Are these really saltwater pearls - from Borneo?

[Simply adorned]

Hello,
My first post on pearl-guide, though I have been reading and learning from everyone here for quite some time.
I was searching saltwater pearls on etsy and came across these, "Borneo saltwater pearls". I thought 2 things - they are inexpensive for saltwater pearls and they look like freshwater button shape pearls. Interested to know what others know/ think about them.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/120882762/borneo-saltwater-pearl-genuine-saltwater?

Thanks,
Margaret

 

[jshepherd]

No chance. Those are Chinese freshwater pearls.

 

[jshepherd]

http://www.etsy.com/listing/126770460/freshwater-pearl-lavender-freshwater?ref=shop_home_active
= not from Indonesia, these are also from China (freshwater pearls aren't grown in Indonesia)

Same case here and every listing claiming pearls from Indonesia:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/126977889/freshwater-pearl-light-gold-freshwater?ref=shop_home_active

This one is pretty bad too. These are dyed, Chinese freshwater coin pearls, not Biwa pearls from Japan.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/110497527/black-coin-pearlfreshwater-coin?ref=shop_home_active

Typically one can assumed that the seller was deceived - maybe someone told her those first pearls really were saltwater pearls from Borneo and told that story that goes with them. But when there are that many auctions claiming Chinese freshwater pearls are from three different countries that have never produced anything remotely close to what the seller is claiming, the seller is being dishonest, IMO.

 

[Agustus-Collection]

Freshwater Margaret, as Jeremy said already

 

[GemGeek]

I was shocked! The gall.

 

[Caitlin]

Etsy is allowing people to do this? That is advertise freshwater as saltwater and give a phoney patter. Isn't there a way to confront this problem with Etsy?

 

[pearlescence]

Nice pix and great patter. A real snake oil operation.
The big patter is something I've noticed in similar sales efforts. It's a pity because if they relied on just selling straightforwardly they would probably do better. At least the prices aren't overly silly.

 

[pattye]

Etsy is getting more and more like ebay. They do little if any policing themselves, and rely on other sellers to report stuff like this. I haven't seen that they do much, if anything. A person could spend all day reporting stuff. Then monitor the item or store yourself to see if anything changes. It's a lose-lose, unfortunately.

 

[Simply adorned]

Thanks everyone for your responses - I was very excited to read them, I have learned so much from you all - so it was a little thrill for me, on my first post ��.
I agree etsy is not holding up to the standards it set out - I have found many items lately that are obviously manufactured - not handmade. You can report shops or items (which I have done), the reports go the the "marketplace integrity team", but I agree with Pattye, changes if they do happen are slow and you don't learn the outcome unless you monitor the shop/item.
Btw, I did report the listing.
Thanks again,
Margaret