Finally, Someone has Caught on you can't buy a $25,000 Sapphire for $0.99 on ebay!

This entry follows our blog of the other day on more fraudulent sellers on line, specifically "Natural" Sapphire on ebay. See blog entry directly below entitled - "and when you think that fraud can't get worse on line...".

Yes, as we predicted, eventually someone would have the "Natural" Sapphire tested that they had paid a few dollars for, and find out that it was Synthetic.... What is surprising is that they seem shocked! This was one of the most blatant scams on ebay that we have found recently, but then again, we can find numerous ones and it only takes us a few seconds. Below is the feedback that has just started to show up with this seler on ebay; currently the feedback hasn't affected the seller, as they are still at 100% satisfaction. We can bet that the buyers of these fraulent items will not even return them. Why? Because the cost of their purchase (including shipping) is less than the cost to send the item back! Keeping their Synthetic Sapphire will actually save them money.

Recent ebay feedback for seller of "Natural" Sapphire:
LAB-CREATED stones. Seller promised me before payment that they were earth mined
Tested As Synthetic NOT Natural, but beautiful. Obvious by price.


I wish that the material was natural, we would purchase ALL of it - after all, we can't facet those gems at $0.99 nor can we even ship/insure for $10, and the value if natural would run into very large numbers. Actually, faceting the sizes of the material shown would run us literally hundreds of dollars.

Again, if people use some common sense, do some research, etc. one will not get taken. With All That Glitters, we have a proven track record and history going back 30 years in the gemstone trade, 90% of our sales is to the trade itself, our gemstones have appeared in Magazines, Newspapers, Gemstone Books, listed with the Jewelers Board of Trade and have been on line since 1999. All of this is easily verified. We travel the world seeking out fine quality colored gemstones and purchase rough if possible to have our cutters facet. We are your closest link to the miners and gemstone producing countries. It is said that our prices at times are at wholesale, below wholesale and most of the cases, grey sheet - between wholesale and retail. If our prices seem low, this can be explained due to our business, low overhead and the original concept of the business - be honest, purchase right and sell at the best price possible, whether to the trade or to those that see us in shows or find us on-line! Some may feel that some items are high, but this would include those items that are exceptional for some reason, photographed in books, a one-of-a-kind, etc. However, we feel that even these items are far undervalued and might only be approaching the retail price for a similar gemstone of just commerial quality or fine quality. One must compare like to like. Our inventory consists of gemstones and related items that you will not see even in some of the finest high end custom stores. With All That Glitters, you have our 100% Customer Satifaction Guarantee as well as our Lifetime Guarantee:

http://www.atggemscom/Guarantee_Lifetime.htm

http://www.atggems.com/Guarantee_Satisfaction.htm

Whether you buy from All That Glitters or another reputable business, do your homework and use common sense. Don't join the ranks and be included in one of P.T.Barnum's most famous quotes....

and when you think that fraud can't get worse on line...

just continue to monitor ebay...

We have offered our services over the past 10 years to help patrol and point out issues to ebay to protect buyers on their website, but to no avail. Perhaps it is just because they make money with the ad, they make money when the item sells, and they make money if someone uses PayPal. Self policing by viewing Feedback has an inherent time delay. When they realize there are issues, it is too late! When the fraudulent users get caught, their account is closed - and they just create a new one and continue on as if nothing has happened, frequently using the same photos. The owner of All That Glitters has seen this happen before, and wrote an article (including photos) on this particular topic.

Just saw a seller minutes ago selling fancy Sapphire. Large, clean, decent cutting and Natural - Great Blues, Yellows, Pinks, Purples and even Orange/Padparadschas. They all start at $0.99... The starting price, no reserve, the large size, fine color/clarity and decent cutting would raise flags on an individual basis, but all these issues indicate one thing.....if it is Sapphire, it is synthetic, and inexpensive synthetic at that. Similar pieces from this dealer have been selling at prices under $10, with many being sold at $0.99. The cost of shipping is $10 - a piece of this value should be insured based on the value and one cannot insure anything of this value for $10, if these gems were truly natural. Now if real, these pieces should be retailing at about $3000-10000/ct minimum, making the value of one piece about $10,000 to $40,000, easy! Does the public think they are purchasing a Natural Sapphire as the ad states, for only $10.99 (that includes shipping)? The company has positive feedback, but that is most likely because the company has a number of accounts or associates that literally purchase a number of pieces solely for the purpose of leaving positive feedback. We have heard of this happening in the past. It is illegal to do so, but one must get caught and if caught, little will be done.

It is only a matter of time before someone has their purchase tested before they learn the truth and begins entering negative feedback. Then again, with so many flags and using common sense, one knows there is something wrong and it wouldn't take much research to have an idea of what the truth really is. When the dealer is caught, he will be up and running in 24 hours under a different name, most likely with similar photos, auction setup, text, etc.

We encourage any customer, as well as our customers, to have their purchases examined by professional labs. The gemstone trade is becoming very complicated due to the enhancements that now exist, and the only way to discover many treatments is to send the gemstone to a lab capable of verifying your purchase and who can test for these enhancements/treatments.
We have recently added AGL to our list of professional gem labs, as the AGTA Gem Lab is now defunct.

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