Thaigemstore?

[Upgradable]

The PS search engine is crappity doo dah. What is the opinion on this ebay vendor? Toolhaus is non-specific. Anyone have an opinion?

 

[minousbijoux]

Hi Uppy!

I went through a spurt of buying from them because they have good communication, will cert their stones, and have fast delivery, but their stuff is heavily photoshopped and you just don't know what you're going to get until you have it in hand. Its really a crapshoot. I would only buy from them now if I went through a litany of questions first, making sure I asked about tone, saturation and modifiers. And even then, I probably wouldn't bother.

 

[LD]

Judge for yourself. This was my experience!

 

[Upgradable]

Eegads, Loving!!

 

[JewelFreak]

I'm gawping. Thanks for the heads-up, LD. They even filled in the gigantic window...I mean, garage door!

 

[Aoife]

Judge for yourself. This was my experience!

LD, you are much, much too picky. I see the resemblance, don't you?

 

[LD]

Judge for yourself. This was my experience!

LD, you are much, much too picky. I see the resemblance, don't you?

Well yes, if I squint and am not wearing my contact lenses, turn the lights off and shine a torch on the photos, perhaps there is a slight resemblance!


By the way everybody, the videos looked like their still shots. Please don't ask me how they did it, but the videos had most definitely been corrected also! I was convinced that videos would be accurate until I bought this from vendor. It was a great lesson because now I don't even trust videos!

 

[minousbijoux]

Yes, that is so true, their videos do look like the stills - how do they do that?

 

[lil425]

Uppy -

I see something new and beautiful as your avatar - buy anymore James Meyer?

 

[AmeliaG]

Thanks for the pics LovingDiamonds. I was looking at Thaigemstore for some very small peridots (2-3mm) as sidestones but the discrepancies between your photos and theirs are too much. Can you recommend a cost effective alternative vendor for small pairs?

 

[Upgradable]

All right, I'll show you what I'm looking at. Please tell me what you think.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330565605048&ssPageName=STRK:MEBOFFX:IT

 

[VapidLapid]

 

[minousbijoux]

From my experience, I would say that VL's pic is pretty accurate, but would probably be even darker.

When I bought from them, they had definitely toned it down a bit and weren't so egregious as what LD showed, but everything was still photoshopped and most items went back...I did keep a 2 ct unheated sapphire because it was decent, but don't think for a minute that it will have that Kashmir glow and electric, saturated color about it

 

[smitcompton]

Hi All,

I bought 5 or 6 stones from them. I pd about $500.00 for one of the stones and the others were less. I asked the right questions, but they were awful when I saw them in person. I was so mad I gave him bad feedback even before I maileds them back. He panicked about getting six bad feedbacks and called me at home.(I think he did the same for LD). He promised me he would find me some good demantoids(which is what I wanted) and sent them express mail and let me choose. He gave me a good price for several demantoids that I kept. In return i had to remove the bad feedback, so it would never show up.

I do not regret my deal with him, but I have never bought anything else from him. I understand he has improved his photos to more accurately reflect the real ones, but it was a terrible shock to me to receive such bad stones for the price I paid.. I was willing to spend a decent amount. He's actually quite nice when you talk to him. My son thought I was mean to him. But I like the gems I ended up with.

Thanks,
Annette

 

[Upgradable]

Anyone else? Here are a group of stills I captured from the video.

 

[Aoife]

Anyone else? Here are a group of stills I captured from the video.

It all hinges on the accuracy of the photos, and there's been some negative feedback about that on this thread. But--who knows, you might get lucky, in which case you'd have a very pretty sapphire at a good price. So, how lucky are you feeling?


Edited for clarity.

 

[Upgradable]

Well, they've accepted my offer. So I guess I'll have to see, and then send it back if I don't like it.

 

[LD]

Uppy you never know! I've got to say that the videos of the stones I bought looked exactly like the one you're considering. Honestly, I wouldn't have bought them otherwise. I was utterly shocked when those gorgeous specimens posted above arrived. I don't know if you remember but the vendor came on here and flamed me calling me a liar (although others had had the same experience). However, since then, he appears to have got better according to people who have bought since. I wouldn't waste my money with him but who knows, if he's had to refund enough money perhaps he's being more accurate with how he's selling stones.

If you go ahead, I'll be interested in how it looks. Think the worst and then whatever arrives it will probably look better!

 

[that_someone_special]

I bought almost 20 stones from them.

1 looked like the picture, 2 others were acceptable in color (to me) and the others were WAY OFF.
Trying to return them for a refund has been a NIGHTMARE! I was asked to send everything back and mark as gift- value $20 which would give me absolutely no recourse if they went missing.

I sent them back marked with the $ I paid, registered (which they ended up saying they were ok with but didn't prefer because it would cost them 30% in customs fees and it will take forever for me to get a refund).

Whatever. The ones that I did like were LOVELY but it wasn't worth it.

ETA: All of the stones I bought had videos. Not sure how they did it, but they looked much much much nicer in the videos even.

 

[minousbijoux]

Annette's story is really interesting as I have been trying to figure out what would be in it for him if the vast majority of stones were returned. I guess he banks on the fact that some people don't return them. But Uppy, now that you know how to do it, I say do what Annette did and you may end up with a beautiful sapphire!

 

[Upgradable]

Why don't we have a fingers crossed emotie? I guess because emoties don't have hands.

 

[that_someone_special]

If the stone ends up like mine... It will be a bit darker. I hope it is everything you want though!!! I've seem some junk in his store and then some nicer stuff... I think the stone you bought will be on the nicer end

 

[petit_bijou]

I just recently bought a stone from there and it was NOT well represented! Somehow the photos/video had concealed a big inclusion smack in the middle of the thing, and the colour was very flat and grey in person- nothing like any of the photos. There was also a large window that his description specifically said didn't exist, so when I emailed him prior to leaving feedback he apologized profusely and sent me codes for free shipping on 2 future stones... If only he worked so hard on the front end, it would probably be a much more successful operation.

Unfortunately I sent it back before taking my own photos for comparison. I guess their customer service is great, but the digital representation of the stones is not good.

 

[VapidLapid]

emoties have hands, just look at the applauding emotie.
we should have a finger crossed emotie

 

[Aoife]

emoties have hands, just look at the applauding emotie.
we should have a finger crossed emotie

I've been wanting a foot-tapping emotie...

 

[chloeishere]

I bought a sapphire from them in January. It was windowed, but not absolutely TERRIBLE, just not good. It... sort of looked like their picture. Sort of. General resemblance? But the color was obviously enhanced, in my opinion. I would say it was photoshopped.




I returned it, and other than the wait, it was no problem (they did not charge me a restocking fee and gave me a full refund including shipping, so I was only out the ~$6 I spent shipping it back. The stone was only about $70). I was really, really disappointed by it, though, because it had looked so beautiful, and just what I wanted, in the picture and video, and I did not realize how dishonest some sellers are on ebay, and that stones would be so misrepresented by the pictures.

 

[Indylady]

It only cost $6 to ship back? That's not bad.

I purchased a ruby from them a few years ago. It looked just like the picture, and I bought it for a steal. They were also fast with email responses. Interpreting their photographs is a bit of a minefield though and I haven't purchased anything since.

 

[chrono]

Probably not worth the risk. I have heard that videos can be enhanced as well so do not fully trust their videos either.

 

[Upgradable]

Well, if it's not stellar, I'll be sending it back. Stay tuned.....

 

[that_someone_special]

Doh! Since I am returning my items they actually would not refund my shipping at first ($29 to ship to me) ... I talked him into refunding $20 and I would pay return shipping ($1.

I forgot to mention that every single stone that mention NO window.. had a window.

Not to freak you out... but I still have high hopes for your stone!