new, and wondering if anyone here has experience/comments regarding this eBay seller

[learningpearls]

Hello, everyone! I have been lurking on this very interesting site for a bit and just joined. Mostly I will hush and "listen", because it's clear there is a LOT to learn. But I did want to ask if any of you could comment from experience or from browsing current items from this eBay seller, because I have been considering a purchase there:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/jewelsearth...ME:B:WNA:US:1123&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Thank you!

 

[jshepherd]

Welcome!

We do have a bit of experience with this particular seller. The seller is a fraud, unfortunately. All the pearls are Chinese freshwater pearls, and all the stories about them being custom-made for a lady of the islands 50, 60 years ago and so on are false.

 

[jshepherd]

Sorry! I noticed this piece. It appears to be baroque akoya, not freshwater. It still isn't what it is described as in the description.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOUTH-SEA-A...204?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c22b5824

Edit:
I should also mention, that if you do see something from this seller that you like, buy it. When you receive it, email him and tell him you were sent a strand of freshwater pearls and not a strand of South Sea pearls. He will apologize for the mistake and refund your money AND tell you to go ahead and keep the pearls. Apparently that is how he has kept his stellar feedback.

 

[lisa c]

Oooooh, Jeremy that'll hit where it hurts, won't it?

 

[Caitlin]

That ploy of refunding the money and letting you keep the item has happened to me too, though not over pearls.

It is an eBay trick by sellers to keep you from being able to give any feedback at all.

I suggest that if anyone buys something from this guy or another fraudulent seller, to give the bad feedback on eBay on receipt of the "item not as described goods" first, send your complaint to the seller, and go after the refund through Paypal directly.

 

[learningpearls]

Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate the scoop on this. I have been on eBay pretty much since there has been an eBay and the seller's listings made me uneasy ... but still I guess I was hoping for -- something too-good-to-be-true, I guess! Should know better! I just know so little about pearls.

 

[Caitlin]

I buy about everything on eBay, even pearls, sometimes.

I recommend you look at a site like Pearl Paradise to get the most honest prices for a type item, then go shopping elsewhere, including eBay. Few eBay sellers are able to sell the same quality for the same price, because PP has developed connections with good pearl factories so they can offer the best prices anywhere for high quality pearls. So check your honest prices, then go shopping on eBay. Anything less than PP's prices and you know you don't have the same quality, because PP's quality is in their mass buys that no eBay trader can do.

The factories in China sell the best quality to the biggest buyers first, so what is left for eBay sellers is far worse quality for the same price.

Having said that, there are a few trustworthy eBay pearl sellers, but their prices are not as cheap because they sell quality. Drusy Designs and Augustus Pearls are two of them. Sven of Augustus is active here and we have come to appreciate him as a great source for genuine south sea and other pearls. Carolyn of Drusy is a member, but not active, though several of us have known her for almost a decade.

 

[lisa c]

Great, then you know eBay! Still, read the eBay forum here to see how to translate your skill with eBay to buying pearls on eBay.

Is that a fair assessment of that section, guys?

 

[Caitlin]

Yes. Check with us and let us look at the item and the seller. Many of us have experienced eyes for eBay pearls.

The only time I even move past Pearl Paradise when pearl shopping is when I am looking for something out of the mainstream. I like to look at
other sellers for their unique items so that takes me far afield from your round pearls, which are the core of PP's business. I love it when they do baroques or special pieces like the akoya keshi/ss pearl strands from last summer or the souffle pearls from a year or so ago. But those are not the core of the trade. Every seller on this forum tends to have some unique items not available elsewhere and I like looking for those, now that I have so many round strands, LOL