Buying a sealed certified diamond online

[princesseunice]

Hi, all.

After a little blunder in buying some blings, I''m now in need of some advice. I am interested in some diamonds (off course !!

) in e-bay.

Some of them comes with an EGL certificate and the seller says that it is sealed and everything. He/she has a reserve price and a Buy it Now (BIN) price, so I imagine that it won''t be one of those cheapie stuff. The BIN for an H IF for a little over a carat is GBP715 (around 1,400 USD).

Another one is not sealed, but comes with an IGI a quarter of a carat HIF that is on auctinn (current price a little over 100 ending in less than 48 hours).

What do you think ?? Keep in mind that I''m in Asia, and I think most big names in pricescope don''t deliver here.

 

[Yekutiel]

What does a "sealed" certified diamond mean?

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 4/13/2008 11:47:23 PM
Author: Yekutiel
What does a ''sealed'' certified diamond mean?

NOTHING. Princess, please stay away. These ebay auctions are no good. If it is too good to be true it probably is. The certificates that they come with are no better than Joe Schmoe writing on a piece of paper "I certify that these diamonds are H IF".

And all the quality PS dealers will ship to Asia I assume. They all will ship to the UK, Australia, and Switzerland, so I don''t see how Asia is any different!!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

I tried the whole "too good to be true" diamond auction on Ebay.

It was no good. An advertised E, SI2 came to me looking like someone stepped on it, shattered every molecule inside, then rolled it around in chewed up Oreo cookies for good measure, stuck it in an envelope with an "IGL" certificate and maied it to me USPS.

Stay away - it''s not worth the trouble and you''ll likely end up with what is basically a diamond shaped piece of concrete.

 

[princesseunice]

Thanks for responding... I bought some online, only little ones. The biggest one was a 40pts princess. advertised HVVS, and turned out to be an ISi (I posted it here awhile ago). But I love it, and the inclusion was hard to find anyway (definitely NOT with naked eye). I guess it was the case where I got what I paid for (it was 270). And abazias sells JSI1''s for 600 !!! The over a third of a carat IVS turned out to be a JSi too.... but it was also only in the 150''s delivered (over 300 in B&M stores, online and not). So it was still worth the $$. I guess I could beat the seller up for "false advertising", but hey, that''s what e-bay diamonds are like, right ?? And I''m quite happy with them anyway, so I''ll let it pass.

The diamond in question comes like this (see picture). The seller says that it''s sealed and with its original certificate. I imagine the "sealed" part to be like one of those gold bullions I have, so it''s sealed by the certificate issuer (or the miner, in the gold bullion case).

Stay away ????

 

[Showmethefire]

Its better to buy from the pricescope vendors than ebay. They are more reliable. I guess ebay''s fine for some things. But I''ll never get my diamond from them.
Goodoldgold seems to get quite good reviews from most ppl here. So you might want to check them out. They give a lot of information about each diamond they sell. And they are very patient with each of their customers.

 

[DiamondExpert]

With this kind of attitude...

"I guess I could beat the seller up for "false advertising", but hey, that''s what e-bay diamonds are like, right ?? And I''m quite happy with them anyway, so I''ll let it pass. "

...the eBay rip off artist will always be around to take advantate of the ill informed!

...rock on, but don''t come bitching about getting screwed when the chips are down...no one will be interested in your sob story!

 

[Showmethefire]

Wow, some strong words there.

 

[DiamondExpert]

That''s correct, strong words indeed, but no apologies here!

...honest trade folks get it from both sides...the crooked elements within our trade work to erode the public''s trust, AND the criminal elements among the public attempt to steal through credit card fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, etc.

...unfortunately we all pay the price for that activity...every time YOU buy a diamond or gemstone.

 

[princesseunice]

Hi, Gary.... thanks for the "input". I know you''ve probably read and responded to lots of sob stories. But I am NOT one of them.

I was NOT uniformed, since I read all the feedback and knew that some of their informed customer said the same thing (the seller bumped the blings by about 1-2 grades). That''s why I base my bid on a I/JSi instead of HVS as the seller said this stone was. AND the value is still great. AND I''m happy about it. So I was NOT bitching ANY sob story. Never did and hopefully never will.

I was asking for advice for something else today, which is a certified stone and not in a No Reserve Bid that would fetch a too good to be true price. The Buy It Now price is very close to the B&M price of around 1,500 USD for half a carat and the seller has a reserve price too. And I thank you all for your inputs.

 

[Broosta]

Hi, at the end of the day if you buy diamonds from ebay and are happy with the results then thats good for you.
But since you asked for opinions here''s mine. I wouldn''t touch those ebay diamonds with a barge pole.
Whilst you may be able to account for an overestimated colour grade or clarity grade there is no mention of the most important detail which is the cut grade.
Maybe you shouldn''t go down this slippery slope but have you compared these diamnonds you bought off ebay to ''ideal cut'' or ''excellent cut'' diamonds?
Have you seen a ''hearts and arrows'' diamond before?

 

[denverappraiser]

I’m a little confused.

You apparently count that the grading is unreliable but you are still relying on it. Why? In particular, you are assuming that it has been bumped by 1-2 grades? Why not 3? Or 6?

You’ve made several comments about the comparable cost of ‘similar’ diamonds in a b&m store. How did you come by this information without knowing the grade of the stone? All b&m stores do not charge the same rates and although it’s true that some charge quite a bit, I presume that you weren’t planning on shopping at the expensive ones anyway so what difference does it make what they charge? If you’re looking for evidence of a ‘good deal’, coming in below the most expensive potential source doesn’t really tell you much. It’s like saying that Honda’s are cheaper than Ferraris and are therefore a good deal. Indeed they are cheaper, but if you want to know if it’s a good deal or not you need to be comparing to the offers from other Honda dealers. What Ferrari wants is irrelevant.

You mentioned buying a 0.40/H/VVS1 that turned out to be I/SI, which is a 3-5 grade slip depending on where in the SI range you’re talking about. How did you make the I/SI determination? Is that grader a source that you consider reliable?

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[LegacyGirl]

Date: 4/13/2008 11:59:17 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
I tried the whole ''too good to be true'' diamond auction on Ebay.

It was no good. An advertised E, SI2 came to me looking like someone stepped on it, shattered every molecule inside, then rolled it around in chewed up Oreo cookies for good measure, stuck it in an envelope with an ''IGL'' certificate and maied it to me USPS.

Stay away - it''s not worth the trouble and you''ll likely end up with what is basically a diamond shaped piece of concrete.

Best description I''ve heard in a while!

 

[DiamondExpert]

Hi princesseunice - sorry for blowing up early this morning...in the cold light of morning I realize it was a bit out of line.

My intention was to draw attention to NOT letting the scam artists get away with their continued abuse of what could/should be safe venues with a fair playing field for business purposes...it erodes the trust and drives everyone to the lowest common level until the system finally fails...but a lot of folks get hurt along the way.

 

[sparxs111]

I have seen a 'sealed' diamond a few weeks ago it was from the 80's and someone had purchased it for an investment at the time. It is basically just a little plexi glass case. Which means ANYONE can make them and glue them together.... So unless you know the dealer giving it to you and you TRUST them, there is nothing special in saying it is a sealed diamond. Just one more way to pull people in to trying to get buyers to trust the eaby dealer. Dealers used to do this a while ago...but doesn't happen much anymore if at all. Someone feel free to correct me.

 

[DiamondExpert]

...that''s right - back in the late 70''s, early 80''s when diamond prices soared there were a lot of "sealed" diamonds for folks who were buying them as an "investment"...those prices were wildly speculative, and many got terribly burned in the exercise when they collapsed.

 

[Splinter]

I totally agree with DiamondExpert. A few stories of dodgy dealers gave me a very jaded view of the entire diamond selling industry. It felt like everyone was trying to pull a fast one. Hearing about grade bumping and other less than honest practices is what made me start to really research diamonds before buying. But it''s all because of a few conmen that I judged the entire group.

People (like those you''ve dealt with on eBay) only contribute to that negative perception. It''s not so much of a problem for you, because you expect that the grading is off (although you might be shocked to learn by exactly how much!), but what about those who know nothing of diamonds, who believe they are getting what the seller claims, because they don''t know better?

P.S. It''s only after hanging about on Pricescope for ages, plus reading everything about diamonds that I can find, that I''ve started to trust some diamond vendors again, but I doubt I will ever shake the belief that most people in the diamond industry are trying to con me...

 

[arjunajane]

Eunice,
I have read and responded to both of your other threads with all the diamonds you had bought from ebay and their pics - here is a thread if any other posters are interested https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/bought-a-princess-online.81939/
I gave you my honest opinion then and I would like to give it now - even though you only paid a couple hundred $ for those stones, they were falsely graded and to be totally sincere didn''t look all that hot. So I think this is more a case of getting "even less than what you paid for" rather than "getting what you paid for".

The reason i say this is you could just take all the dough your spending on these ebay diamonds and buy one or two really beautiful ideal cut diamonds from PS recommended vendors - you have no aversion to buying online so I just don''t see why you keep opening yourself up to getting ripped - sorry!

And as for the "sealed diamond", I have to agree with the other posters aswell - this means nothing in my book. Any body can get a stone and cert and seal them in a little plastic box - I don''t see how this gives you any garauntees at all..

Please please please! For the price you are willing to pay for a potential SCAM, we can help you find an amazing diamond that is certified by a respected Lab, has the 100% backing of the vendor, will be FAR superior to anything you''re looking at now, will have fair and reasonable return policy , and will also have an upgrade policy you can use in the future.
I don''t think you can say your ebay vendor can supply Any of these things

Sorry if you think me short, I just don''t like to see you waste any more money. I know you said you don''t mind the colour and clarity grades are off, but like diamond expert said and I agree, this kind of attitude keeps dodgy sellers in business to rob other uninformed consumers..

Please let us know if you want to consider a PS vendor for your purchase and we will all be happy to help!

 

[princesseunice]

Thank you, Gary.... I couldn''t stop thinking what I did that was so wrong to get such a "cold" reaction. If I did step on a line, though, then I''m sorry, everyone, I didn''t mean to.

Yes, after lurking PS for awhile, I do know about hearts and arrows. And yes, I do know what a big, huge, humongous different an ideal cut makes. Btw, the grades I got was from a good family friend who used to sell diamonds, not the most reliable of source, I know, but at least I''m not "blinded" by a fact thrown by a seller.

Let''s get past the stones that I have bought, okay ? My question were about the sealed certified diamond and not those two stones I already got. Because I might be the case where simple things amuse simple minds in that particular case. I did NOT expect those particular ones to be perfect, because I knew as a fact that they wouldn''t be. But they were good enough to make my simple eyes (with and without a loupe

) happy at that price.


Now, on the road to perfection, I am asking around about these sealed diamonds that the seller DID claim to have saved as an investment. I''ve decided to stay away, thank you very much.

As to wanting to buy the Ferrari of Diamonds, yes, Neil... I am hoping that one day I would be. That''s why I''m to ask around and learn as much as I can. So if you please be patient, one day, I''ll get there.

Thanks again, experts !!!