What gemstone do you think is safe to buy from ebay?

[simplysplendid]

Hi, just wondering about this. I went to ebay and saw a lot of gemstones on sale, but I think the rubies and sapphires are probably not very safe to purchase over ebay due to the treatments that might have been done but not disclosed and especially when they are generally bid to quite a high price. What do you think is safe to purchase? Something that is cheap and generally untreated eg: garnets? Spinels?

 

[neatfreak]

I don''t think anything is really safe. But as long as you stick to very cheap stones, then it won''t be a big loss if you get taken.

But I wouldn''t buy anything of value off ebay unless it was a reputable place like Signed Pieces.

 

[twodoor2]

Normally what I do is find sellers with lots of positive feedback, and use toolhaus.org to easily locate the comments for the negative feedback. There''s also quite a bit of photshopping of gemstone pictures, so if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is. I also know that some sellers of mounted gemstone jewelry often buy the stones loose from ebay and resell them in the mounts. If the jewelry looks professionally done, and the seller has an awesome reputation, I look for who they buy the stones from the most (this can be easily traced back in feedback). Those are usually the gemstone dealers with decent merchandise. For example, if you love rubies, and you see a seller who specializes in lots of ruby rings and has great feedback, check the feedback to see if he/she got the rubies from certain dealers. I know of one seller that gets his stones only from ebay (he probably has no clue people know that) and remounts them, and and he gets the most awesome feedback on his finished pieces. I always follow his buying patterns, he seems to know where to get the best buys.

That being said, be very careful when buying rubies, emeralds and sapphires. 99.9999999% of these stones on ebay are most certainly treated, fracture filled, etc. . . even if they say untreated. If they are untreated, you need to see a gem lab report with a photograph of the stone in question. They once had an untreated Burmese sapphire ring on ebay with the lab report to prove it, and it went for a lot of money. It was the #1 looked at piece of jewelry on the site You get what you pay for.

 

[marcy]

Garnets and spinels aren''t treated so they should be safe. I always check the sellers ratings and their return policy. I guess on ebay it''s best to never spend more than you are willing to loose. I got a great irradiated blue diamond on ebay; pretty much everything else I''ve ever bought was only adequete.

 

[partgypsy]

the question shouldn''t be what gemstones are safe to buy on ebay (there is even synthetic amethyst out there) but what are safe vendors to buy from on ebay. If you do a search here you''ll find some vendors that also sell on ebay that people have had positive experiences with.

 

[twodoor2]

I got some awesome deals on ebay that I would never ever have had anywhere else. I purchased two Columbian Muzo deep rich colored emeralds from a Columbian dealer. They were fracture filled (as 99% of emeralds are), but the experienced gemologist said the filler wasn''t colored and she appraised them for ten times what I paid. I purchased some naturally colored diamonds from ebay for practically nothing, and some with a very strong pink cast. There are deals to be had, and believe it or not, lots of reputable dealers get their stones from ebay, and resell them. One of my favorite gem dealers sells a lot of merchandise on ebay.

I think most of us love ebay, but are afraid to admit it. Unfortunately, there are lots of unscrupulous dealers on ebay, but feedback is a great tool. Another thing about feedback on colored gems. . . you may see lots of great feedback on cheap stones like blue topaz and amethyst, but check out the feedback on the more expensive stones, that''s what counts. Be very very careful of photoshopping to. There''s one dealer that only shows one picture of the stone he''s selling, I won''t buy from someone that only shows one view. Also, if you are going to purchase a stone from a far away country, be prepared to pay a large shipping fee to send it back if you need to. Also check about restocking fees. Ebay is also a great place to look for very rare collectible stones, like benitoite or bixbite.

I think ebay is a much much better value than the shopping channels, that''s for sure!! The more you surf ebay, the more you realize how much JTV is marking up their stones. I just love when the shopping channels say, "this is the only place in the whole world you can purchase this stone, blah, blah, blah" and you can find 100 listings for that stone on ebay.

 

[Pandora II]

I only normally buy vintage and antique jewellery on the UK ebay site.

I have had some amazing bargains there - sapphire and diamond eternity rings for around £30, and I bought a mega bargain second string of Mikimoto''s this week for only £70 (they didn''t recognise the hallmarks

so not sold under the brand name).

I have looked at things like smokey quartz and the cheaper gemstones - but normally the cut is too bad for my tastes.

 

[simplysplendid]

Hi Ladies, thanks for the feedback. The reason I am asking is because I have recently bought a couple of spessartite garnets (I am hooked on orange!) from ebay. The price is not too expensive, around $50 for a more than 2 carat stone and around $200 for a more than 3.5 carat stone (both prices inclusive of shipping). They are pretty stones but I am wondering if I would bother to send them to be appraised since they aren''t too expensive. I saw too a number of other pretty gemstones but am a little afraid to purchase.

Twodoor, Marcyc, are there any favourite sellers that you would highly recommend? It''s ok if you wish to keep it to yourselves.
Thank you!

 

[MustangGal]

I just don''t spend more than I would if it were fake. I''ve bought several stones, but haven''t spent more than $25 on any one item.

 

[twodoor2]

Date: 7/20/2007 3:02:02 PM
Author: simplysplendid
Hi Ladies, thanks for the feedback. The reason I am asking is because I have recently bought a couple of spessartite garnets (I am hooked on orange!) from ebay. The price is not too expensive, around $50 for a more than 2 carat stone and around $200 for a more than 3.5 carat stone (both prices inclusive of shipping). They are pretty stones but I am wondering if I would bother to send them to be appraised since they aren''t too expensive. I saw too a number of other pretty gemstones but am a little afraid to purchase.

Twodoor, Marcyc, are there any favourite sellers that you would highly recommend? It''s ok if you wish to keep it to yourselves.
Thank you!

What kinds of stones are you interested in? If you like spessartites, I''m not sure which dealer would have the best stones since I don''t usually buy spessartites. You could do a search on spessartite, or mandarin garnet, and see what you come up with. If there is one dealer that sells a good amount of spessartites, check the negative feedback on toolhaus.org. With spessartites, you have to be careful of photoshopping. Many dealers change brownish stones to mandarin orange color.

 

[marcy]

Hi. I''ve had good luck with these 2 places. They are not the highest prices around or the lowest. This one offers ratings on the stones and I''ve usually liked their stones enough to use in jewelry. This one I''ve used some for jewelry and bought quite a few unique pieces for my gem dish. Both of these places will refund your money if you don''t like the stones. I have also found a few good stones on ebay but I make sure they have good ratings and you can return something if you don''t like it. I have bought a few nice stones from JTV and of course they take things back no problem as well. I have several rings that have had about 5 different gemstones in them just because I like to change them out. It''s kind of fun.

If I am debating on whether the stone is cut well I pull up this article that shows well cut gemstones and compare them side by side. You can often tell from the pictures if it''s going to be any good or not.

I love spessartite too and I have been looking for a nice 6 x 4 oval stone for awhile now. I have a spessartite ring that I really like with a 6 x 4 oval but it''s got a window so I want a nicer stone to replace it. I got the ring for about $50 dollars; it''s pretty basic with nice diamond accents so I know I''d wear it more if the stone was nicer.

 

[monkey1969]

I think you can apply many of the same standards to eBay that you do to your jeweler on the corner. How well-trained are they? Some dealers post their gemological credentials right on their eBay page for all to see.

Do they have a solid feedback rating? Just like the jeweler on the corner, you hear good and bad things and you have to make a judgment. If you hear only good things or 99% of the customers seemed thrilled, you probably have a good businessperson.

How long have they been in business? Some sellers registered on eBay last week or last month, but some have been online for many years. Like the local jeweler, more time in business means more of a reputation to protect.

When you ask a question, what kind of answer do you get? Are they responsive and well-informed? Are they open and direct about all of the latest gemstone treatment methods? Do they welcome follow-up questions and offer more of their time if you need it?

On expensive stones, do they provide third-party certification? I don''t care how reliable you think your local jeweler is, if he is selling you a $3000 ruby (or a $20,000 ruby!) I would prefer a laboratory report that says it isn''t glass-filled.

There are a lot of reputable sellers on eBay but they seem to be overshadowed by the fly-by-night operations. Use your head and trust your instincts and you should be fine. one seller that I have been really pleased with over the years is tiptopgem. If you ask around on this forum you will hear about more honest sellers.

Best of luck!

 

[simplysplendid]

Hi Ladies, thank you the suggested sites to go to! Will definitely look at them and will use the toolhaus.org site to check for feedback. oh Twodoor, I am not just hooked on spessartites, I am hooked on any pretty gemstones, cheap or expensive!

. You are right, the tough thing about spessartites are that some have a brownish tone. Other than one stone which has more brown, I am quite glad that all three spessartites are orangey and phew, the 3.6carat one that I paid $200 for is a very pretty reddish orange.

The other stones on my wishlish: A nice 2-3 carat tsavorite (I''m into garnets ever since I realised that''s my little boy birthstone), a red spinel, a pretty padparasacha sapphire (currently eyeing one on the natural sapphire co website) and a nice neon paraiba (no need to be big, just a gorgeous neon)... sigh..

 

[twodoor2]

I went on ebay, and did a search on "spessartite garnet" out of curiosity for you. I think 10 listings popped up. Hardly anyone lists spessartite garnet as "spessartite garnet", it's all listed as "mandarin garnet". Do a search on "mandarin garnet" and a zillion listings pop up. Pretty funny since not all spessartites are mandarins, but all mandarins are spessartites, and, it's the most valuable color of spessartite. That trend on ebay to name something what it is not, is very very common, and that's something to be VERY careful of. Another example, almost every tourmaline I see has the word "Paraiba" next to it, even though it may not look a thing like a paraiba, or come from Brazil, Nigeria or Mozambique (only 3 places that have "paraiba" tourmalines according to the AGTA), or have proof of copper content. Another thing I absolutely detest is when they have a picture of the gem cert, and it has a photograph of the stone, but they show it ten light years away. The photshopping drives me crazy to.

Be careful of buying tsavorites on ebay, most of them are super dark, or black looking, when you see them in person, same thing with most green or blue tourmaline. I'm the one person on the gem loving planet that doesn't care much for tsavorites. Too olive green for me, but that's another thread!!!

 

[simplysplendid]

Thanks Twodoor, yeah I agree.. there''s evey pink and purplish blue paraibas on ebay and I had always thought there are blue/bluish green/green..

I bought a total of 3 spess from ebay, will try to post pictures soon..