do you ever get bad vibes about a gem website?

[Arkteia]

Since people were discussing bad feelings about stones...

Is there such a thing as "vibes" about websites?

How does one check ebay websites? LD just bought a beautiful stone from a seller she never dealt with, but who had good references. I mean, most sellers have almost 100% satisfaction rate, even the guy selling "untreated sapphires" (see "nightmare on ebay street").

I get bad vibes if people are selling alexandrites or paraibas at auctions, but maybe I am "overvibing" them since their shops may also carry decent cheaper stones as well. I sometimes send e-mails to sellers - if they give honest answers and tell me that their stones may be "brownish" or "reddish" IRL, at least I know I may deal with them. I think LadyD posted her opinion about one of the websites (it was in answer to Messiah Khan's posting about demantoids). Several months ago, I looked through their website and decided not to buy from them. Vibes? Prices? I don't know. At the same time, I got pretty good "vibes' about the website recommended by another PS-er and am probably going to buy from them.

It is all a joke, of course, but how experienced people "screen" unknown vendors? Or what makes them close the browser window and say, "not this..."?

 

[Sal from Cal]

I am from the old school namely "If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is" and "Let the buyer beware". If a tranaction doesn''t feel right I rather miss a great deal then the pain of getting a raw one. That is why I over research before jumping in knowing that while I will still make mistakes at least there won''t be as many.

 

[LD]

Actually the Ebay seller I bought from didn''t have great feedback and the negative responses on Toolhaus were, ummmm, less than favourable and his response to feedback was actually downright rude! I also knew that another PS''er had not had a happy experience with him.

However, I did with him what I do with everybody I''ve never dealt with before (except the PS Vendors) and that is I ask tons of questions and politely test their gemstone knowledge about what I''m buying. Their response (or lack of) will determine whether I buy from them or not. If they offer to certify a stone (at a lab of my choice) for a reasonable amount AND will accept a gemstone back even after doing that, I will sometimes take a chance.

I''ll give you an excellent example of a company who have lost my business. I have seen a gem on Planetary Gems and I WANT IT. I''ve emailed them on 3 separate occasions and each time have been ignored. Will I try again. No.

 

[Arcadian]

Really? they ignored you? wow, thats too bad, LD. I can't say I blame you because who likes being ignored especially on 3 occassions.

I've had good communication with them, it took me a couple of times. I didn't buy the stone but I couldn't fault communication as the reason why.


I've gotten bad juju from a few sites, and when that happens I don't buy, I don't care who they've been ok'ed through.




-A

 

[Indylady]

Date: 2/2/2010 3:43:15 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds
Actually the Ebay seller I bought from didn''t have great feedback and the negative responses on Toolhaus were, ummmm, less than favourable and his response to feedback was actually downright rude! I also knew that another PS''er had not had a happy experience with him.


However, I did with him what I do with everybody I''ve never dealt with before (except the PS Vendors) and that is I ask tons of questions and politely test their gemstone knowledge about what I''m buying. Their response (or lack of) will determine whether I buy from them or not. If they offer to certify a stone (at a lab of my choice) for a reasonable amount AND will accept a gemstone back even after doing that, I will sometimes take a chance.


I''ll give you an excellent example of a company who have lost my business. I have seen a gem on Planetary Gems and I WANT IT. I''ve emailed them on 3 separate occasions and each time have been ignored. Will I try again. No.

I''ve also had great communication with Planetary Gems. I wonder if your email got caught in a spam blocker or if you might have had the wrong email address.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Oh, yes! There are several sites that, to me, seems quite dodgy and I can''t place my finger on why.

For example, I have heard good reviews of ATG, I have heard people in the trade speak well of ATG. But every time I visit their site, I don''t get a good feeling.

 

[Indylady]

I can''t say that I get bad vibes from a website.

As for screening, I generally look for disclosure of treatment of commonly treated gems (such as irridiated topaz or black diamonds) to get a sense of the sellers honesty.

 

[Maisie]

Date: 2/2/2010 9:52:47 PM
Author: plowboy
I have been collecting gemstones for a lot of years and I can't say that I have gotten 'bad vibes' but I have visited a lot of websites that have some very 'doctored' photos of the gemstones. I have had many bad experiences with some websites in that when the gemstone arrives it doesn't look anything like what was on the website. The old saying of 'If it looks and sounds to good to be true, it probably is' is one that I always rely on. You really do get what you pay for!

I have been buying gemstones for quite a few years from Linda at Best Cut Gems http://www.bestcutgems.com/ Linda has always been very helpful when ever I have a question, and I really like the custom faceted gemstones. Linda does an excellent job of describing and photgraphing the gemstone as accurately as possible. And I really like the 'Mom and Pop' atmosphere that I get when I shop at Best Cut Gems. I find that I like doing business with 'real People'.

I buy gemstones because I like to look at them and also for investment purposes. I like having some 'hard assets'.

I've never heard of this vendor. I would love to see your collection. You must have lots if you have been collecting for a long time

 

[plowboy]

I started collecting gemstones as a young child. One of my favorite Uncles was a mining consultatant and traveled the world. He often would bring me treasures from around the globe.

I tried the Ebay thing and got "burned" everytime. The gemstones (and I say that loosely) were either totaly not as pictured and described or weren''t even the right gemstone species. I found Linda about five years ago and she has become my main source for collecting ever since. I have always gotten what I was expecting. Linda is a "GIA Graduate Gemologist of the Year", that is a worldwide honor! I like to do business with people that have integrity.

I know that a lot of people are investing in gold right now but for me I would rather invest in gemstones. The government has outlawed gold in the past and I suspect that they will do it again.

 

[morecarats]

Date: 2/2/2010 9:52:47 PM
Author: plowboy

I buy gemstones because I like to look at them and also for investment purposes. I like having some ''hard assets''.

In the investment business oil, natural gas, gold, farmland, and commercial real estate are regarded as "hard assets". Many investment professionals refer to gemstones as "hard-to-liquidate-assets". Sometimes you get lucky and can sell them when you want to, but most often you''re fortunate if you can find an opportunistic buyer who will give you 50 cents on the dollar. I get emails every week from individuals looking to sell their gemstones, and I have a difficult time giving them any useful advice on how to do it.

If you wanted to sell some of your gemstones tomorrow, how would you proceed?

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 2/3/2010 7:52:29 AM
Author: morecarats

Date: 2/2/2010 9:52:47 PM
Author: plowboy

I buy gemstones because I like to look at them and also for investment purposes. I like having some ''hard assets''.

In the investment business oil, natural gas, gold, farmland, and commercial real estate are regarded as ''hard assets''. Many investment professionals refer to gemstones as ''hard-to-liquidate-assets''. Sometimes you get lucky and can sell them when you want to, but most often you''re fortunate if you can find an opportunistic buyer who will give you 50 cents on the dollar. I get emails every week from individuals looking to sell their gemstones, and I have a difficult time giving them any useful advice on how to do it.

If you wanted to sell some of your gemstones tomorrow, how would you proceed?

I think selling them is not for us mortals - to give an example, I donated three quite expensive rings. Well, I just sat down and calculated how much I''d gain by selling them on the ebay. Ebay is full of expenisve and probably nice things that won''t sell, so you automatically divide by 2 to "move it", then you pay to ebay, then to paypal, and then I probably have to claim it as income because I have my own business and pay taxes! It made more sense to donate them. And if I went to one of our stores that buy and sell jewelry, I''d be stripped bare!

It could be a great investment for people in "shady", risky but very profitable businesses. Often such people prefer to keep liquidity in offshore zones. They know that sooner or latertheir luck will end and then all of their property might be confiscated. For a while, they may not be allowed to leave the country - anyhow, they don''t want to touch the money abroad. Now, if such a person aquired a gem worth a 100 K or above, he can always sell it at a much lower price and get the money to survive on - much less, but in this situation it may become a liquidity. 50 cents for a dollar may really be enough in the circumstances.

I am probably phantasizing - have read a lot of mysteries.

 

[plowboy]

You are looking at investing in hard assets in the wrong light. When I say hard assets I mean that they will always have a value to them. I don''t mean get rich quick! Paper money is worthless! It is only paper, it isn''t backed by anything, not gold, not silver, not anything. If you read way back in the history books, hundreds, even thousands of years ago gemstones were used like money. If the economy really goes sour I will be able to get more for my gemstones that you will for your paper. Haven''t you ever seen the pictures in post war Germany of people carting wheel barrow loads of "money" just to try to buy a loave of bread? How much more "buying power" do you think a good gemstone will have than paper. People watch the gold market and think that the price of gold is going up when in reality paper money is going down. I am not telling anyone how or what to invest in, only what I am investing in. You do what you want. I can enjoy gemstones for their beauty and have something of "real" value as well!

 

[RockHugger]

Date: 2/4/2010 9:52:07 PM
Author: plowboy
You are looking at investing in hard assets in the wrong light. When I say hard assets I mean that they will always have a value to them. I don''t mean get rich quick! Paper money is worthless! It is only paper, it isn''t backed by anything, not gold, not silver, not anything. If you read way back in the history books, hundreds, even thousands of years ago gemstones were used like money. If the economy really goes sour I will be able to get more for my gemstones that you will for your paper. Haven''t you ever seen the pictures in post war Germany of people carting wheel barrow loads of ''money'' just to try to buy a loave of bread? How much more ''buying power'' do you think a good gemstone will have than paper. People watch the gold market and think that the price of gold is going up when in reality paper money is going down. I am not telling anyone how or what to invest in, only what I am investing in. You do what you want. I can enjoy gemstones for their beauty and have something of ''real'' value as well!

I agree with you. I dont buy gemstones either to ''flip'' or sell to get rich quick. I buy them because they are beautiful to look at, and will retain a decent value no matter what the dollar does. US paper money is becomming just that...paper. And I want my assets to be in something that I can stare at for hours .

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 2/4/2010 9:52:07 PM
Author: plowboy
You are looking at investing in hard assets in the wrong light. When I say hard assets I mean that they will always have a value to them. I don''t mean get rich quick! Paper money is worthless! It is only paper, it isn''t backed by anything, not gold, not silver, not anything. If you read way back in the history books, hundreds, even thousands of years ago gemstones were used like money. If the economy really goes sour I will be able to get more for my gemstones that you will for your paper. Haven''t you ever seen the pictures in post war Germany of people carting wheel barrow loads of ''money'' just to try to buy a loave of bread? How much more ''buying power'' do you think a good gemstone will have than paper. People watch the gold market and think that the price of gold is going up when in reality paper money is going down. I am not telling anyone how or what to invest in, only what I am investing in. You do what you want. I can enjoy gemstones for their beauty and have something of ''real'' value as well!

Tend to agree and disagree. During the siege of Leningrad, and horrible famine, people were bartering their jewelry, books, etc. for a loaf of bread. (Because there were people who had not only bread but cakes and everything else, but that is another story). But a loaf of bread can only last for that long.

At the same time, when after the Revolution most of Russian nobility left the country they had only jewelry and some paintings as liquidity (everyone was so patriotic, people refused to open accounts in foreign banks during WWII, and they should have foreseen..). When they arrived to (mostly) France and other European countries, they started selling their gems to survive, and for several years, the market was so saturated that they got only a fraction of the real cost of the gems. Because all of them needed food and no one had job - at the same time. I believe that in the time of crisis there are too many offers and very few buyers (look at the housing situation - houses were considered investment!). But expensive jewelry can be a good investment for a couple of lucky guys.

 

[MissMina]

I get bad vibes from high volume ebay gem sellers who know less than I do. There is a gem now listed as opaque with the explanation that opaque means that it has a lot of inclusions.
I also raise an eyebrow at all the sellers who are jumping on the
SI3 bandwagon. Just call it what it is; an I1.
Still another states his gems are not graded for clarity but are I1 I2 or I3.

On the other hand I have dealt with a few who are honest to a
fault. One actually discouraged me from buying an OEC I wanted for a ring because it had visible inclusions. I told him I have poor eyesight so I wouldn''t notice. He is very dedicated to sharing his knowledge with his customers.

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 2/6/2010 9:41:02 AM
Author: MissMina
I get bad vibes from high volume ebay gem sellers who know less than I do. There is a gem now listed as opaque with the explanation that opaque means that it has a lot of inclusions.
I also raise an eyebrow at all the sellers who are jumping on the
SI3 bandwagon. Just call it what it is; an I1.
Still another states his gems are not graded for clarity but are I1 I2 or I3.

On the other hand I have dealt with a few who are honest to a
fault. One actually discouraged me from buying an OEC I wanted for a ring because it had visible inclusions. I told him I have poor eyesight so I wouldn''t notice. He is very dedicated to sharing his knowledge with his customers.

I, too, have noticed SI3. It sounds almost funny.

Opaque is something that even beginner''s books on gems would cover.

I never bought anything from jewelsroughgems but this guy actually told me his spessartite was "transluscent" and not "transparent". To me it sounded pretty honest. The reason I did not buy from him is that his inventory carried many mineral specimens and I am not into it. But I would like to get other people''s opinion about him.

I think anyone who has at least two gyri in his brain should understand that he has to be upfront with a potential customer but very few of them are.

 

[pregcurious]

Has anyone bought from Topgems? I noticed that they aren''t listed on the list of colored stone vendors on PS. Their prices seem very good.

 

[kayla.tastikk]

Someone mentioned always/often buying from bestcutgems.com, but as I''m browsing through I realized that quite afew of their stones use the exact same pictures... should this give me a bad vibe?