[knotty panda]

True, true, true, liable, liable, liable. You can go on e-bay today and find more fake Tiffany items than authentic. The dealers know this, I'm convinced, because when a Tiffany "trademark" is shown to be fraudulent, most dealers ignore the fraud claim, and some get real cagey and revise the description to "Tiffany" in quotes, or Tiffany-like. The same thing is happening with Mikimoto.

With brand name pearls, the only value is in the clasp. The house brand name certifiers can't even identify their own pearls, that's how much alike pearls are. All they are certifying is the clasp.

The pity is, the consumer thinks they are purchasing pearls of value when all they are purchasing is a used clasp. The pearls without the clasp are worthless.

Sad but true.

E-bay officials are amazingly difficult to get a hold of. They don't involve themselves in fraud claims unless brought into the battle kicking and screaming. And even then, they are pretty much worthless in protecting the consumer.

The best thing for the consumer to do is completely familiarize themselves with the product's hallmark. Tiffany and Mikimoto hallmarks are extremely intricate and I've yet to see a hallmark that could not be distinguished from authentic to fraud with a decent picture. Also, hallmarks are placed in various areas on pieces and pointing in various directions.

Of course, familiarity won't protect you from purchasing a product that is not the photo of the product you are receiving, but chances are, if they have the real thing pictured, they will ship the real thing.

There's quite a few Tiffany vendors on e-bay I have issue with. Can you tell?