Ebay seller Farm Direct Pearl? High quality pearls?

[thegreywizard]

Hello, I've been browsing ebay for some nice pearl necklaces and found a sell called FarmDirectPearl.

They have a 100% rating feedback and really amazing prices.

Has anyone here ever ordered from them and can confirm they have very high quality fresh water pearls?

They say their clasps either platinum or white gold plated or sterling silver depending on the necklace. They seem to be some type of rose looking clasp.

Thoughts? Prices for a AAA 20" 9-10mm white pearl freshwater is only $70 shipped... it's an amazing deal if that's the case!

 

[jshepherd]

You will not get what anyone here considers a AAA quality strand for $70 shipped from an eBay seller in China. You will get a commercial strand of 8.5-9.5 mm (if you're lucky) freshwater pearls.

Freshwater pearl farmers do not process pearls. Processing factories do. Processing factories do not sell direct to consumers. They sell to wholesalers and traders. Some eBay sellers probably buy from those processors, but they can't buy pearls for less than the market value.

The rose looking clasp is a very typical base metal clasp that you see in China at different pearl shops and almost exclusively on commercial quality (low end) goods.

Yes, you will be get pearls from them. You won't get quality. That's the case for more than 99.9% of the pearl sellers on eBay, even though their feedback ratings almost all appear to be positive. There are some good ones, but I've never heard anything about this seller. The one positive is that the seller is indeed calling the pearls freshwater.

 

[JerseyPearl]

I think you will get what you pay for...in other words, inexpensive Chinese freshwater pearls, some of which appear to be dyed. They are certainly not over priced, but won't compare to a high quality freshwater strand offered by the vendors here we know (and love!)

 

[BWeaves]

Hello, I've been browsing ebay for some nice pearl necklaces and found a sell called FarmDirectPearl.

They have a 100% rating feedback and really amazing prices.

Has anyone here ever ordered from them and can confirm they have very high quality fresh water pearls?

They say their clasps either platinum or white gold plated or sterling silver depending on the necklace. They seem to be some type of rose looking clasp.

Thoughts? Prices for a AAA 20" 9-10mm white pearl freshwater is only $70 shipped... it's an amazing deal if that's the case!

I found their listing very quickly on Ebay.

They don't look like AAA quality to me. For starters they are described as not being perfectly round, which is kind of a requirement for a AAA rating. Plus pearls that big usually don't go for less than $1000 a strand, even Freshwater pearls.

Really high quality freshwater pearls in the 9-10 mm range as a 3 piece set with a solid gold clasp are going to be in the $1600 range. Good quality in the 8-9 mm range as a 3 piece set with a solid gold clasp are going to be in the $500 range.

I think your listing sounds too good to be true. It looks like they're not outright lying (except for the AAA rating), but they are wording everything very carefully to make it sound better than it really is. Ex. Clasp is platinum or gold plated. The plated is so far down the sentence that the only thing you see is platinum.

Then again, if you can afford to lose $70 or can verify they have a decent return policy, you could always give them a try. Since the pearls in the photo are NOT the pearls you are going to get, I'd be a bit suspicious. Even the clasp in the photo is not the clasp you are going to get.

 

[pearlescence]

With pearls you generally get what you pay for.

 

[KAC]

With pearls you generally get what you pay for.

well that isn't really accurate. You can buy pearls online for a fraction of what they might cost in brick and mortar.

But It would be it is safe to say, there are very few if any true bargains on Ebay in terms of pearls. There may be a couple of legit sellers, but 99% of them are offshore dealers selling junk.

 

[pearlescence]

If you are buying in a bricks and mortar you are paying for the shop, the ambience the whole service thing with assistants holding the mirror and trays to look at... so you are getting what you pay for. If you want your pearls without the rigmarole of a shop and assistants and all the trying on, you get that from the internet

 

[BWeaves]

Well, I agree with Wendy. You do get what you pay for, since I think we're comparing an online Ebay seller to our trusted online vendors, and not to a brick and mortar store.

I think the gist of it is, thegreywizard can get better quality elsewhere.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I looked at them, too.

See the seller's negative and neutral feedback on Toolhaus.org:
http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=farmdirectpearl&Dirn=Received+by

Almost all are in English. One negative is in French: "cass?es" (French for "broken".)

Many people do like what they get from the seller, yes. Perhaps they don't have more than a small amount of money to spend on pearls, and are content with being able to buy any pearls at that price, but these are not high quality. Some were shipped postage due, and customer service seems lacking.

Note the seller does not promise that you will get the pictured strand.

 

[Katbran]

The fact is that most people don't know anything about pearls and will be happy with what they receive ... the more you know..the worse they look. You cannot rely on any ratings given to pearls on eBay - with the exception of a couple of sellers...and their stuff isn't cheap. One person's AAAA is another's AAA and another AA+++ ... its meaningless. If you want to buy something of quality you need to go to a decent vendor... you will save money online. As Wendy pointed out..a store has huge overhead to cover..prices are higher. But as other's have noted...good pearls are never cheap...but they can be a good deal.

 

[Cees]

no feeling to react hahahaha

 

[pattye]

Welcome, thegreywizard.

We have some terrific Personal Shoppers here on the forum. We/they can help you find some options for truly great values in pearls from reliable online sources and coach you through the buying process. There are some excellent sales now, too. I hope you won't be discouraged by the comments.

Perhaps you'd like to start by telling us what kind(s) of look in pearls appeals to you as you mentioned a necklace. Do you like pearls that are more rounded, or more baroque? Do you currently have any pearls? Approximately what is your budget range? Most of us have bought pearls on ebay in the past and been disappointed in the quality.

 

[amti]

I've never heard of toolhaus... does it just show you negative feedback on ebay? If so, you can do that easily on ebay. FWIW, I look at all negative and neutral comments because those are what count. How seller comment with unsatisfied purchasers and what they do/say matter, but most of all, most people buying don't like to leave negative comments or work it out with the seller so no negative comments (or fewer) are left. I will post about my personal experiences with some Chinese ebay sellers. It is pretty interesting.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The advantage of Toolhaus.org is that it goes back farther than eBay does (farther back than 12 months) and you can see all the negatives and neutrals together.

 

[jshepherd]

I think a link to Amti's new post belongs here just in case the OP ever comes back.

Ebay Pearl Buying Adventure

 

[angelajosef]

Most of this sellers from Ebay don't sell real pearl. This is may be the artificial jewellery you are talking about. This looks same as real.

 

[Caitlin]

I have found that most pearl sellers on Ebay are selling cultured Chinese freshwater pearls, not glass or plastic imitations, however, it is VERY common to call freshwater pearls akoyas, Tahitians or South Sea pearls.

In my opinion, the worse the pearls, the more likely they are to be called other kinds of pearls.

Even when the pearls are called freshwaters, they will be called 'AAA" or 'AAAA" when they are grade 'B' also known as commercial grade pearls.

Even when the photo is of the best example of their wares, it is the only photo taken, and it represents all the necklaces they will sell - none of which are as good as the photo.

Even when they say "9 mm" the way Chinese size pearls, you will only get two- three size 8.9 and the rest will be 8.1mm or so.

There are some good Chinese sellers people here have recommended, and their prices are less than in bead stores here, but still not cheap and the sizing is still on the small side. What the good sellers often do is sell unusual shapes, colors and larger sizes than most.

Buying pearls on Ebay is tricky; it is a gamble, but folks with a good pearl education can spend many hours chasing down good pearls and find very few of them worth buying.

 

[BlackPearlDudeDC]

...and in this case pushing them through San Jose, CA. There are some weird shenanigans going on with them, photo swiping, inaccurate size listings etc…but that is all I am saying before I get in trouble again!

Out of curiosity I bought a pair of earrings from them awhile back during summer I think…if I didn't love my dog so much I would have stuck them on her collar, but even she has quality standards. If I didn't have integrity I would've posted some of the communications here.