Online purchase went wrong - seller’s photo vs my photo

[waxation]

I talked to a few friends about my online gemstone purchase that went very wrong, they suggested I get some advice here on pricescope, I hope someone can help me.

Bought 4 tourmaline stones last December and paid a whopping USD530 for them. When I received the stones, they were almost black!

Asked seller for return and refund, not surprised but they don’t allow any returns or refund, saying photos of gems they took were under strong sunlight and I am indoors hence it is black. How can there be such a huge difference?

I paid the guy using PayPal, but it has a 180 days window to raise a dispute and it’s way past that now. I really want to get my money back or at least warn people about this seller.

Help!!??sad

First photo: My photo of gems under indoor warm light

2nd-4th photos: seller’s photo, one of them even show their Instagram handle - hero_gems_and_minerals

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Oh dear you poor thing.

I can't give you advice in terms of your dispute with them because that is a tricky one depending on whether they have a refund policy or not.

What I can say is often a lot of sellers do photograph their gems in the best possible lighting and you may find that you can only replicate that colour under certain specific lighting. If you use any other lighting the colour will be different and you kind of need to buy with that mentality in mind or ask them what the colour is under XYZ lighting.

That said from the lovely colour to black is rather extreme and I haven't faced that before. What is the colour in natural sunlight taken out of the box?

The reason I ask is because I once bought what looked like a VERY dark sapphire (I saw it in real life and the lighting in the vendor's office was terrible so it looked attractive but quite dark still) that I loved even though it was really dark and I had accepted it. Lol I don't know what compelled me to buy it but at certain lighting I saw a beautiful flash of colour in it.

Well imagine my surprise when I took it home, took it out of it's box in natural light and it was a gorgeous peacock blue (that flash that I saw was it's real colour under natural light).

 

[waxation]

I tried to replicate the sunlight but this was the best I got. Took me ages to capture the blue (right) and green (left, if you can see any green).

I just simply cannot be bothered with the other two blue tourmaline as they are so black.

 

[whitewave]

It’s too late to file a dispute. They are your stones now.

Any particular reason why you didn’t dispute in the last 6 months?

Did you use a recommended seller here? Etsy? Ebay?

Tell us more.

He probably used a light box to take the pics. Your pics do look under muted light, overcast, under a porch etc.

 

[chrono]

In the first pic (green square, you can spot signs of it being dark in the top left and top right picture).
In the square indicolite, you can see that it is mostly dark in all the pictures
In the rectangular, I really can't tell although I think watching the video might give me clues.

Lesson 1: Always check the return policy. Make sure it is a no questions asked return, gives you a few days to view it, and has no restocking fee

Lesson 2: I like videos. Remember that for most vendors, the pictures will be the BEST looking one. Expect the gem to look not as nice in person. I also prefer a hand shot. I am always wary when the picture / stone angle allows maximum light to flood though to brighten up the apparent tone.

Lesson 3: Tourmaline has different axis. The C axis tends to be really dark so it depends on how the lapidary orientates to stone. Sometimes it just can't be helped.

I'm really sorry but it's been too many months. I doubt PP will take up your case now.

 

[Arcadian]

To me, its very evident that these are dark stones but thats experience. Its always best to not just jump on a stone like a magpie and always good idea to really study the images. At a certain point you can see if a stone has been angled and has been flooded with light.

These to me look like not just light but some photoshop. Of any of these the bar shaped Indicolite is the only one that has any color on it that might be visible...in certain lights.

Always check return policies, it saves you and the seller. If paying with paypal, you can lodge a complaint in 180 days (which is a long time!) as long as you're within this window you stand a better chance of being refunded.

So I'm afraid you've got yourself some learning stones.

 

[junebug17]

I'm sorry @waxation I agree with PPs that you don't really have any recourse at this point.

 

[partgypsy]

sorry to hear about your experience. If possible next time ask for pictures indoors, or the gemstone on the hand (resting between two fingers), as that will give a better idea about how light/dark the stone is, also whether it has a big window. Fwiw, I do think the long tourmaline while dark, is pretty.
I think everyone here has some learning stones under their belt.

 

[elle_71125]

That’s a bummer. I can understand why you’re disappointed and I would be too. I’m sad to say that it’s been too long so I don’t see you getting a refund on them. Best to consider it a learning experience.

 

[waxation]

Hey whitewave,

I just thought i’ll take it as an expensive lesson learnt and it was my first time buying gems online. very inexperienced and didn’t know I could do a dispute!

It wasn’t until my girlfriends and I were chatting and I brought this up as a joke. They suggested to give it a try and ask around if I can get any advice. Worth a try tho, but I’m not putting in any high hopes.

I hope anyone who came across this thread will beware of this seller - hero_gems_and_minerals on instagram. I’m guessing they are on eBay and Etsy too.

 

[waxation]

Thanks everyone for your advice and tips! Really useful.

I scored a pair of beautiful peridot after this experience. I’ll just have to take it as a lesson learnt and use these stones to tell stories! $500 is money but I’ve lived past that.

Positive vibes!!! any great online sellers to recommend?

 

[binay1702]

I checked his stones on Instagram and immediately moved away due to excessive use of lightings on all his stones.

 

[MissyBeaucoup]

One of my favorites is Gene at Precision Gem. His photos are usually about right. He sometimes posts videos too. I agree that some of the other vendors show “ideal” light which is more like bright outdoor light.

One of my learner stones was a sapphire that looked blue in the photos on my iPad but was more lavender in real life. It is still a pretty color but was not at all what I expected. Computer screens are not necessarily accurate. (The vendor kindly offered to take it back or exchange for me.) I kept it, feeling like I wanted every color of Crayola crayons and got lucky finding a gorgeous blue one at Gene’s site later.

Enjoy your peridot, and share some more pictures with us!

 

[shinyrocks]

Ditto what the others have said. The best thing you can do is respond immediately once you receive something and it doesn't meet your expectations. It is probably far too late to do anything about it now unfortunately.

 

[waxation]

This pair turned out as expected. Seller (Asad Gems International) kindly sent me videos and photos when requested.

Screenshot of my instastory post and seller’s video. Pretty close match, I’m very happy with them.

 

[Arcadian]

This pair turned out as expected. Seller (Asad Gems International) kindly sent me videos and photos when requested.

Screenshot of my instastory post and seller’s video. Pretty close match, I’m very happy with them.

Were they able to give a clue on origin?

 

[chatoyancy]

Yikes! I’m sorry this happened to you! Your last pair of stones is pretty. I actually like the rectangular indicolite. I find that Mastercut Gems and Finewater Gems have good pictures in various lighting.

 

[Anne111]

In hindsight it is obvious how the images have been doctored but I'm still surprised how very extrem the difference is. Always look for more images in natural light and different backgrounds, like hand etc.