rough & loose stones on e-bay

[rparker1998]

Has anyone purchased rough stones on e-bay before? I just saw a parcel of 300 something carat parcal of mexican fire opals that were going for 15.00! That seems tooo good be true. I''m an e-bay noob but am interested in buying some loose stones and rough stones So my questions are:]

How do you know if your buying from a reputable vendor?

How do you know you are really getting what youre supposed to be?

How do you know if what you''re buying is real or simulated/lab created? What recourse do you have if you find out it''s not what they say?

 

[T L]

According to several cutters I spoke with, most of the rough on ebay are rejects that cutters have no use for. They usually have to buy full parcels of rough, and whatever they don''t use because it''s not good enough for faceting, they toss onto ebay. However, I have seen nice mineral specimens on ebay. I also saw a guy that deals in rough diamonds, and some of the crystals are so beautiful I was considering one for my collection just to have a rough diamond crystal. However, they''re not cheap.

 

[Pandora II]

I have bought some specimens of crystals in matrix, and a couple of loose stones on ebay and been very pleased with them.

I did a huge amount of checking on the vendor I bought the loose stones from and who their customer base was and what they were buying. Most of the vendor's stones were very expensive (and rightly so if they were what they purported to be) but I picked up a few of their loss leaders and would happily buy again (I still paid a fair amount - even if they were bargains).

I don't touch rough at all - unless you know exactly what you are doing you will get ripped off. There is a reason rough is for sale on ebay - no decent cutter wants it. If you have studied crystallography and know a fair amount about judging good rough and how to facet then go ahead and try - otherwise don't bother.

You will only know if stones are treated with either a lab report, having a fair amount of your own tools and knowing how to use them and a fair amount of knowledge about what stones are often treated, what treatments are used and how to detect them.

If you use PayPal you have some protection - but only if the vendor has misrepresented the product. Check also for a good return policy (and remember that you will still have to pay for shipping both ways).

I recommend buying some books - Richard Wise's Secrets of the Gem Trade, Robert Webster's Practical Gemmology and Gem Identification Made Easy by Antoinette Matlins & A.C Bonanno (although not particularly easy!) are three that spend a fair amount of time out of my bookcase.

 

[rparker1998]

thanks for the good book ideas and alll the feedback.

I don''t have a clue when it comes to chrystalline structures or anything in a rough shape. I''m a realtiive noob when it comes to the land of gemstones. i''ll have to see if i can''t find those books.