To answer a couple of the posts on this topic.
Yes I have sold on e-Bay. Just the occasional item, not as a living.
As far as I can tell, e-Bay has no position on who should post
feedback first.
In business transactions consumers pay for the product and then
receive it. If there is going to be a feedback system, it makes
sense that it reflects that process, not the other way around.
As mentioned in my original post, my comments are based on a survey
of gem purchases from 30 e-bay gem sellers selected at random. In
each case the seller was requested to post feedback for the buyer
first. In every case the sellers refused even though the buyer’s
side of the transaction was impeccable.
The point being made is “Don’t put too much credence in the feedback
numbers.” they can and are easily engineered by many sellers. If one
must buy gems from an e-bay seller, then research the seller as much
as you can. A cursory look at a seller’s “feedback” numbers isn’t
enough. If you look around on e-Bay you will find that most all of
the gem sellers have great feedback numbers. It is very difficult to
find any with poor feedback ratings. If they are all so sterling,
then why are there so many instances of buyers with bad experiences?
It’s not enough to say that the problems are just with uninformed
buyers. No doubt there are instances of that. As a GG (GIA) I tested
each purchase as well as compared each purchase to the photos and
descriptions on the seller’s posts. Simply put some of the purchases
were exactly what was described. Others were not.
Going a bit further multiple purchases were made from some of the
sellers who sent gems/imitations that were not as described, to see
if they (the sellers) had just made mistakes or errors on their end.
In a several cases, the merchandise received from those same sellers
was “not as advertised” over and over again.
As far as examples of what I mean as “not as advertised”, would be
major items such as:
- Gem received was an imitation.
- Gem received was not the gem offered for sale.
- Gem received had multiple and severe chips/scratches across table
when the picture showed a beautiful non marred surface.
I did not include criteria such as:
-
Differences in shade of color unless obvious such as blue instead
of red. -
Minor scratches, pits, chips etc. that were not readily apparent
and had no impact on the face up appearance of the gem.
It is a mistake to construe that my post meant or inferred that there
are no honest people using e-Bay to sell gems. I stated otherwise
above. Yet given the cost of many gems, the varying capabilities of
computers, monitors, digital cameras and photo enhancing software
packages such as Photoshop, I believe that it can be a real mistake
to feel confident about making such purchases simply based upon
feedback numbers.
Personally I think e-Bay is a lot of fun. Having purchased many,
many items for over several years as well as having sold a few items,
I will continue to enjoy the e-Bay experience. It is my experience
that gem purchases however are best made in person where the buyer
can examine the gem in detail before making the decision to buy.