icomepacks on eBay?

[jiazzi]

Anyone purchase pearls from this seller? If so, can you share your experience?

I already BIN'd a really cheap set of dyed fw silver/grey pearls so we'll see in about a month. Some of the other pearls seem too good to be true but I'm still tempted to see them in person...not really risking a lot since I'm practicing how to knot pearls!

It seems they also go on their own quality scale. AAA seem to be more like AA (or lower) and the "pink" pearls look very peachy. They've also had some heated negative feedback but in the grand scheme of the positives, they still have a strong score of 99.4% with a large feedback pool.

Your honest feedback with this seller is greatly appreciated!

 

[laurenb]

Someone else here gave them a thumbs up a year or two ago...

I really like them and I'm on my third order. I don't pay much attention to grades though-- I mainly rely on the photos. Everything I've ever purchased from them looked as I expected it to look or better. But I should definitely note that I've not sampled their $40+ strands.

Are these the pearls you ordered?
I have a strand of these, which are awesome. Faintly greener IRL in certain light.

I have these, they're pewtery and smooth.

I mentally add about 0.5-1% to feedback when I see a high volume seller from China because I believe some buyers go ballistic on them far, far faster than they would a Western seller. But like you, I'm just learning and having fun. This isn't how I make money, so it's very easy for me to shrug off a few negatives and see what I get. I see both sides.

After my last order from China, I'll probably spring for EMS from now on. When a package takes nearly a month to arrive, I tend to forget what I wanted to do with the contents.

 

[jiazzi]

Thanks for sharing your experience Laurenb. Those are very pretty silvery pearls! I actually snagged these egg shaped grey ones. They match my favorite cosmetic earrings I got from an Ann Taylor outlet - silver egg shaped earrings.

I mentally add about 0.5-1% to feedback when I see a high volume seller from China because I believe some buyers go ballistic on them far, far faster than they would a Western seller.

I completely agree! Especially when the buyer is very new to eBay (i.e. 9 positives), they are probably already a bit nervous about eBay...then really going through a true month's worth of waiting for the package unlike US Mail...

I might bite the bullet and pay for EMS shipping...so perhaps I should stock up!

 

[Nerida]

Hi jiazzi - I used to buy from these people a couple of years ago.. they are one of the better ebay sellers for unfinished strands. I think I bought keishi, and some fun "play" pearls, and a few strands of white and lavenders which, from memory, had great lustre and a clean surface but were eggy and a little small - kind of what I expected they would be. They were reliable, and timely, and helpful.

 

[jerin]

Just a question: I see that their unfinished strands are 15,5", even with stringing and a clasp that seems to me to be very short?! Did you ask the seller to add some pearls?

 

[laurenb]

Just a question: I see that their unfinished strands are 15,5", even with stringing and a clasp that seems to me to be very short?! Did you ask the seller to add some pearls?

I never have, but I usually double up for strands I want to sell or shoot for 15-17" for my personal use.


Jiazzi, those should be very fun! You have to post pics of what you make with them.

You're very right about some new buyers-- I also suspect that new accounts are sometimes created to leave false negatives, not just for false positive shilling.

I received my first negative on eBay when my account was about 7 years old. It was completely unexpected-- despite an item list and a reminder that photos showed everything I was selling, a guy didn't realize the CAD tablet did not include a power supply. Another dispute arose when a woman bought an old base metal brooch and insisted it was damaged in transit... inside a remarkable cocoon of tissue and bubble wrap. She didn't want to send it back, and didn't want to just fix it... she wanted half of her $12 back, and because of eBay's buyer-centric rules, I was basically stuck. I've sold about 200 things during the last decade, had 10 big problems, give or take. I've bought at least 1000 things, and had one or two disappointments. eBay sellers are pretty great.

Sorry for the massive late night ramble!

 

[pattye]

I bought from them--at least about 2-3 years ago--looking for big pearls, ok pearls, good communication, remember some photos are representative of a lot, others are of the actual item.

Nerida's comments apply here too.

 

[GemGeek]

I had to send something back once (yes, all the way to China), but they were very nice about it. This was a long time ago. The first order was good. I was just able to make one necklace out of two strands, having to discard about 40% of the pearls. The price was great and the pearls that ended up in the necklace looked terrific.

The second order cost twice as much and was half the quality. There weren't quite enough good pearls out of four strands to make one short necklace and I had been hoping to make a long one.

They are very nice people. I agree - only rely on photos and keep your fingers crossed.

 

[pattye]

Gemgeek,

Do you know if the grey pearls are irradiated rather than dyed? I seem to remember something about that--------is there a way to tell a difference?

 

[PearlA]

They are actually one of the few (very few, actually) ebayers we've purchased from in the last five years or so. We did not purchase pearls however, ... we purchased green&black peacock stone and were extremely satisfied.

Our daughter was born in the area of Guangdong where such stone is mined. The orphanage in which she spent her first 10 months of life actually named her after that stone. Her legal Chinese name comes from that stone. It's explained within her invaluable orphanage records. The people at icomepacks discussed the stone with us to make sure that I really did have the right stone, and the strands we purchased were *very* nice. (They've since been woven into decorations and handed out to family/friends at daughter's sixth birthday dinner.)

I have no idea about their pearls, but our dealings with them were entirely positive.

 

[pattye]

That is a lovely story, PearlA, thanks for sharing!

 

[pearlescence]

What is peacock stone? can you tell us more and maybe show some pictures. It is a new stone to me.
thanks

 

[PearlA]

Here's a sample of icomepack's peacock stone:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110372358684

That's the same kind we purchased, although we purchased larger disc-shaped beads. Some peacock stone has browns in it as well, but we went with green and black like in that auction. And we did that because the orphanage papers specifically said 'green and black jade like stone mined in the area'. Piecing together about four different references, that green/black peacock stone appears to be it. Daughter is from Yangjiang,Guangdong, and that peacock stone is mined nearby.

If you look closely, you can see little black and green "eyes", like the black/blue/green irridescent "eyes" on the ends of peacock feathers. (In that auction above, look at the cylinder in the upper right corner.) Some of the disks we received have black/green 'waves' like an agate, some have almost a calico patterned mix of the greens and black, some are spotted, and some are just filled with those circular "eyes". The "eye" stones are absolutely incredible.

 

[jiazzi]

Sorry for the massive late night ramble!

That was fun! I didn't think anyone would be up so late posting on the forums.

I was just able to make one necklace out of two strands, having to discard about 40% of the pearls. The price was great and the pearls that ended up in the necklace looked terrific.

Ooh I hope I don't have to buy several lavender hanks to make one necklace...hopefully they'll be as pictured.

PearlA, thanks for sharing your story and the sentimental significance of the peacock stone.

Everyone, thanks for sharing all of your feedback.

 

[Caitlin]

I have bought from them. I got some really dark lavenders about 5-6mm from them. I think they were sold as 6+. That is standard Chinese sizing. I think I also got some 10mm pinky-purple with great luster. I made a bracelet of those, which I wore as thread test for almost a year. They really have a lot of luster.

Then I couldn't find them. I'll go check them out again.

 

[GemGeek]

I don't know about their grey pearls. Irradiating works well with akoyas because it turns the bead dark. In freshwaters you get a weird metallic look, so I think they must be dyed. I have some very pretty dyed greys.

 

[pattye]

Thanks a bunch for clarifying that, Gemgeek! Agreed, there are some lovely greys! Irradiation is nothing to worry about. I have them also!

 

[Raisondetre]

Some greys are actually variants of lavender. They don't come by often though.

 

[GemGeek]

Some greys are actually variants of lavender. They don't come by often though.

I have a lot of pearls from John Tu that are gray with pink overtones. <sigh> My favorites!

 

[Nerida]

I have some greys that are dyed, but the natural greys I have are indeed amazingly beautiful, and indeed, blend back with the pink lavenders beautifully, being a variant of the lavendar as raison points out.