Warning about Ebay

Jewelry Discussion
21

I for one will never take a chance on buying from Ebay. Some may
have gotten excellent items, but too many of my friends have gotten
trash. One friend recently purchased a flexshaft which was advertised
to be in perfect condition, only to find that the motor was shot, and
the foot pedal did not work. She was able to return it, but had to
spend precious time re-packaging it, and toting it over to UPS.
Furthermore she had to pay the return shipping charges which
included the cost of insuring the package.

Alma

22

An update on the situation with Ebay. I have been contacted by the
seller and apparently they located the dravite and asked me to remit
the payment, which I did. So the stones are on their way. I guess it
pays to make noise. I am very excited that I will get to work with
50 carat stone. It is a bit shallow and would require special
setting, but it will make spectacular pendent. It may even become
subject of my next DVD.

Leonid Surpin

23

To Charles about shill bidding — or a “naughty” person merely has
to have two computers and thus becomes two people in the “eyes” of
ebay. As we have come to the conclusion so many times on this list -
if there is no integrity, then we have nothing in a relationship of
buyer to seller. Barbara, where it’s presently snowing on PEI.

24 
One person emailed me back, appreciative for the info, he was in
the military, serving in Afghanistan.

He didn’t offer you eleventy billion dollars to help him smuggle
funds out of the country did he ? :smiley: CIA

25 
States clearly that its laboratory made synthetic diamond.

If that is what it states then it is fraudulent on it’s face, since
cz may be a diamond simulant but is definitely not a synthetic
diamond.

Big difference. Jerry in Kodiak

26

The talk of suing eBay seems rather ludicrous when Mr. Surpin’s
"problem" is simply that he was unable to buy something. Obviously,
he was disappointed (and was expressing that emotion through
righteous indignation). It was fortunate that the auction failed.
Better not to have been cheated!

I’ve been buying and occasionally selling on eBay since 1999, and
bought more stones than anything else. Over the years, my
experiences have varied; I’ve learned and developed techniques to
estimate the credibility of th= e seller and the item (by
communicating, by examining the completed auctions very
carefully–sometimes even contacting a previous buyer, by only
selecting sellers who accept refunds, by seeing what the seller has
bought, and by other ways).

Once a $500 stone was never sent to me (nor to a half-dozen other
buyers) and eBay (or PayPal) refunded my money. I didn’t have to
fight for it or go to court. I just stated that I never received the
item and was reimbursed. Recently, I sold something to a person who
chose to return it, and it came back damaged in a way that made it
of no value, provable by before and after photos. By eBay’s
decision, I kept my payment from the buyer. However, when the buyer
made a fuss, eBay also paid her back.

About I used to get very good deals, contrary to Mr.
Horowitz (“The final word is if its cheap and a bargain its a fraud
!!”). The quality and authenticity were verified for me by a
certified gemologist. I stress" used to" though. The market, as Mr.
Horowitz bemoaned, is now rather chaotic. But there still are good
sellers with deals (to be found on eBay).

Through eBay, I’ve established relationships with some nice honest
people. Last year, after I bought used tools, the seller–retiring
from jewelry-making–gifted me her bench with my payment being only
for the cost of shipping from her state to mine. Plus, she wrote
down useful advice with the tools.

I don’t want to imply that I’m in love with the company (when
selling, I find it unfair for percentages to be taken both by eBay
and by Paypal, an eBay subsidiary). And there are several aspects of
auctions that I don’t care for.

But I just wanted to establish that eBay can be a practical venue
for buying, and that we needn’t judge and dismiss according to one
experience.

Barbara in northern California

27 
I just wanted to establish that eBay can be a practical venue for
buying, and that we needn't judge and dismiss according to one
experience.

My eBay experiences have been similar to Barbara’s. Mostly positive.
I am extremely cautious. I recently purchased a very expensive
Taylor guitar from eBay. Prior to the purchase I engaged the seller
in a back and forth conversation and asked a considerable amount of
questions. He was very helpful and assured me that should I dislike
the instrument I could return it for any reason. The guitar arrived
and it was amazingly beautiful and to my surprise worth over double
what I paid. The seller and I have kept in touch.

My last big purchase before that was a large tin box of engraving
tools from the 1940’s. Again, I asked many questions prior to the
sale. When the tools arrived, they were in pristine condition and
there were many more tools than had been listed. The seller had also
included their grandfather’s five varied chasing hammers also in
perfect condition and his log book from the 40’s. It was a beautiful
set. Oh…and she included 3 large (12", 16 gauge ) flat metal
discs. They turned out to be sterling blanks for forging vessels. I
notified the seller about the discs as I didn’t feel right keeping
something she probably didn’t realize was very valuable. She thanked
me but insisted I keep them as they were what had been in the box
and therefore part of the sale. I had paid $120 for the entire
thing. over 40 tools and the three discs.

If the seller is fishy, hesitant or vague about answering specific
questions, I don’t bid. Ever.

I kind of look at eBay as a sport. I ask questions and never ever
bid until the very last second so as to not indicate my interest and
thus drive up the price. I also use a sniping program that bids for
me. You put in the maximum amount you want to bid for an item and the
program bids for you even with your computer off. I pay a small fee
yearly for that. It is called Powersnipe. I LOVE it. This has won
many auctions for me and is the original program of its kind. If you
decide to sign up to the service, please use my email address where
it asks for the referral and I might get a free year.

http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/1ti

I have zero affiliation with this company.

There have been disappointments bidding and with items I have sold,
but they are few and small. Again. Ask questions before buying.
Engage the seller.

Lisa, (Spring has sprung here out in the country. The cat has begun
to bring me the gift of mice. Ugh) Topanga, CA USA
http://www.byzantia.com

28

eBay can be a wonderful experience or a very bad time. Where else
could you sell a Chicken mcNugget for $8,100. fools go rushing in.
Always take your time and research. I’ve purchased many stone and
tool on eBay over the last ten years. It pays to watch and wait and
not get excited.

29 
To Charles about shill bidding --- or a "naughty" person merely
has to have two computers and thus becomes two people in the "eyes"
of ebay. As we have come to the conclusion so many times on this
list - if there is no integrity, then we have nothing in a
relationship of buyer to seller.

That’s a very good point to outline. The “naughty person”, would
only need one computer, but two Ebay accounts.

I’m aware of these practices, and you can spot the obvious ones.

Use Ebay or no, that’s up to the individual. These days I wouldn’t
buy stones internationally, the local sources are good enough
(especially when it comes to opals). In the past I have bought
jewellery antiquities off Ebay, with good success.

Still I agree, you should take care when buying off Ebay.

Regards Charles A.