Liability and ungraded stones

[brandy_z28]

Excellent LovingDiamonds, that comment was put there for just that reason. To what end? Why total world domination of course!

I so miss this show...one of my faves!

 

[empress]

If you have a website hosted by someone - or subscribe to certain services - you can track where hits to your site come from. You can tell what country they are from - how many seconds they stay on your site - what web-crawlers are looking - etc.

PS knows how many people come here - where they come from - etc.

It used to be that with TV advertising it took (I'm making this number up cause it's too long ago to remember, but I'm probably in the ballpark) 53 times for an advertisement to "take." That many times till you got the brand name, etc. That was when commercials were 60-90-and 120 seconds. Today advertisements are 15 seconds.

Blogs are now more influential than print advertising - than most other media (that's this month!)

Unless you are in advertising - marketing - web advertising - etc. your opinion about the influence of the web is very probably wrong.

 

[iLander]

BRANDY-

PS worked on me I was considering a purchase from Gem Select, and googled their name to see if there were reviews or anything. Google came right up with a thread on this forum. Then I started reading some other threads . . . then I started to wonder about a couple of things . . . then I started a thread of my own. . .

Then a couple of months ago, I went to the diamond district in NY and after about 5 minutes of using words like melee, fluorescence, and refractive index, the lady behind the counter asked me if I was a jeweler (I'll start a thread on the whole story soon). I told her, no, PS had educated me.

Long story short, because of PS I'm wiser, more blingy, and somewhat poorer . . .

GENE- You're right, most people have no idea what they're buying.

Even worse is that most jewelry store employees have no idea what they're selling.

 

[movie zombie]

GENE- You're right, most people have no idea what they're buying. Even worse is that most jewelry store employees have no idea what they're selling.

now that's the truth!

MoZo

 

[soberguy]

Am I the only one who thinks these near constant personal attacks are SEVERLY disrupting the educational nature of PS?

 

[loriken214]

BRANDY-

PS worked on me I was considering a purchase from Gem Select, and googled their name to see if there were reviews or anything. Google came right up with a thread on this forum. Then I started reading some other threads . . . then I started to wonder about a couple of things . . . then I started a thread of my own. . .

Long story short, because of PS I'm wiser, more blingy, and somewhat poorer . . .

GENE- You're right, most people have no idea what they're buying.

Even worse is that most jewelry store employees have no idea what they're selling.

I'm not sure what I Googled to find PS, but it has educated me far more than I thought I could ever learn about jewelry/gemstones. This forum has taught me so much and I've used that knowledge with DH so he doesn't make mistakes when purchasing gifts. I've made lots of friends in the process, too, and wouldn't trade that for anything. The wonderful thing about PS is that we can agree to disagree while learning at the same time.

PS has allowed me to make educated purchases and my gemstone/jewelry collection is something I'm very proud of. I'll continue to learn about the awesome beauties that Mother Earth has produced and I thank those who continue to lend their wealth of knowledge to those of us who thirst for knowledge.

Lori

 

[empress]

Unless you are in advertising - marketing - web advertising - etc. your opinion about the influence of the web is very probably wrong.

To explain what I meant - not as a criticism of anyone - have you noticed that after you look at something - shopping - that the ads on other pages change to reflect that item? I think we discussed this in another thread. The web has the ability to get everywhere without economic "filters" (except maybe in China).

Newspapers tried making their dailies off-line for subscription only, and then backed down.

This is an evolving thing.

But you can "google" something specific about gemstones - and chances are some post from PS will come up on the first or second page. That is influence.

 

[movie zombie]

oh, i've notice that all right: last week i was looking at vests online and the next day the very same vests i'd researched showed up as ads.

MoZo

 

[Arkteia]

Unless you are in advertising - marketing - web advertising - etc. your opinion about the influence of the web is very probably wrong.

To explain what I meant - not as a criticism of anyone - have you noticed that after you look at something - shopping - that the ads on other pages change to reflect that item? I think we discussed this in another thread. The web has the ability to get everywhere without economic "filters" (except maybe in China).

But you can "google" something specific about gemstones - and chances are some post from PS will come up on the first or second page. That is influence.

For sure! My story - I was buying a sweater from Overstock.com - went through their jewelry - got into Estate section - thought about buying unheated stone - started Googling - went to several websites, including mindat.org - somehow got into Pala and Africagems. - continued browsing Pala - google brought me to positive review about Pala on the PS - found PS. The rest is history.

BTW - I first heard about Mahenge from Marc Sarosi and way before I came to PS to ask about potential vendors. Which brought me to Eric.
In the meantime, I read certain well-known books on gemology. Just browsed Amazon.com. Found Richard Wise's book and that brought me to his website. So Richard's statement that everything is done or learned from and through PS is not totally correct, either. In general, it all starts with Google.

When I donated to a certain campaign, I got into "donor's list" and my life became unbearable because everyone started asking for money for different causes. I believe there is a central "donor" computer, or a clearinghouse. Likewise, I believe there is a central "consumer" clearinghouse. Sort of an "information plot" or an "consumer cyberspy network". BIG PS is watching.

 

[digitaldevo]

**Edited by moderator**
FYI, this has nothing to do with sales or my Wife's business. It is strictly and informational website and there to help consumers.

Also, while I agree with some of what has been said. ANYONE selling stones can NOT just rely on the word of their vendor period! You need to and should be TESTING every single stone before it goes out your doors for sale to someone else. That is part of the game. Yes, Jen's biz is smaller, but still has to test everything and since she carries and extensive inventory at all times that equals a whole fricken lot of testing!!!

Expensive equipment is not even a necessity. One can get all the needed tools for under $3K total including top of the line microscope and appropriate lighting, scope used of course though. $3K investment in the proper tools to sell your product is pocket change in all reality! The only reason Jen has some of the more extreme/expensive tools is because I use them for my purposes as well doing research gemology and so they benefit both her and me, but they are not exactly a necessity for just her, nor any other vendor. But no one should be selling a stone without testing it or at the very least only not testing it if it already comes with a verifiable report from a reputable Lab. Because, as can be seen by the big JTV Andesine-Labradorite lawsuit(s), it is NOT your vendor who is liable for the mistakes, it is the final seller to the consumer who is and who can be for damages unless they can prove due diligence, meaning testing the material properly with the proper education to use the equipment in question. If the folks can not afford the tools and the training, then they shouldn't be reselling/selling gemstones. Should a Doctor be doing surgeries on folks without the proper tools and education to know how? I think not! Should a Lawyer be practicing law and defending/prosecuting folks without the proper education/knowledge? I think not. Would you want to go to a car mechanic who has plastic toys for tools and no training nor education on how to use them? I think not. Same goes for the Gemstone industry, only difference is, the Government does not YET require a full license to practice the sales of them.

That is pretty much all I have to say about the topic. Otherwise I will cross the rules line and be commenting about vendors and such and I am not here to down anyone specifically or even generally. Just stating how EVERYONE selling should be doing and how they NEED to be testing everything.