Mustangfan:
I got "burned" by another ebay seller (stones just received today, but purchased in December, like the spinel). This was from Thailand, seller quatl88. He has his bidders'' identities hidden. I had asked why, and the reply was that he didn''t want his "valuable" repeat customers to be bothered by emails from all kinds of people.
Fact is, as another poster said (in a long email about ebay), that we should STAY AWAY from sellers who hide their bidders'' identities. What they''re really doing is trying to keep someone else from warning the bidders away from their bad stuff!
What''s particularly sickening about this quatl88, is that he says he will charge a restocking fee of 20%, unless there is an error. This plus lost postage both ways becomes a financial disaster! I told him that I would put in a VISA dispute if he does charge 20%. Of 4 rubies which I got from him, I kept only one. All were the same color, a pinkish-red, all translucent (not VS-SI, or blood red, or pigeon blood...unless from very anemic people/pigeons), as he stated. In other words, several hundred dollars worth of JUNK! These were supposedly unheated rubies,
selling like hotcakes on ebay.
The one I kept was about $20, and more the color of a pink sapphire, 2.2 cts, with inclusions, which give it a sleepy rosey pink look. But it is much much cleaner than the others. Worth $20, but no prize winner. In retrospect I probably should have sent all 4 stones back, because a partial return might muddy the refund waters...
This guy had obviously mucked around with the colors & the lighting on his photos, AND I think that at least one stone was not the one pictured...I remember a black inclusion on the photo, but it was not on the stone!
On the other hand, I just got a fairly nice 1.5 ct medium blue-violet Iolite, said to be cut like a Tanzie, also from Thailand, $19 with shipping. The sellers Iolite photo follows. It is a nice stone, but again, the it''s a bit darker in real life, more inky than the blue shown...it does sparkle though. AND it does resemble my trilion Tanzie (like a close cousin). I wanted a decent Iolite to compare to Tanzie, and I got it. I had read so many comparisons of Iolite and Tanzie, that I wanted to see for myself.
It would seem that this is a common theme on ebay: stones ARE usually darker than pictured, as someone else alluded earlier. plus all the other stuff! I''d guess that 80% of ebay stones are not worth the trouble and expense. I am pretty much cured...might just venture out here and there on el cheapos. On the other hand, I have corresponded with a couple of US guys who deal with home state (native) stones. Can''t wait to see what there''s will turn out to be like. I found them on a search.
Ger
