eBay scam artists

[NanStacy]

Hi, Everyone,
I see that some of you have been tracking scam artists on eBay.
If you have recently found any outrageous sites on eBay selling diamonds or jewelry,I''d like to know. I am putting together a list.
I would really appreciate it if you would e-mail a link to the offending sites to [email protected]. Just put "Internet Scams" in the title, so I can spot it right away.
I am so impressed with the community on this website. Keep up the good work!

Sincerely,
Nancy Stacy

 

[icelady]

Hi Nancy,

Welcome to Pricescope! This is an awesome community with quite a number of diamond experts and very well informed consumers.

I am glad to see that someone is composing a list of eBay scam artists. There is a need for policing what goes on at eBay. Would you mind my asking if you are working in an official capacity? If so, for whom are you composing this list?

Again, welcome!

 

[NanStacy]

Thanks, Ice Lady!
I am working on a project with a definite purpose, but not in an official capacity. That's all I can really say at this point. You will understand later.

So far, no one has reported any offenders to me--though I see many of them come into my office for appraisals. There have to be a lot out there!

Thanks again for the welcome. I don't get time to read the forum very often, but I send a lot of clients to the forum to check out vendors, etc. and many of my clients find me via Pricescope. They keep me updated.

This group is awesome!

 

[denverappraiser]

https://www.pricescope.com/forum/rockytalky/usgl-official-gem-id-card-t18187.html

Nancy,

Allow me to make the first contribution.

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver
www.gemlab.us

 

[diamondsbylauren]

HI Nancy,
First, please allow me to acknowledge you- It would be great to alert folks to the scammers on eBay.

As someone who spends an inordinate amount of time and effort selling on eBay, I could write a book- with specific violators.
The problem I've run into is this:
There's a lot of potential trouble for the whistle blower in these cases.
THe scammers can make trouble for well meaning folks- legal action, etc...

I find that the diamond forums can do a great job on a case by case basis-
If folks publish a link to a diamond they are considering, a lot of times it is easy to spot the crooks- and once someone asks, it's a lot less dangerous to comment.

Best of luck in what sounds to be a noble venture!

 

[denverappraiser]

David,

Has someone been roasted for doing this? Not you I hope. Can you give us more details about the risks associated with this particular venture?

Neil Beaty GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[oldminer]

Welcome Nancy. Compiling a list of scammers selling jewelry on Ebay will be a large task. I think there will be several appraisers or appraisal firms that will turn up over and over who provide meaningless or fraudulent paperwork to foster these sales. If we find an NAJA member repeatedly doing this nonsense we will toss them out after giving them an opportunity to bring themselves into line.

Please keep us all informed. As head of NAJA Ethics and Grievances, I always look to keep the members in line. I'm sure your goals are similar ones. Its a good cause and I wish you luck with the process.

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=28258&item=2260495498

A good place to start.

 

[Mara]

Hi Nancy! It's good to see you here.

Good luck with the task at hand.

 

[diamondsbylauren]

----------------
On 8/11/2004 9:04:52 AM denverappraiser wrote:

David,

Has someone been roasted for doing this? Not you I hope. Can you give us more details about the risks associated with this particular venture?

Neil Beaty GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver----------------

Hi Neil,
Roasting on an open forum would never bother me- after all- we're all emtitled to our own opinion, and this is a great place to express such opinions.
No, the problem could be far worse.
I'll use a hypothical example:
Say someone was offering an item on eBay which seemed to be blatently misrepresented.
How would one know? - Well, if a private individual offers a stone at half it's market value, there could easily be an explaination.
But say a dealer is offering a stone a half it's market value- with no plausable explaination.
This could be a case of rigged bidding, or maybe someone's selling stones using an in house "certificate"- good for toilet paper and not much else.

But the fact is, today, a well cut G/SI1 ( or whatever) is not going to be difficult to sell to another dealer- unless- there's a glaring defect. Therefore, one could justifyably be suspicious of dealers offering stones way below market- and I'm sure we can find some if we look today.

Another example: Say a seller is offering a "Natural Diamond- Blue" yet fails to mention the fact that it's a natural irradiated diamond.

If an individual, or dealer, pointed out legitimate concerns along these lines, they might have to face a slander case- even if they're right, it could still cost a lot of money to defend yourself.

That's the type of potential problems you could face if you "outed" a bad seller.

BUT- I do not see any concern if a consumer were to post a specific auction, and solicit comments on an open forum.
Just be careful.

 

[NanStacy]

Hi, Mara, David, Neil--

Thanks, everyone who replied to my request about eBay scammers.

Gee, I got busy and forgot to check back after the first few days!

I have sent a link to the forum to the appropriate parties.

And yes, Dave, there certainly so-called appraisers and 'appraisal labs' that support this shady part of the industry. They don't seem to answer their phons much!

If you have eBay dealers you know to be bad apples, it is not necessary to post them here. And I'll see that the info gets to the proper place. They will contact you, and you can agree to be quoted or remain anonymous.

Thanks again-and a happy holiday season to all!

 

[ForteKitty]

Lately I''ve noticed a lot of people asking for the ring to be sold thru an escrow company (fake) or even Paypal, saying that they will pay for it with a credit card (stolen) if the seller can ship it to: Indonesia, Phillippines, Spain, Milano- Italy, Temecula- CA (??). It seems legit until you find out that the charges have been reversed or is non-existant. I emailed a few people just to warn them, but it was too late for most. One lady was able to get her package bacause UPS hasn''t delivered yet, but it was already in Spain when she was alerted. Shouldn''t ebay put up some kind of warning for sellers? If you do a search for high-ticket diamond rings you''ll see those questions posted on a good amount of them.

 

[newenglandgemlab]

Hi Nancy,

I have plenty of ''war stories'' to share with you. I will be emailing....Cindy