Newbie's experience buying from "closer to source" sellers

[Bojambles]

So... first of all I want to recognize that vendors absolutely can charge whatever prices they want to whoever they want, and that there are trade members on this forum, but this is supposed to be a consumer forum so imo my post is not inappropriate.

I'm pretty new to gem buying, especially online, and only started hitting up the Asia-based instagram-only sellers in 2021.

Everyone has their view on the savings vs. risks of buying from them and that's a separate topic, but there are some sellers that have been vetted as having delivered on the goods by longtime PS-ers on the forum and seem to have decent, well-cut gems.

As a newbie, I was really excited and grateful that these PS-ers share (or even help to source) their favourite sellers, because it's understood that it's translated to more competition for the same gems. So it's extremely generous of them to do so.

OTOH, I just want to highlight the experience that I'm getting reaching out to many of these vendors - the quotes are crazy and when I seek feedback on PS, I always ask for feedback on the price as well now.

I get that there was a massive rise in prices in 2020 during lockdown and prices continue to rise since, but sometimes it seems pretty crazy.

Real life example of one IG seller that I'm not going to name and who is often recommended on this forum:

***

There is a Mar 2021 thread with positive feedback on this seller and the kind of goods that I'm looking for, and the poster reports that they got a quote of say $5k, before any negotiation.

I reach out for the first time in Oct 2021 (~6 to 7 mths) later, asking for quotes on the same type of stone for $7.5k to $8k.

I reach out again in Dec 2021, and I'm being told that this type of stone is $8.5k to $9+k

***

I never told them that I found them through PS and that I know that they quoted way lower just a couple of months back. I asked for quotes again because I was wondering if they'd gotten a particularly expensive batch of rough or something.

I never bought from them because by then I'd done enough price research on PS to know that it was a massive price increase. I'm based in Asia so if they wanted to charge me retail prices, there were actual retail vendors that I could look at instead with less risk.

Finally I decided that I probably wouldn't ever do business with them anyway if they wanted to price gouge from the start, and casually mentioned that I knew them through pricescope, knew their previous quotes, and was surprised by the "price increases". Aka hinting that I thought they were overcharging me and burning the bridge. They doubled down by claiming that the price was likely going to increase dramatically again in the next few months.

Obviously they're subject to market prices for rough and all, but after the price increase in 2020, I find it incredibly sus that something would nearly double in price in 8 to 9 months in 2021. This isn't tourmalines or spinels, so not of those stones that suddenly experienced a surge in popularity after being a cheap-ish gem for ages.

Sellers that I have bought from regularly will often knock a little off the price of something I enquire out of goodwill and because they know I'm serious. However when there's a 50% or more difference from the "reasonable price" offered to regulars, I think it's fair to say that it's price gouging.

PS-ers who generously share names are doing so in good faith and not aware that others are not getting reasonable quotes, but if you're completely new to a seller, be aware that they may not be giving you the same deal

 

[LD]

I'm not sure I agree with your post I'm afraid. I NEVER tell a Vendor that I'm on PS until I've done a deal. For example, I've just used a new (to me) vendor on Instagram and didn't disclose who I was until I had paid. So any discounts I was given were those that the seller would have given anybody else.

If you ask a vendor for a bog standard "how much per carat would a XXXX gem be" the ballpark answer will vary considerably and will depend (a) if they have a gem in stock or (b) if they can source it and (c) how difficult it will be to source. So the price may well shoot up as demand/supplies are affected.

Some vendors (if they haven't done business with you before) will quote high but they are usually open to negotiations. I find that if I approach a vendor I've used before they know me, not the fact that I may or may not be on PS. My real name is completely different from LD so there's no way the two can be connected unless I volunteer the information!

 

[yssie]

I'm based in Asia so if they wanted to charge me retail prices, there were actual retail vendors that I could look at instead with less risk.

100%

PS-ers who generously share names are doing so in good faith and not aware that others are not getting reasonable quotes, but if you're completely new to a seller, be aware that they may not be giving you the same deal

And 100%


I do dislike when prices aren’t published. But that’s getting more and more common these days… My stance used to be “no pricing no buying”. That’s definitely not a principle I follow any more.

Lots to think about in your post. I hesitate to share prices from vendors I buy from often (who don’t make fixed prices public) because I know that I’m getting favourable quotes. Sometimes vendors will say outright “your price is X, for everyone else it’s Y” - in that case if other people ask me I’ll just say “they’re asking Y” and not even mention X.

But I’ve never hesitated to share the vendor’s information, I’ve always drawn the line at pricing.

And on the flip side, when I speak with a vendor that someone else has recommended for the first time, I’m not expecting preferential pricing from the start but I am always expecting fair market pricing and I would be really disappointed to comparison-shop and discover that not the case. But I can’t think of a time that’s ever happened to me… I guess either I’ve been fortunate or I’ve been bamboozled!

I’m absolute crap at negotiation. I give my max, say it’s firm, and if a vendor comes in over I say “sorry, my max is X, thanks for your time” and move on. For me that’s just not a sales model that I want to spend energy and time dealing with. I buy pearls on IG, mostly from vendors in Japan, and they are some of the most honest, forthright, and considerate vendors I’ve ever dealt with. Frankly I trust them more than I trust many US-based pearl vendors!! I do realize that this not the norm when buying other gemstones from other parts of Asia though.

 

[Bojambles]

Hi @LD ,

In the example given, the first quotes were for stones in stock.

I understand and acknowledged the point on market factors playing a part but 100% jump in <1 year is a bit ridiculous unless it's a stone that has suddenly achieved popularity after being unknown, and this stone isn't.

Edit: or maybe it is! I'm not a trader after all. But noting that other vendors for the same type of stone didn't jack up prices anywhere near that much

Some vendors (if they haven't done business with you before) will quote high but they are usually open to negotiations.

Maybe they meant for me to negotiate the prices down? Even then I would have to bargain them down by 30% to 40%. I never tried to negotiate with this vendor as I thought asking for that much would be rude.

To clarify, I've also interacted with other vendors, but this particular example stood out to me because I've not seem something other than a traded asset jump this much in this span of time

 

[Bojambles]

And on the flip side, when I speak with a vendor that someone else has recommended for the first time, I’m not expecting preferential pricing from the start but I am always expecting fair market pricing and I would be really disappointed to comparison-shop and discover that not the case

HI Yssie!

Yes, that's exactly what happened to me for this particular vendor and I was really surprised.

I was most excited to work with this vendor of all the others that had positive feedback because they had the most "testimonials" and no negative experiences iirc.

I usually expect to pay a bit more the first 1-2 times and would think 10% to maybe 15% is reasonable but not a full 50%!!!

’m absolute crap at negotiation. I give my max, say it’s firm, and if a vendor comes in over I say “sorry, my max is X, thanks for your time” and move on

I like this and think this is what I'll do from now on! Drawing a line in my budget the sand and then peacing out

vendors in Japan, and they are some of the most honest, forthright, and considerate vendors I’ve ever dealt with. Frankly I trust them more than I trust many US-based pearl vendors!!

Agreed! They're very honest and I can't thank you enough for sharing Takahashi's info on PS

 

[marymm]

OP, IMO this thread would be more valuable if you named the IG vendor who you present as your real life example. It would also be helpful if you named the other Asia-based IG vendors you apparently reached out to.

From my own experience, I would say someone who is looking for transparency and consistency in pricing is unlikely to find it in the gemstone business, and perhaps particularly so if choosing to deal with IG vendors.

As a rule, gemstone pricing can vary widely from vendor to vendor even for stones that seem comparable.

Factors such as access to rough, availability of rough, quality of rough, market conditions, carat weight, cut, color, clarity, treatment, certificates, popularity, rarity, overhead, payment options, shipping policies, return/exchange/refund policies -- all inform on pricing.

FWIW I think the global COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread price fluctuation in many markets including the gemstone trade.

 

[Bojambles]

@marymm

I didn't actually buy anything from them and I'm not sure what quotes others are getting (which may well be fair), so I will not name them. But the stone in question is regular blue sapphire.

The thing that really took the cake for me is that, after defending the price increase of 5k to 9k over 9 months, they are now claiming that it will rise further to maybe up to 12k in a few months.

Also I do see fast price increases from other sellers, but this was the most egregious one so I stopped giving them the benefit of the "market factor" doubt

 

[yssie]

Agreed! They're very honest and I can't thank you enough for sharing Takahashi's info on PS

Just popping in again to say that actually @MakingTheGrade is the PSer who found Takahashi! And she did all the original work to vet them, too! I jumped on her bandwagon. I’m just more of a loudmouth on PS than she is

 

[theredspinel]

I think we all need to realise that the game of buying gems (and it is a game) is not based on any inherent value. The value of a stone ANY stone is literally whatever someone in the market is willing to pay.

Nothing is consistent, nothing is “fair”, we’re all being taken for mugs (especially if you shop for this stuff in the west) but we continue to buy anyway, just because we can.

If you compare gemstone buying to gold buying, and if you’ve ever travelled and/or lived outside of the UK / USA for any time, you realise how much of a mugs game this really is!! In the gold buying world there is a set price of gold per gram, and any price on top of that is either tax/vat/making charge etc.

Now because you have a baseline; a globally accepted price for 1g of gold the *entire world over* you always know exactly what your money is going on. ( Except in the uk / usa etc you get charged 2000% of the actual price of pure gold per gram, for things like 0.01g of 9k lol. So that’s a mugs game too but at least in the gold world it’s clear you’re being a mug and you can calculate by exactly how much) !

In the gemstone world no such inherent values exists. Anyone can say any stone is worth any-thing. If you want it you pay, if not the next mug is just around the corner.

It’s unfortunate but it’s the silly type of world we live in.

ETA: And I’m happy to play the game for earth mined, as little treated as possible, straight from the ground after millions of years, gemstones. I value them enough to play the game and put down a monetary value on my own intrinsic love/value.

Could never pay more then pennies for synthetic lab created - but lots do!

 

[marymm]

@marymm

I didn't actually buy anything from them and I'm not sure what quotes others are getting (which may well be fair), so I will not name them. But the stone in question is regular blue sapphire.

The thing that really took the cake for me is that, after defending the price increase of 5k to 9k over 9 months, they are now claiming that it will rise further to maybe up to 12k in a few months.

Also I do see fast price increases from other sellers, but this was the most egregious one so I stopped giving them the benefit of the "market factor" doubt

My last 2 cents on this thread:

To my way of thinking, your concealment of the IG vendors' identities actually serves to perpetuate the pricing chaos of which you complain.

 

[LD]

My last 2 cents on this thread:

To my way of thinking, your concealment of the IG vendors' identities actually serves to perpetuate the pricing chaos of which you complain.

Actually I agree with this. If you've found an IG seller to be hiking their prices out of sync with others, it would be fair to share this with other PSers. Having said that, if a vendor doesn't want to work with you (and I have no idea if this is the case), they may well do this - strange I know, but true.

 

[Bron357]

Personally, I would never buy from an Instagram seller.
I dislike the “DM for price” and the lack of transparency for success and number of past sales. I get that it’s a “fee free” forum for sellers but are they passing the savings onto the buyer?
I think some make the price up as they go along, they create a sense of urgency and exclusivity which in “lock down times” has blurred the “sight of buyers”. I accept that it’s a marketing technique but it leaves me cold. So I’ll pass thanks all the same.
Ive been on eBay over 20 years. For all its flaws it is one of the best venues for buyers. A buyer can see exactly how long a seller has been selling, how many sales, what they sold and for how much (normally, some set their feedback to Private which I dislike) Plus Paypal is safe and secure to use.

 

[fredflintstone]

The Pandemic has caused prices to rise. Markets have been closed.

The source dealers with the advent of the internet are seeing what western dealers are selling their stones for, so why not sale them for that too. Afterall they are selling to the open public.

Someone wrote, "Lots to think about in your post. I hesitate to share prices from vendors I buy from often (who don’t make fixed prices public) because I know that I’m getting favourable quotes. Sometimes vendors will say outright “your price is X, for everyone else it’s Y” - in that case if other people ask me I’ll just say “they’re asking Y” and not even mention X."

Oldest ploy in the book to get you to buy by making you fell you are special. Sometimes you are special, most the time not.

Eastern dealers generally do not list prices. It just is not done in their culture, then again, it makes it easy for them to say you are “special.”

These international dealers have thousands of customers, don't expect any special treatment price wise because you are on Pricescpe.

 

[yssie]

The Pandemic has caused prices to rise. Markets have been closed.

The source dealers with the advent of the internet are seeing what western dealers are selling their stones for, so why not sale them for that too. Afterall they are selling to the open public.

Someone wrote, "Lots to think about in your post. I hesitate to share prices from vendors I buy from often (who don’t make fixed prices public) because I know that I’m getting favourable quotes. Sometimes vendors will say outright “your price is X, for everyone else it’s Y” - in that case if other people ask me I’ll just say “they’re asking Y” and not even mention X."

Oldest ploy in the book to get you to buy by making you fell you are special. Sometimes you are special, most the time not.

Eastern dealers generally do not list prices. It just is not done in their culture, then again, it makes it easy for them to say you are “special.”

These international dealers have thousands of customers, don't expect any special treatment price wise because you are on Pricescpe.

That was me I should probably have made that statement more generic - even Western vendors with fixed public pricing will usually discount for repeat customers, and the degree of discount obviously depends on length of relationship and prior spend. Universal understanding. That’s a repeat customer benefit, though, I personally don’t mention PS unless the vendor already knows. Some vendors really don’t view PS in positive light so bringing it up would be a negative!!

 

[fredflintstone]

I should probably have made that statement more generic - even Western vendors with fixed public pricing will usually discount for repeat customers That’s a repeat customer benefit, though, not a PS benefit - I personally don’t mention PS unless the vendor already knows.

When I was selling my discount was the same for all customers. Discount to get new customers and a discount to keep old customers, but never more for either type of customer. Because the bottom line is you can only go so low and new customers can become repeat customers. Some of the repeat customers (some) felt that they should get bigger discounts, but you can only give so much of your income away, especially if your prices are low to begin with.

 

[yssie]

When I was selling my discount was the same for all customers. Discount to get new customers and a discount to keep old customers, but never more for either type of customer. Because the bottom line is you can only go so low and new customers can become repeat customers. Some of the repeat customers (some) felt that they should get bigger discounts, but you can only give so much of your income away, especially if your prices are low to begin with.

It’s an interesting progression. At some point - especially if you’re a small business owner - I imagine that your loyal clients come to value a personal relationship with you. I call many of my favourite vendors “friends” and I treat them as such. And friends aren’t looking for rock bottom prices from friends - friends want their friends to do well. So there (hopefully) comes a point in that customer/vendor relationship where the customer is actively making sure the vendor is being fairly compensated for goods and work, and refuses to accept discounts in excess of “fair”.

I’m in sales. For a large company, but in a niche space - I see both sides of that relationship. And there’s little I won’t do for customers who genuinely want my company to succeed.

@Bojambles apologies for taking your thread off topic. I find relationship-building to be a fascinating topic.

 

[fredflintstone]

It’s an interesting progression. At some point - especially if you’re a small business owner - I imagine that your loyal clients come to value a personal relationship with you. I call many of my favourite vendors “friends” and I treat them as such. And friends aren’t looking for rock bottom prices from friends - friends want their friends to do well. So there comes a point in that customer/vendor relationship where the customer is actively making sure the vendor is being fairly compensated for goods and work, and refuses to accept discounts in excess of “fair”.

I’m in sales. For a large company, but in a niche space - I see both sides of that relationship. And there’s little I won’t do for customers who genuinely want my company to succeed.

@Bojambles apologies for taking your thread off topic. I find relationship-building to be a fascinating topic.

Yes, it is all about building a relationship of trust. In 40 years, I built a lot of relationships through sales of gemstones, but there was always those few that thought they deserved a better price than others. Human nature runs both ways.



Good that you always wanted to be fair when buying. Shows your integrity.

 

[Bojambles]

no worries @yssie , more opinions are always good.

I tend to not mention pricescope either, unless they ask how I got to know them. This vendor mentioned didn't, iirc... could be wrong.

I agree on relationship building.

Pre finding PS, my first few pearl purchases were from someone locally. Same game, after the first purchase they would give me initial quotes lower than listed prices.

But I also think that if someone wants to quote 50%, 100% higher than what you know others got quoted in the first place, it's fair to say that they're trying to take advantage of you. I wouldn't work with them in that case.

Based on the thread, that first 5k quote I found didn't seem to be for someone who had made repeat purchases either, but could be wrong

 

[icy_jade]

Makes me curious who you are referring to but not all “PS recommended” vendors charge reasonable prices. So shop and compare! Always important for big ticket items.

 

[Arcadian]

While I may factor in price, I also am looking at how you treat me or any other customer you may have. a cheap price with bad customer service...I'm not bothering with that. I will pay more to get better customer service and better terms for returns.
There are certain platforms I will not buy stones on and instagram is one of them at the current juncture because quite frankly, I find it very unappealing.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Makes me curious who you are referring to but not all “PS recommended” vendors charge reasonable prices. So shop and compare! Always important for big ticket items.

So so so true and people new to gemstones should really remember this.

Some of the prices thrown around are eye watering for miniscule stones!!!!!

 

[Cerulean]

To be honest, this to me feels fairly straightforward and im guessing pricing variations are simply based on basic principles of supply and demand.

If a 2x4 of regular ole wood went from $2-$3 to $7 -$8 since the pandemic, is it reasonable to jump to the conclusion that it’s “sus”?

No, but it feels unfair…but it doesn’t change the reality that things are different now. Supply chains across nearly every industry have been disrupted, as inflation and demand for goods (versus services which took up more of market share) have dramatically increased. Look at real estate alone - known for its stability even amidst fluctuations - is seeing top end pricing that is totally unprecedented, at least in America. My point is, s*** has been crazy these last 2 years and will continue to be unpredictable. Many of gemstone mines are artisanal and small scale and many mines are located in parts of the world with poor healthcare infrastructure. Do you really think they haven’t been quite genuinely enormously impacted by the pandemic?

And the second point…let’s grant that everything you said is true and this dealer is being shady which is obviously TOTALLY possible and we’ve watched rather traumatic shopping experiences unfold with IG vendors who sold gems to multiple PSers so we know that a good faith rec is not a guarantee…if you feel cheated or that the pricing is unfair compared to other vendors, move on. This vendor is not a good fit for you because even if you get what you want after hard nosed negotiations, is it really a vendor you wanna work with anyways or hasn’t the trust already been broken?

I also do explicitly share pricing on this forum. I paid $2.8k for an unheated sapphire that was (I forget exact weight now) something around 2.6 carats in March of 2020. Even at the time I knew it was a killer deal.

I have remained friends with the vendor, a gem dealer that goes by Gem Ocean on IG. I have also shared all of this information freely in previous posts. He has explicit stated that a sapphire of that size and quality would be much MUCH more expensive in recent months due to the supply chain issues, lockdowns, and general unrest. And that is if he could find one of that size and quality at all

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

@Cerulean your sapphire comment reminds me of my jade vendor who told me to stop wearing one of my jade bangles because if I break it, I won't be replacing it for the same price!!!

 

[Cerulean]

@Cerulean your sapphire comment reminds me of my jade vendor who told me to stop wearing one of my jade bangles because if I break it, I won't be replacing it for the same price!!!

Yes exactly! He expressed it could be double bc his prices have gone up so much and scarcity is REAL for top quality!

 

[T L]

While I may factor in price, I also am looking at how you treat me or any other customer you may have. a cheap price with bad customer service...I'm not bothering with that. I will pay more to get better customer service and better terms for returns.
There are certain platforms I will not buy stones on and instagram is one of them at the current juncture because quite frankly, I find it very unappealing.

I also prefer platforms with better consumer protection, and as far as I know, Instagram has none. However, it’s a wonderful place to browse. I’m sure there are many great vendors on there, but the bad ones are also numerous, and without feedback or a rating system, it’s hard to tell who is honest. You basically have to come to Pricescope to get feedback on Instagram vendors.

 

[Cerulean]

I also prefer platforms with better consumer protection, and as far as I know, Instagram has none. However, it’s a wonderful place to browse. I’m sure there are many great vendors on there, but the bad ones are also numerous, and without feedback or a rating system, it’s hard to tell who is honest. You basically have to come to Pricescope to get feedback on Instagram vendors.

Yes that is correct, IG offers no protections and it definitely has many risks. It’s a bad fit for many shoppers and I think people should go in with eyes wide open.

Protections may change in the future if the IG marketplace has advanced features but not right now. If possible, pay with credit card / PayPal to have a leg to stand on with disputing charges, but abroad…many only do wire transfer.

I’ve always expressed that only spend money that won’t really hurt if something happens

 

[theredspinel]

Yes exactly! He expressed it could be double bc his prices have gone up so much and scarcity is REAL for top quality!

Are you new to gemstone buying? I’ve only been at this for about 7 years and when I was new, I said exactly the above and buyers who had been buyers for 50+ years told me they said the same thing years ago

Scarcity for top quality has been “real” since the beginning of time.

Funnily enough I now look at the same sellers I looked at those 7 years ago, who told me and made me feel if I didn’t buy something RIGHT NOW (normal sales tactic - no extra pressure other then that) that they don’t know when next that stone would be available - still selling the same EXTREMELY RARE limited supply, “I only have one set of rough from my supplier” stones… still available all these years later. At similar prices mine you.

It makes me laugh when people so clearly new to gemstone buying spout spinels are “now” going up in price when @TL said that about 20 years ago if you just search the forum!! Like I said - it’s a mugs game and we’re all happy mugs.

 

[Bojambles]

I just want to point out again that I was never expecting the same price to start with.

What I was not expecting however, was a claim of 50% and then 100% increase in a matter of months, and then a further claim that it will be even more.

I think it's also clear that I wasn't expecting pre-pandemic prices either, hence my reference to threads at the beginning of 2021.

Sure, prices for gemstones were still rising then, but unless it was driven by a sudden surge in popularity like spinel or tourmaline, I find 100% price jumps of something that had already risen dramatically and wasn't pennies to begin with extremely sus.

Anytime someone without retail store overheads tries to justify retail store pricing, it's also sus to me.

In fact, different arguments can be made - fewer lockdowns means miners and everyone else in the supply chain can go back to work right? But no, maybe the pandemic made a lot of workers reassess their career paths, there are order backlogs, etc.

So in 2021 at least, to take a one-sided view that this is definitely going to be meme stock territory is quite generous.

I think it's acknowledged all around that the prices are basically volatile. I'm not a trader but have friends who are (clarification: in securities firms, not gems firms) and... if you know what you're doing, you make money in a volatile market.

So have prices been driven up by demand and supply factors? Yes.

Could vendors also be taking advantage of that to price gouge to the extreme? Also possible. As many have pointed out - this is not a transparent market. For deliberate reasons, because margins are better that way.

Finally, I get the calls to reveal who the vendor is, but I will not because this topic is a tinderbox, and I suspect the vendor may already know by now. There's no need to make it personal.

One more thing to add - if it's truly the case that those are realistic prices, no vendor should need to worry. After all, realistic prices are supposed to be the equilibria that clears markets. No need to rush to defend themselves.

OTOH, my point of making this thread in the first place is to point out that I don't think everyone is getting realistic price quotes

 

[LilAlex]

Yes exactly! He expressed it could be double bc his prices have gone up so much and scarcity is REAL for top quality!

A few years back when the blower motor for our HVAC system went out for the second time in a decade and I showed the tech the invoice for the prior round, his response was "Wow, you're really gonna be impressed by how much that blower motor has gone up!" It was ten-fold. (You could even Google it.) Same motor. Same manufacturer. Same part number. Anyway back to gems.

In my admittedly limited experience, there are no bargains -- even close to the source. I think it's hard for a straight-from-the-mine small-timer to get the attention of a Graff, say, but short of that there are a million ways for them to sell their "good stuff." They do not need me at home on my couch to save the day.

The few times I have bought from overseas gem-land or straight from cutters and thought that I was getting a great price, I was actually getting a merely appropriate price. The stones all had obvious but undisclosed flaws. (Sapphire with color-zoning not evident in any of the thousand videos, but very easy to detect and describe; crack in the pavilion of a spinel; fingerprints in a sapphire that reached the paper-thin girdle to the extent that a jeweler would not set it, etc.) There was no lying; there was just no effort or obligation to present "the whole truth." They were priced fairly but not well and I thought the geographic arbitrage was working much better in my favor than was actually the case. Lesson learned. It's hard to find a single stone on Far East IG for any price that does not make your heart leap -- they are all amazing-looking. I mostly just scroll past.

At this stage, I would much rather buy a fairly-priced and fairly described item than gamble my time, energy, and dollars on the game called "can you spot the hidden, soul-crushing flaw that made this attractively priced in the first place?" (I don't want ten more videos at 5 degree tilt increments; just tell me what I will notice that is not evident from your photos and description please.) My favorite sources say "Here's what you'll like about this stone and here's what you may not..." Some will even list in their description something along the lines of "While this is not the most saturated, the combination of x, y, and the precision re-cut make for an appealing yet affordably-priced stone." No surprises.

There are obviously a million vendors I've never bought from. YMMV.

 

[LilAlex]

Could vendors also be taking advantage of that to price gouge to the extreme? Also possible. As many have pointed out - this is not a transparent market. For deliberate reasons, because margins are better that way.

I agree. I will add, though, that it is not really "gouging" since none of us need any of this stuff. Gouging is what happened to medical gloves, surgical masks, and every other PPE essential during COVID.

With gems, it just rampant opportunism, imo. We can all walk away. Or keep inching our way down the Mohs scale .