pricing themselves out of the jewelry market. Most of their moves seem designed to protect the buyer which in turn, protects eBay. I get that to a certain extent but sellers seem to get the shaft at every turn. Their fees are outrageous and I am sure they will hold your money during this verification process. A $500 ceiling is nothing in terms of fine jewelry.

 

[Slickk]

In the end, the consumer pays because sellers will have to increase their pricing to accommodate for the fees. And what happens if an item is returned? I assume you get the fee back @Rockdiamond ?

 

[marymm]

Would anyone even trust their authenticators?
How much commission are they even taking for this service?

@Anne93 -- Are you saying you don't think GIA is a trustworthy company and/or that GIA's laboratory services are unreliable?

 

[marymm]

FWIW I think the eBay authenticity guarantee for jewelry is a huge overstep/misstep.

If anything, it should be an add-on at purchaser's election for jewelry pieces priced at $1,000 and over, or even $2,500 and over.

But personally I don't have a problem necessarily with GIA acting as authenticator ... except it is a service they don't presently offer and GIA already seems understaffed ... but I do regard GIA as legit and reputable.

 

[Mreader]

FWIW I think the eBay authenticity guarantee for jewelry is a huge overstep/misstep.

If anything, it should be an add-on at purchaser's election for jewelry pieces priced at $1,000 and over, or even $2,500 and over.

But personally I don't have a problem necessarily with GIA acting as authenticator ... except it is a service they don't presently offer and GIA already seems understaffed ... but I do regard GIA as legit and reputable.

I'm wondering if it's really to GIA or to a GIA grad - two different things...they keep saying "authentication facility".

 

[Rockdiamond]

I assume you get the fee back

Uy....I'm a battle scarred vet in this regard.
As of this point in time, I believe eBay returns fees. But looking at what PayPal did: they sold their service including the fact that they return fees in the event of a refund.... until they decided....we're not making enough money. So now, even if someone purchases in error- even if the item never shipped- funds never withdrawn from the paypal account- they're keeping their 3%....and people have mistakenly bought items over $10k on numerous occasions...

I agree that if you're going to use a company for this sort of verification, GIA would be the one to use...but....and it's a big but...
This is forced on all sellers. And I also wonder how GIA, which is already understaffed and overworked...how they gonna deal with this?

 

[Kya]

@Anne93 -- Are you saying you don't think GIA is a trustworthy company and/or that GIA's laboratory services are unreliable?

I definitely trust the actual GIA. But ebay does not have the greatest track record as far as their authentication processes. I am wondering if they send to the actual GIA or if this is some other company that has a GIA trained person on site….

 

[Rockdiamond]

This seems pretty clear....GIA...unless someone is getting their a$$ sued off....I mean how many times can they print GIA with the little "R" next to it.....

Authenticity Guarantee for Jewelry | eBay.com

Sell fine jewelry with confidence.

pages.ebay.com

 

[MissGotRocks]

Yes, but just imagine tennis bracelets, cluster rings - that sort of thing. How will they authenticate color and clarity in small, set diamonds and gemstones? Most of those pieces were never sold with certs so the seller states a diamond color that was told to them when they purchased an item. The chances that those values were inflated is huge. So then it comes back from GIA not matching and the seller wants a refund? And how many weeks did this process take? The best thing about eBay is it’s large audience but everyone is looking for something for nothing anyway and then you add this misery to it - wow!

 

[Mreader]

Yes, but just imagine tennis bracelets, cluster rings - that sort of thing. How will they authenticate color and clarity in small, set diamonds and gemstones? Most of those pieces were never sold with certs so the seller states a diamond color that was told to them when they purchased an item. The chances that those values were inflated is huge. So then it comes back from GIA not matching and the seller wants a refund? And how many weeks did this process take? The best thing about eBay is it’s large audience but everyone is looking for something for nothing anyway and then you add this misery to it - wow!

I'm wondering this too - will GIA even do an evaluation of a cluster ring? What about a piece of jewelry sans gems? That's why I'm wondering if it's sent to GG. The whole things sounds overly complicated...

 

[MissGotRocks]

I'm wondering this too - will GIA even do an evaluation of a cluster ring? What about a piece of jewelry sans gems? That's why I'm wondering if it's sent to GG. The whole things sounds overly complicated...

Yes, I doubt that they do - at least in terms of what we are thinking. They can test the diamonds I guess to make sure they are real but beyond that, not sure how they would ‘authenticate’ a piece of jewelry.

 

[Rockdiamond]

The whole things sounds overly complicated...

ya-think?




I wish there were viable alternatives.....sad.....

 

[LilAlex]

This seems pretty clear....GIA...unless someone is getting their a$$ sued off....I mean how many times can they print GIA with the little "R" next to it.....

It looks like this may be a different "tier" of service than we are accustomed to:



It is also only for US seller to US buyer, for unbranded jewelry only, and for certain metals and stones of certain sizes:

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

It looks like this may be a different "tier" of service than we are accustomed to:



It is also only for US seller to US buyer, for unbranded jewelry only, and for certain metals and stones of certain sizes:

Interesting, so only diamonds and the big 3 CS. But I wonder if it will just say "natural ruby" and not mention glass filled? Will it say lab diamond vs natural? Will it say its a F3 emerald? So many questions.