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.
< Professional Gem Labs >
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.
< Professional Gem Labs >
posted by All That Glitters at 10:27 AM
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