Blog eBay Launches Authentication for Fine Jewelry

[glitterata]

Just got ANOTHER call from the ebay rep--apparently GIA refuses to hold onto my ring and send it after Thanksgiving, and they insist on sending it via FedEx. They offered to ship it to a Walgreens drugstore near me instead of to my home!! This is the same drugstore that's incapable of filling our prescriptions correctly--no way am I trusting them with a jewelry delivery! So the ring will just have to get sent back to GIA and resent out to me after Thanksgiving. What a joke!

 

[jeaniefish]

Just adding my experience with ebay authentication. I just sold a ring that came with original receipt, all other paperwork, original ring box. I have over 20 years on ebay with 100% positive feedback , but was required to use this program. The shipping cost me way more than I charged the buyer, and adding insurance was complicated too. I had to remind the buyer that shipping will be slow, due to the ring having to go to ebay authentication first and please do not blame me for that! On top of that, I am considering buying a ring that costs more than the one I sold, the seller has below 50 in feedback, and isn’t required to sell through the authenticity program. I am just about done with ebay. Instead of kicking dishonest sellers completely off of the site, this program is supposed to solve the problem.? I don’t think so!

 

[Niel]

Just adding my experience with ebay authentication. I just sold a ring that came with original receipt, all other paperwork, original ring box. I have over 20 years on ebay with 100% positive feedback , but was required to use this program. The shipping cost me way more than I charged the buyer, and adding insurance was complicated too. I had to remind the buyer that shipping will be slow, due to the ring having to go to ebay authentication first and please do not blame me for that! On top of that, I am considering buying a ring that costs more than the one I sold, the seller has below 50 in feedback, and isn’t required to sell through the authenticity program. I am just about done with ebay. Instead of kicking dishonest sellers completely off of the site, this program is supposed to solve the problem.? I don’t think so!

Exactly!

 

[glitterata]

GRRRRRRR They sent my ring via FedEx and it arrived at my door today while I was in an airplane, unable to sign for it. Despite my telling them not to last week, they delivered my ring to the Walgreen’s around the corner, where they routinely lose my prescriptions. There it will remain for 5 business days, or until someone steals or loses it, whichever comes first.

 

[lala646]

GRRRRRRR They sent my ring via FedEx and it arrived at my door today while I was in an airplane, unable to sign for it. Despite my telling them not to last week, they delivered my ring to the Walgreen’s around the corner, where they routinely lose my prescriptions. There it will remain for 5 business days, or until someone steals or loses it, whichever comes first.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

 

[oldminer]

Possibly, you can send a trusted friend to go to Walgreens, show their ID, sign the delivery ticket and pickup your item for safekeeping. If they know the name on the label, Walgreens may allow anyone who asks for the piece to sign. It may be worth a try. Good luck. I feel exactly the same about Walgreens where I live and their loose handling of FedEx shipment. I use UPS mostly for high value items. They just seem a bit more on top of following safety procedures and security.

 

[glitterata]

Possibly, you can send a trusted friend to go to Walgreens, show their ID, sign the delivery ticket and pickup your item for safekeeping. If they know the name on the label, Walgreens may allow anyone who asks for the piece to sign. It may be worth a try. Good luck. I feel exactly the same about Walgreens where I live and their loose handling of FedEx shipment. I use UPS mostly for high value items. They just seem a bit more on top of following safety procedures and security.

Hm…the idea that they would hand over the package to someone who isn’t me is not exactly comforting.

I begged eBay to send the ring via USPS, where I could go pick it up at the post office, or to hold off shipping until after Thanksgiving, but they refused. It’s not THAT expensive a ring—not what many people around here consider high value—and it won’t be the end of the world if it vanishes. But it is VERY ANNOYING that they insisted on sending it out for this useless evaluation and then being so inflexible and inconsiderate about shipping.

 

[glitterata]

Well, after all my complaining, the Walgreen's had my ring and handed it over without fuss when I asked for it. (Wish they were that organized with my prescriptions!)

Ebay shipped it with extra congratulatory packaging ("Prepare to fall in love"; "This was a brilliant idea"). They included the old cardboard box and reused Nieman Marcus pouch the original seller must have shipped it in, as well (thanks, ebay!).

The ring arrived caked in finger gunk, which is a little odd--I would expect GIA to have to clean the stones in order to identify them as natural/synthetic--but whatever, I'm happy to clean it myself.

The ebay rep had called me to tell me about a discrepancy--the ring, she said, was listed as 950 platinum but tested as only 900 platinum. The report says it's 920 platinum. I don't mind. The ebay rep didn't mention another discrepancy--the seller listed the size as 6, but the report says it's 5.75. Fine--close enough, and easy enough to size if it weren't. (This would bother me if it were an impossible-to-size eternity ring, though.)

But the biggest discrepancy, which nobody mentioned when they phoned me, is that GIA seems to think the sapphires are natural! They figured that out despite the dirt. Why didn't THAT trigger a rejection? Very strange.

 

[Mjay]

Question for you guys. I haven’t sold on eBay in awhile. How do you navigate insurance with this authenticity bs. Am I responsible to have insurance while it is being authenticated? How about from authentication to the buyers? Im totally confused.

 

[Niel]

I purchased another item on November 25th. It hasn’t even completed the authentication yet.

 

[Slickk]

I purchased another item on November 25th. It hasn’t even completed the authentication yet.

I’m contemplating purchasing a piece that needs authentication and I am not sure I want to go through that …. Has to hurt sellers.

 

[glitterata]

This is interesting: I was looking at a ring in the authentication program. The seller sent me an offer for 10% off, which bumped it down to near the $500 cutoff for authentication. I bought it and added a further 10% off coupon, which bumped it below $500 for the ring itself, but the total was still a bit over $500 with tax and shipping. I wonder whether they'll be sending it to GIA????

 

[nala]

Question for you guys. I haven’t sold on eBay in awhile. How do you navigate insurance with this authenticity bs. Am I responsible to have insurance while it is being authenticated? How about from authentication to the buyers? Im totally confused.

Did you ever find an answer to this?

 

[Slickk]

I’m contemplating purchasing a piece that needs authentication and I am not sure I want to go through that …. Has to hurt sellers.

Following up…it took an extra week. My piece was authenticated and shipped to me. Took about two weeks total.

 

[oldminer]

I have been performing physical examination of estate jewelry items that a couple of well known online sellers use. This involves verification of metal types, stating the apparent age and maker of some pieces, diamond grading estimates, and colored gem identification. Judging by what the vendors tell me and the increasing level of work for me, this kind of verification is something the public really finds useful and comforting. It occasionally saves a dealer from making a mistake on an item that has some sort of problem of quality, condition, or identity.

eBay has so many problems with ignorant or dishonest descriptions in the gemstone and jewelry specialty that something needed to be done. The current model seems complex and slow, but it is providing some measure of safety for consumers who must blindly trust sellers they don't know at all.

 

[Mjay]

Did you ever find an answer to this?

Nope. It’s very frustrating. As a private seller, I don’t feel comfortable listing anything of high value on eBay right now.

 

[glitterata]

This is interesting: I was looking at a ring in the authentication program. The seller sent me an offer for 10% off, which bumped it down to near the $500 cutoff for authentication. I bought it and added a further 10% off coupon, which bumped it below $500 for the ring itself, but the total was still a bit over $500 with tax and shipping. I wonder whether they'll be sending it to GIA????

This ring did go out for authentication, so I guess the cutoff is calculated before discounts. (Which makes sense--some buyers are probably making decisions in part based on authentication, so it would be a problem if the discounts bumped an item out of the authentication program.) There were no discrepancies this time; GIA agreed that the size, material, and diamond details were as claimed. The authentication report said SI1, though the listing had just said SI, and the report didn't mention the color (K claimed, looks yellower to me, but what do I know?). This time the package arrived when I was home, so I didn't have to go get it at Walgreen's.

I'm still very puzzled about the ring with the sapphires that the seller claimed were synthetic and GIA said were natural. Why didn't that HUGE discrepancy affect the sale? They called me to discuss the fact that it was 900 plat instead of 950 (though the report says 920), but nobody mentioned that the synthetic sapphires were actually real! I guess this program really is for protecting buyers and not sellers?

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Question for anyone who has bought recently. I passed on a no return OEC on Ebay because the seller listed the size and clarity as estimated due to the diamond being graded by his jeweler as mounted. No GIA cert. I just didn't trust that the authenticator would be strict regarding size and clarity due to the seller's wording. Did I miss a great opportunity or was the caution warranted? The purchase price was over 7k.

 

[glitterata]

Question for anyone who has bought recently. I passed on a no return OEC on Ebay because the seller listed the size and clarity as estimated due to the diamond being graded by his jeweler as mounted. No GIA cert. I just didn't trust that the authenticator would be strict regarding size and clarity due to the seller's wording. Did I miss a great opportunity or was the caution warranted? The purchase price was over 7k.

Did the listing claim it would be sent out for authentication?

Ebay says they're allowed to claim it's 1 grade higher color and 2 grades cleaner than GIA thinks it is, and it'll still pass. https://www.ebay.com/authenticity-guarantee/jewelry/disclaimer

If it goes through the authentication process, GIA will be examining it in the mounting, and I don't know if they even clean it first--my purple sapphire ring arrived with finger grime in the setting. But maybe they have to clean diamond rings in order to evaluate the diamonds? Anyway, it's not like you're getting a GIA cert--you're getting a (presumably) neutral appraiser who works for GIA giving their opinion of a diamond in a setting. And they don't actually tell you what they think the color is, just whether the item "passes" (is within their tolerances).

So yeah, I wouldn't personally risk $7K on a no-return item that could be off by 1 color grade and 2 clarity grades. I would want a no-questions-asked return policy so I could take it to an appraiser (and not have to argue about whether they liked my appraiser).

 

[asterismdispersion]

So far my experience with the authentication guarantee, for colored stones in gold, has been positive. My purchases have not included diamonds; I do wonder if the grading tolerance for diamonds that are in settings is very particular at GIA versus vendor estimates. I have purchased two items that inched above the amount to qualify for the eBay authentication guarantee. The first one, in November 2022, was a colored stone with readily apparent inclusions in a mounting stamped 14k. That passed the check as advertised. I await a second piece, a variety of quartz that is also in 14k, that was recently accepted at GIA.

 

[Mjay]

So I got on chat with eBay. To refresh everyone’s memory I was concerned about liability during the authentication process and then when being shipped from the authenticator to the buyer. This was the response and I still don’t quite understand because say I ship FedEx and I insure via FedEx; FedEx is not gonna cover the liability when it’s at the authenticator so this makes no sense to me. I have an item that I would probably be listing around the 14k mark and possibly another around the 27k mark. I can’t be out that kind of money if the items are damaged or lost by the authenticator or lost in transit between the authenticator and the buyer. I was hoping to try eBay before sending to Grace because I don’t want to be stuck in consignment jail plus her fees are so high.