panda08
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2008
- Messages
- 797
I couldn't get over my lust for a OEC so I embarked on the hunt for one on eBay with the hopes of scoring something great without making a gigantic dent in my pocketbook.
My first attempt was a NIGHTMARE. It was my first big purchase from eBay. To make a long story short, the seller claimed to have shipped me the ring and sent me on a wild goose chase with the US Postal Service. She was a TOTAL psycho and even went so far as to have someone call me from NY who claimed to have my ring. Anyhoo... I disputed the purchase through eBay and THANKFULLY got my money back after several weeks.
Shortly after I got my refund from eBay, I saw a listing for a 2.59 OEC solitaire ring. DH thought I was insane to give eBay another chance. The pic in the listing was very unflattering. It was of the ring from a distance and the lighting made the stone look like it had a brownish gold hue. But the listing said that the seller had an appraisal that stated that the stone was J/K color and SI1 clarity. I figured I had nothing to lose so I emailed the seller for more pics and a copy of the appraisal. The additional pics looked the same as the one in the listing but the appraisal looked promising. It was very detailed, like the ones I've received from an independent appraiser, unlike some of the questionable "appraisals" I've seen on eBay. BUT... the listing stated that there were no returns. I wasn't willing to take that kind of risk, so I exchanged several emails with the seller to convince him to allow a return. He finally agreed and changed the listing. On the day of the auction, I placed my bid with 10 minutes to go. I figured that there was no competition. However, with 2 minutes left, someone placed a bid! I up'ed my bid but the other person put in another bid above mine! With the last seconds winding down, I thought about it but decided to let it go because I didn't want to go over budget. So I lost. After the auction was over, I sent an email to the seller, thanking him for his willingness to work with me and expressing regret that I lost out in the end. He responded and said he'd keep me in mind of things didn't work out. I thought "yeah, right."
Well, a week later, I received an email from the seller and he asked me if I was still interested as the other buyer fell through. Heck ya! Instead of an auction, the seller agreed to make it a "buy it now." So I did, and it was mine! (I won't get into the drama I had with PayPal in order to pay for the ring...)
Here's what the seller's pic looked like:
My first attempt was a NIGHTMARE. It was my first big purchase from eBay. To make a long story short, the seller claimed to have shipped me the ring and sent me on a wild goose chase with the US Postal Service. She was a TOTAL psycho and even went so far as to have someone call me from NY who claimed to have my ring. Anyhoo... I disputed the purchase through eBay and THANKFULLY got my money back after several weeks.
Shortly after I got my refund from eBay, I saw a listing for a 2.59 OEC solitaire ring. DH thought I was insane to give eBay another chance. The pic in the listing was very unflattering. It was of the ring from a distance and the lighting made the stone look like it had a brownish gold hue. But the listing said that the seller had an appraisal that stated that the stone was J/K color and SI1 clarity. I figured I had nothing to lose so I emailed the seller for more pics and a copy of the appraisal. The additional pics looked the same as the one in the listing but the appraisal looked promising. It was very detailed, like the ones I've received from an independent appraiser, unlike some of the questionable "appraisals" I've seen on eBay. BUT... the listing stated that there were no returns. I wasn't willing to take that kind of risk, so I exchanged several emails with the seller to convince him to allow a return. He finally agreed and changed the listing. On the day of the auction, I placed my bid with 10 minutes to go. I figured that there was no competition. However, with 2 minutes left, someone placed a bid! I up'ed my bid but the other person put in another bid above mine! With the last seconds winding down, I thought about it but decided to let it go because I didn't want to go over budget. So I lost. After the auction was over, I sent an email to the seller, thanking him for his willingness to work with me and expressing regret that I lost out in the end. He responded and said he'd keep me in mind of things didn't work out. I thought "yeah, right."
Well, a week later, I received an email from the seller and he asked me if I was still interested as the other buyer fell through. Heck ya! Instead of an auction, the seller agreed to make it a "buy it now." So I did, and it was mine! (I won't get into the drama I had with PayPal in order to pay for the ring...)
Here's what the seller's pic looked like:
However, she couldn't confirm the dimensions or weight of the stone because of the setting. I had the stone removed from the setting and returned for a more accurate appraisal. It is a J color but because the stone had some slight blue flour, it faces up like an I . And instead of 2.59, it weighed in at 2.94!!! 
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