Allison,
Lately we have had many threads started by people looking to buy oysters (as opposed to buying pearls) because they want to start a business. Inevitably the business seems to be one of opening these oysters on Facebook at parties, with a view toward selling their viewers finished jewelry made with the pearls taken out of these oysters.
A lot of people seem to want to jump on this bandwagon. Perhaps it seems like a great way to make a bit of extra money. We disagree!
The pearls in these immature akoya (saltwater) oysters are freshwater pearls. They were not cultured in the shells in which they are sold. The dead oyster is preserved in a chemical solution of dubious safety. The pearls are grossly overvalued and buyers are deceived about what they are getting.
On Pearl-Guide we actively discourage these sales, which we consider fraudulent.
We also do not provide any information about where to buy either oysters or giant clams, which are an endangered species.
To learn more about why we discourage these sales, please read these threads:
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/sho...-Pearl-Parties
And this one:
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/sho...ls-at-least-AA
Here's another:
https://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/sho...rs-for-opening
I'm closing this thread to avoid having too many open threads about the same thing.
