Virtual Stones Advertised On Ebay.. no bargain

[Defender]

I perused Ebay diamond listings and saw a really nice GIA stone with a "Buy It Now" Price of $26,577.18

It looked very familiar. Nice specs on the certificate too.

Yes, it was familiar, because the same stone is listed in Blue Nile's Inventory for over $3400 less than the Ebay seller's price !!!!

It makes you wonder how many "virtual inventory" stones are being merchandized by Ebay sellers.

 

[aphisiglovessae]

ha ha, boy are you digging up all kinds of dirt today!

 

[valeria101]

Anyone who can read BN''s website can do that, right? Doesn''t cost much, doesn''t take allot of time and it probably has a better chance of winning something than the lottery. Perfect business, I''d say.

Wonder how come more don''t try it...

... unless that Ebay shop is set up by Blue Nile to make their prices look like a bargain!

God no, I don''t believe that degree of paranoia is worth it. Maybe in a virtual reality market that sort of price manipulation is fair game, this is one step more real... isn''t it?

 

[Defender]

The merchant that is advertising this stone appears to be a regular Ebayer with many listings. He seems to have a New York 47th St address. He seems to have good feedback, so he must get these deals done for the people that step up to buy.

I think that he is just listing stones from virtual inventory and seeing how much he can make by selling something that he does not yet own. If he can get 12% to 15% more than Blue Nile, he is certainly making a nice margin---- for nothing more than an Ebay ad

So, what happens if the stone sells through another dealer at the same time as somebody tries to snag it on Ebay.... Not a likely scenario, huh?