How to be cautious? Share tips on how to be smart/careful when shopping on eBay

[pearaffair]

I’m dipping a toe into the eBay world. Sometimes deals seem too good to be true! But if I ask for additional photos, and if there’s a good return policy, and I get the ring appraised upon arrival, is that pretty careful and safe? Thanks for sharing your tips!

 

[marymm]

I suggest also making sure their store has a good number of sales and read their eBay reviews. I also always check out eBay vendors on toolhaus.org ...

 

[stracci2000]

I always read reviews, And look to see how long they've been a seller. Also, I carefully read the description and scrutinize the photos.
I won't buy any jewelry if the seller doesn't show the back or underside of
the piece.

And most importantly, for me anyway, I try not to buy from dealers. If someone has 1500 jewelry items listed, then they know what they have, and you may pay a fair market price, or even higher!
If the seller has fewer items, and miscellaneous household stuff, then maybe they aren't quite aware of value, and you will get a better price.
I won't buy from a shop called "Antique Jewelry Sellers"(just an example, not a real seller).
I will buy from "Mary123" or "Joe's Old Stuff"
Just my opinion!
Good luck!

 

[daneshpastry]

I'm not sure how it's done - but many untrustworthy sellers can fudge the numbers for reviews. I always double-check using this site:

toolhaus.org

You'll often see discrepancies.

 

[pearaffair]

Excellent pointers!! Much appreciated!

 

[metall]

Same here! I started dipping my toes into the ebay world and I'm not sure how to proceed. I see some CRAZY deals and think to myself...that's GOT to be fake. But HOW does one wade through them? Recently I passed on a pink diamond ring just because I just couldn't be sure! As an avid shoe lover, I could look at a pair of shoes on ebay and tell you if it's real...but diamonds and CS's??? I wouldn't even be able to tell if they were glass!

This only happened once, but I saw something I really liked. And although the price told me it was probably a good piece...I passed thinking it was fake and @Niel posted the same ring in a thread a few days later .

So my 2c is to look at price and PS recommended sellers... If it's a PS recommended seller, I feel "safer." And I try to aim for realistic prices for what I'm buying...if it's something like a 2ct tanzanite for $10 I take a hard pass.

But i'd love to know what else everyone does when looking at ebay postings.

 

[CoffeeAndDiamonds]

I recently bought my old cut studs on ebay. Definitely still learning, but first I checked how much studs would cost if I bought them from the usual vendors to compare to the ebay prices. I set up saved searches to email me when new items that matched my search criteria. I looked through the sellers feedback to make sure it seemed authentic. I checked that the feedback was coming from different buyers (sometimes you'll see the same comment from the same buyer listed 10-15 times), and I also looked at what item the person leaving the feedback purchased from the seller (was it $1 or $100 or $1000). I also asked the seller multiple questions and requested additional pictures. This gave me more info about the item and an idea of their customer service skills.

Worked out for me

 

[Bron357]

I’m an eBay guru I guess (over 2,000 purchases over 14 years so yeah).
My tips.
Read the listing, re read the listing, the whole lot. Ask any questions before you bid or buy. Ask for more photos if you need them. Avoid sellers who use “generic photos” you want to be buying exactly what you see (this is particularly an issue with Asian and Indian sellers). I find establishing a relationship helps me sort out the good from the not so good.
Stick with sellers with 99% feedback (anyone can get a cranky hard to please buyer) and over 100 sales. Check out the other listings. If someone is selling a $3,000 ring and everything else is $50, caution is advised.
Unless there is a GIA or similiar report (not an Indian or Chinese report) even jewellers can mislabel a synthetic sapphire as a genuine one. People use Presidium testers not understanding that synthetic gems are the exact same composition as naturals so “read” the same.
Also there is fake 14kt gold, fake 925 sterling silver (stamped even) and totally fake gems. There is highly treated ie glass filled coloured stones, there are “lab diamonds” aka CZ. Price is often an indicator, look for good buys, genuine bargains are few and far between.
Pay with PayPal always. Pay in one amount and pay using the eBay app. Dont send money any other way ever (except if picking up in person, in this case pay cash). You don’t have PayPal protection unless you pay correctly and through the eBay site.
I buy internationally, I’ve bought items costing over $10,000 and I’ve only had problems 3 times.
If bidding on items be aware of “snipe bidding”. This is total legit but it’s where buyers are using a program to put their bids in in the last seconds. It means you can’t “react” to other bids. An item can be at $400 10 seconds to go and then as the auction closes, all the snipe bids load and suddenly it sells for $825! So always decide what your maximum bid is and put it in, maybe an hour or so to go. I often put a low bid in and then watch the auction to see how the price is going before rebidding much closer to the end. With snipe bidding it just means people are keeping their cards close to their chest. If you put in your max bid, if it is “the most” you win the auction no matter when you lodged your bid.
eBay only uses as “much” of your max bid amount to keep you winning the auction. It’s only as other people bid higher, that eBay counter bids for you, up to your max bid. So don’t put in a crazy amount, I’ve seen the results of that. Two people putting in “crazy max bid” to “win” the auction and the price was off the graph. And of course the winning bidder didn’t want to pay and got a “strike” against their account. Two or more strikes and eBay can tell you that you arent welcome anymore. So don’t bid unless you intend to pay.
It’s fun bidding and buying on ebay and I’ve got some great buys but just make sure you are buying what you think you are.

 

[Bron357]

I actually do “advanced eBay shopping”.
I specifically look for sellers who have mislisted their items but in a good way (for the buyer)
For eg - watching a pair of 18ct white gold earring with 14 small “white stones” ie CZ. Now, it’s unlikely that 18ct gold is set with small CZ, they are more likely diamonds. For $120 Aust with free shipping, they are a good buy and worth taking a “chance” on.
Another I’m watching, 18ct gold with 3 OEC diamonds, tiny but very white, est tcwt .35 - but actually closer to .50 tcwt as seller has underestimated diamond weight $199 Aust.

 

[pearaffair]

I actually do “advanced eBay shopping”.
I specifically look for sellers who have mislisted their items but in a good way (for the buyer)
For eg - watching a pair of 18ct white gold earring with 14 small “white stones” ie CZ. Now, it’s unlikely that 18ct gold is set with small CZ, they are more likely diamonds. For $120 Aust with free shipping, they are a good buy and worth taking a “chance” on.
Another I’m watching, 18ct gold with 3 OEC diamonds, tiny but very white, est tcwt .35 - but actually closer to .50 tcwt as seller has underestimated diamond weight $199 Aust.

That’s ring sounds nice! Please message ringmaven on loupetroop ideal you pass on it!

And thanks for sharing your wisdom! Ideal you want to spice up this thread with some pictures of your treasures, I sure wouldn’t mind one!

 

[EllieTO]

Great thread, I'll be following. I've been wanting to buy a RHR on ebay, and I have a few that I'm watching, but I just can't seem to pull the trigger. I would post them here for opinions but I'm afraid someone will scoop them up from under my nose.

So always decide what your maximum bid is and put it in, maybe an hour or so to go. I often put a low bid in and then watch the auction to see how the price is going before rebidding much closer to the end. With snipe bidding it just means people are keeping their cards close to their chest. If you put in your max bid, if it is “the most” you win the auction no matter when you lodged your bid.

Great tips. I kind of disagree with this one though. Why put in a snipe bid one hour before auction close? This just allows others to outbid you. If there's something I really want, I watch the item without bidding and decide on the max I'm willing to pay. Then I go back right before auction close and put in my own snipe bid with about 15-20 seconds to go. It is nerve wracking because you never know if the internet will cut out or you get an error or whatever, and then you lose your chance. I've never used a program for it though. I've been doing this for years (been buying on ebay since the 90's when it really was a true auction site) and I had no idea it's called sniping, but it's a really good technique as opposed to bidding up the price way ahead of time.

 

[stracci2000]

I actually do “advanced eBay shopping”.
I specifically look for sellers who have mislisted their items but in a good way (for the buyer)
For eg - watching a pair of 18ct white gold earring with 14 small “white stones” ie CZ. Now, it’s unlikely that 18ct gold is set with small CZ, they are more likely diamonds. For $120 Aust with free shipping, they are a good buy and worth taking a “chance” on.
Another I’m watching, 18ct gold with 3 OEC diamonds, tiny but very white, est tcwt .35 - but actually closer to .50 tcwt as seller has underestimated diamond weight $199 Aust.

Yes, I look for these incorrect descriptions, too.
Ruby labeled as garnet, Emeralds confused with tourmaline, Victorian jewelry called "Mid Century", etc.
I'm looking for a conch pearl mislabeled as coral!

 

[metall]

@Bron357, great tips! Thank you for sharing!

This is some of the times where I wish there were PMs on PS. I would love for a private place I could ask opinions on potential great buys without worrying about snipers. Though the point of PS is to have open discussions, so I guess no point in messing with a good thing.

 

[Bron357]

Great thread, I'll be following. I've been wanting to buy a RHR on ebay, and I have a few that I'm watching, but I just can't seem to pull the trigger. I would post them here for opinions but I'm afraid someone will scoop them up from under my nose.




Great tips. I kind of disagree with this one though. Why put in a snipe bid one hour before auction close? This just allows others to outbid you. If there's something I really want, I watch the item without bidding and decide on the max I'm willing to pay. Then I go back right before auction close and put in my own snipe bid with about 15-20 seconds to go. It is nerve wracking because you never know if the internet will cut out or you get an error or whatever, and then you lose your chance. I've never used a program for it though. I've been doing this for years (been buying on ebay since the 90's when it really was a true auction site) and I had no idea it's called sniping, but it's a really good technique as opposed to bidding up the price way ahead of time.

A couple of valid reasons.
If you place a bid, even low, you get a higher “level” of notification from eBay as the auction closes than you do with an item saved in a watch list.
No one else knows what your max bid is unless someone else bids against you and if my limit is $500 it makes absolutely no difference if I put that amount in on day 1 or with 10 seconds left. If someone else bids more than $500, I don’t get it anyway.
And sometimes a current “high” bid puts off other would be bidders “what’s the point” they think. And also I’ve seen sellers cancel an auction and/or sell earlier at an offered price because if no one is bidding they think no one is interested.
And despite what “losing underbidders think”, it might look like you lost out by $1 or 50 cents BUT that’s only because eBay only uses enough $$ of a bidders max bid to win.
If my $500 bid loses out to a $510 bid, $520 wouldn’t necessarily have won me the item, that person with the $510 winning bid might have had a max bid of $750, and you’ll never know.

 

[Bron357]

That’s ring sounds nice! Please message ringmaven on loupetroop ideal you pass on it!

And thanks for sharing your wisdom! Ideal you want to spice up this thread with some pictures of your treasures, I sure wouldn’t mind one!

It’s very sweet, a 5 1/2 size so a pinky ring on me (I don’t like spending to resize). Seller won’t ship Internationally but it’s $210 Aust with shipping. If you love it I can buy it and you can pay me.
No, it’s no one I know or anything. Just offering a “service” a lovely US person once did for me.

 

[metall]

It’s very sweet, a 5 1/2 size so a pinky ring on me (I don’t like spending to resize). Seller won’t ship Internationally but it’s $210 Aust with shipping. If you love it I can buy it and you can pay me.
No, it’s no one I know or anything. Just offering a “service” a lovely US person once did for me.

That is a beaut! Good luck to you!

 

[pearaffair]

It’s very sweet, a 5 1/2 size so a pinky ring on me (I don’t like spending to resize). Seller won’t ship Internationally but it’s $210 Aust with shipping. If you love it I can buy it and you can pay me.
No, it’s no one I know or anything. Just offering a “service” a lovely US person once did for me.

That’s very sweet! I’m definitely interested. I’ll make a post on LT so you can find me

 

[pearaffair]

PS - I wonder how much it will cost with double shipping? The seller ships to you and then you ship to me... in Canada

Might start to be not worth it. I’ll sleep on it! But I’ll always remember your kind offer!