[Caitlin]

I just found this source. This news is still a big story and as we know, is not limited to the giants mentioned in this articl.

http://www.nationaljeweler.com/natio..._id=1000946278

Overstock spills onto the Web's busy jewelry market

Beth Braverman

JUNE 16, 2005 - -- Salt Lake City—Regular, triple-digit growth: Those are four words that most merchants only dream of, but they are oft-repeated when it comes to online jewelry sales.

Overstock.com—a Salt Lake City-based company that sells brand-name goods at bargain prices—has watched its sales double every year, and the company's recently launched jewelry division has expanded at a similar rate, says company spokesman Scott Blevins, though he declined to give specific figures.

"The sky is the limit on Internet jewelry sales," says Joanne Dalebout, Overstock's director of apparel and jewelry. "I have never worked in an environment where I have seen this type of growth."

Seizing on that growth late last year, Overstock created an auction option to help it compete with online auction giant eBay. In January, Overstock slashed its auction fees after eBay announced a fee hike on its site.

A veteran of brick-and-mortar jewelry sales, Dalebout says her five years at Overstock have eliminated any concerns she once had about consumers' willingness to purchase jewelry online. Overstock's core jewelry customers are women looking to spend about $100 on pieces for themselves, she says. The company focuses on offering a streamlined, easy-to-navigate Web site with plenty of pictures.

"It's convenient," says Dalebout. "The consumers already know what they want."

The company launched a nationwide advertising campaign two years ago to build up its brand and gain recognition. Since then, more men have logged on to purchase jewelry as gifts, Dalebout says. Among the top sellers are fashion jewelry, pearls, stud earrings and silver bracelets, she says.

But Overstock is not the only major company vying for a prime position in online jewelry sales, which experts say is the Web's fastest-growing category. Amazon.com, which began selling watches and jewelry in April 2004, raised its online jewelry profile even further in May with an announcement that it would begin selling loose diamonds at rock-bottom prices.

The move worried many brick-and-mortar retailers, who rely on strong diamond margins and sales in their stores to boost their bottom line.

In February, Odimo, Inc., an online retailer of brand-name watches, diamonds and fine jewelry that does business as Ashford.com, Diamond.com and WorldofWatches.com, raised $28.125 million on its initial public offering, listing at $9 per share.

[jshepherd]

I have used Overstock for a lot of different office items - love the Site. I would definitely recommend staying away from the pearls, however. I have personally seen a lot of their pearl pieces which come from some company in Canada. They look nothing like the pictures and the ones I have seen are of extremely low quality. Actually, I should take that back - partly. I did see a pair of Tahitian pearl earrings from them that were quite nice. But the Akoyas that I have seen had a nacre average in the .1 range, and the freshwaters were off-round, covered with inclusions, and one strand of large freshwaters had been lacquer-treated - the coating was obvious.

[pearltime]

Pearls are auctioned on liquidation.com also.

Here is one thread.

http://cgi.liquidation.com/auction/v...&convertTo=USD

[jshepherd]

Yes, pearls are auctioned there, but as you can see from this particular auction they are as dishonest as they are on eBay. Let's take a look at every claim:

AKOYA PEARL WHITE NECKLACE 6.0-8.0 MM 16” 24KT GOLD OVERLAY

The picture clearly shows a freshwater necklace, definitely not Akoya.
24KT Gold Overlay is their fancy way of saying 'gold plated'.

These beautiful and luxurious South Asian Japanese Pearl Necklaces are brand new.

Hmmmm, Japan is situated in the Northern and mid-Asia region. But it does not matter as the pearls are not Biwa nor are they Kasumiga - they are Chinese freshwater.

The Entire Pearl Care Section

This section was copied verbatim (without permission I am sure) from Amanda Raab's Site, www.purepearls.com - http://www.purepearls.com/pearl-jewelry-care.htm

So what it comes down to is this is just another fraudulent seller. I would accept 1-2 errors as simply showing a lack of education, but when the entire posting is a fabrication it shows clear intent.

[Kenji]

If you look at this auction you can also see that this is not a mistake, they are just lying.
http://cgi.liquidation.com/auction/v...&convertTo=USD

This is the Chinese freshwater stretch bracelets that you can buy for 50 cents each at the HK show. They say that they have an office in Japan to import them - such a joke. What I think it is the most sad is that some of the customers really do believe this.

[pearltime]

The pearls , certainly ,aren't round. People believe the seller is always going to be honest. There are 12 bids for these bracelets. The lucky ones will lose the auction.

[pierrettedE]

The worst are the actual finished auctions: This one finished at $74,000.00 US. Scroll down and click on View Photos

http://cgi.liquidation.com/auction/v...&convertTo=USD

Pierrette d'Entremont

[jshepherd]

Wow! We are talking prison time for something like that! I cannot believe it, however. Who in there right mind would spend $74,000 on pearls when even a novice jeweler would clearly see that the seller is dishonest. It is probably a 'burned' customer who already bought some of the junk trying to get even. Those necklaces are probably worth less than $5 wholesale each - you can see the deep rings all over them! My guess is the seller is a migrated eBay seller that probably received too much negative feedback to keeping ripping people off on that medium.

[mikehrz]

if the buyer sells a necklace and a pair of earrings for $300, he'll make a total of $1000 off the whole lot. i don't see how he could sell a 16" necklace that's doesn't even have a gold clasp for that much. he just has to hope that there's 250 people as gullible as he is i guess.

there were 766(!) bids, 637 of them in the space of one minute! what the heck? the first bid at 4:46 was for $10600. within that minute the final price was reached. insane.

i especially liked this line: "Each Necklace has been professionally strung on 100% pure silk thread that will last you or your customers a lifetime." either they have much, MUCH better silk thread than the mikimoto company has access to, or the mikimoto sales lady didn't know what she was talking about when she said that they recommend that pearls be restrung about once a year if they are worn on a regular basis.