Here are my experiences, not quite like others. I had 2 purchases from Care. The first was about $200, 11 B-/C grade pearls at best, when I first started wire-wrapping and knotting. I knew what kind of pearls I bought and they were what the photos had shown. Besides, less than $20 retail/pearl couldn't be excellent pearls.
My 2nd purchase was a pear shape peacock Cortez pendant w/ simple 22K findings for over $1,000, about 9mm. She had plenty of photos, but I wasn't sure how the colors would look IRL. Colors look different in her photos, which I thought were attributed to different lightings. Luster seemed sharp. I emailed back and forth about the color, etc. and asked about return option if it wasn't what I was looking for. She assured me that it was a fine pearl, I have to see it in person to appreciate the color; and I had the option to return if it was not what I expected. So I clicked the button.
I was really disappointed when I saw it. For that price, I would expect it to knock my socks off. Its luster was good, not razor sharp. Color was better than average but I wouldn't say it was wild and had irridescence of the rainbow with teal, fuchsia, etc. (I've seen better looking Tahitian pearl color). The TPM pearl I bought with traveling orient knocked my socks off when I saw it (it was love at first sight)
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/show-us-your-pearls/2524-tahitian-drop.html. It was much, much less than this Cortez pearl, approximately same size. Knowing I am very critical and picky, I asked "normal" people's opinion, my family. I put the TPM and Cortez pearls next to each other and asked my son, Eric, to give me his opinion of their luster and color. Eric was 15 and knew nothing about pearls. He took one quick look, couldn't comment on color but told me the Tahitian was a lot "shinier". My husband and daughter said color and luster were better on the Tahitian. I paid shipping out of my own and returned it to Care and received full refund.
Color maybe subjective but I don't think luster in this case was hard to prove, even to a 15-year old. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant ebay transaction with her. I am not saying that Tahitian pearls in general are better than Cortez pearls, or vice versa. Just sharing my experience of comparing the two. Cortez production is small, still considered more rare than Tahitian, thus its higher price. But in my case, for a
lot more money, I'd think I'd get higher quality, prettier pearl, or comparable. See Cortez photos below.
From that point on, my husband said there is a better safety net if I purchase from PG vendors with 90 day warranty rather than ebay. I didn't listen.
Since then, I had 3 more pearl purchases on ebay (besides vintagesuzanne for tools). A pair of lavender earrings from pearllunar which was the described size but color was not quite as shown. It was only $50, so no big deal. The big, perfect teardrop Tahitian from pearl_society was a steal and a beauty (post #63
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/pearls-ebay-q/3623-recent-ebay-buys-2.html), attached photos below. The white SS strand for about $400 from augustus_collection was a disaster (post # 44)
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/pearls-ebay-q/3623-recent-ebay-buys-2.html. So my limit for ebay pearls is now $100. There were times I almost clicked the BIN button for pearllunar, lileifamily but braced myself to stop. If I don't like it enough, I wouldn't even knot, wear it, or give it away as gift. The shipping cost and return shipping to China weren't worth it. I'd be out about $40-$50 per transaction. A few purchases with that kind of shipping cost would be better spent if I save them for charity.
Prior to knowing how to knot, I wanted to bid on a temporary strand of FW from Care. I asked for the cost to pay her to knot. The price quoted was ridiculous, over $100
. I didn't buy.
Pearl_society teardrop pearl below (their photos), Care's Cortez photos, and last, my TPM pearl wrapped in Venus setting by Jennifer Cross at Pearl Paradise:
