[jshepherd]

This is a message for those of you who are members of pricescope forums. Over the last week I have answered a lot of your questions and we have had a few pretty good conversations.

But just today I have found that information is censored, and more than half of my posts have been removed, and I myself have now been banned. I read through the rules and can see that I have not broken any, and I have certainly not been trying to sell anything - you all know how I post - it is always informational and non-advertorial.

I am interested to know, now that it is apparent to me that PriceScope is in actuallity a censored shill Site of sorts, who is behind it? I know that several members here also post over there - that is how I learned of the Site just a few weeks ago. I surmise it is a company with ties to the Japanese pearl industry as any posts relating to Akoya and the beauty of high-quality freshwater pearls have been deleted. A long with the entire tutorial on the culturing differences and why freshwater pearls are solid nacre and Akoya pearls are bead nucleated.

[youngster]

I have posted over at PriceScope myself for a couple of years. Shockingly, all of the recent pearl threads have been deleted. I read most, if not all, of Jeremy's recent posts there and they were all were very informative and he always clearly identified himself and his company.

What I find very interesting is that every few weeks or so someone will begin a thread about conflict diamonds or how overpriced and common diamonds are, that sort of thing. Those are never banned. Some fairly heated discussions occur too. So, you wouldn't think, on the surface, that a discussion of akoya vs. freshwater and their relative merits would bother them.

So, who is behind the site? I'd love to know too.

[jshepherd]

Well, someone there is apparently protecting the interests of someone else with complete disregard for the consumer. I feel like a journalist in China or Cuba. Thank God they cannot sensor this Site.

I have reread many of my earlier posts, and there was not even a shred of opinion - that is what I find so confusing. It is not that they could disagree with an opinion, they are simply trying to keep real information out of the hands of the consumers. Basically, a complete disregard for consumer protection.

I am really disappointed to find out that the Site is basically nothing more than a diamond selling shill Site. I really thought it was consumer and information driven. But at the same time, it makes me feel better about this Site (pearl-guide.com). This Site is not, and never will be censored (except for you spammers and troublemakers - so do not get any ideas ) This Site truthly does give consumers the format that pricescope dishonestly represents.

Wow, just a couple of days ago I was a big fan of PS. I read so much of the content and saw that the only thing lacking was the input of someone with true pearl expertise. I guess this expertise may have been present at one time, but they were all likely banned as well.

[Caitlin]

I don't think you will ever find that forum under the word "pearls" I think I am a world class pearl Googler and I never found it. The way it is set up does not emphasize pearls either.

PP was recommended in several threads.......I couldn't even find a post by JS, though did did find some by A-C. Hate to mention names or maybe their posts will be affected.

The one post I noticed over there was a long time poster expressed regret that Richard Wise no longer posts over there. That ought to tell you something.

[ladykemma]

greetings from ladykemma. i was dismayed to find the pearl threads gone, because i am a big mikimoto fan.

ummm, I don't know what you mean by "shill". what do you mean by that expression?

kemma the ignorant

[Caitlin]

A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services who pretends no association to the seller and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. wikipedia

One who poses as a satisfied customer or an enthusiastic gambler to dupe bystanders into participating in a swindle. answers.com

[jshepherd]

Hi LadyKemma.

A shill Site is one that gives the appearance of being an open forum, open to all discussions but practices censorship. The Site is more designed to promote the owners than protect the consumers, basically a facade.

Someone just told me that Richard Wise was also banned once. I have not heard it from him, but his book "Secrets of the Gem Trade" clearly shows that PriceScope is not interested in publicizing the truth, unless it fits their own personal parameters.

Every post I wrote in the last week, including the discussion of CP & J (the new Pearl City in Zhuji), the durabliity of akoya pearls vs. freshwater, auction price increasese, etc. have been removed. Most of it was in response to questions from forum members hungry for real pearl information that was so lacking on the forum. Well, they are welcome here, now, where they will not be censored.

Anyway, I have posted repeated requests for an explanation that have been routinely ignored. And because a standard IP block does not work (of course), no new registrations are being accepted as on the moment. I do not think I have ever been turned from being a fan of a Site to being their biggest critic so quickly.

[jshepherd]

Beat me to the punch, Caitlin! Great textbook answer! I guess we know what kind of diamond company is behind PriceScope.

[Caitlin]

A shill “forum” would not be in business to primarily inform, but to sell. If they are in business to sell their product, they will often find it inconvenient to deal with controversy and/or people of a differing opinion and will often delete posts that do not serve their agenda.

Disclosure:
I was/am a very minor customer of Jeremy’s- that is how I first got here, but I am not a shill because I am not compensated by Jeremy or the forum owners for my time or my enthusiastic opinions about CFWP. Also, I do not steer people to a particular seller. I am here to learn about pearls and to make contributions to the information base here because it is a learning site first and foremost.

PS Pearl Guide Forum! You'll be getting a bill worth a 10+mm freshadama for this post!
(joke! joke! - though that is exactly what a shill would do!)

[jshepherd]

There you go, Caitlin! Payment in Freshadama and censorship over your Akoya tirades...you too Zeide! The freshadama will just be to keep you quiet about my "suppression of free expression" techniques! Your facts can't really be facts if they do not fit into my personal euphoric facade!

Hey, you know what I realized?! Pearl-Guide has been dubbed an imitator by a few other "jewelry forums", except that this Site is completely category specific. But the Site is actually an innovator, not an imitator! It is probably the first Site of its kind that lets the truth be told, no matter how much it hurts, and opinions are discussed and debated instead of locking the reporters away into a virtual gulag and throwing away the keys.

[ElisabethMitchell]

Hi all! I joined just to post this in response to your post on the Hangout.

Who is behind Pricescope? Whiteflash is, and it's cult following, as well. And as a result of that, many former long-time regular members of Pricescope are no longer members either because they made their negative situations with that "#1 Vendor" public and got banned or lambasted or because they were sick of the shilling. Whatever the reason behind the negative situation, either by a miscommunication or otherwise, it was, of course, never Whiteflash's fault once it was posted because it's loyal fans wouldn't hear of it, and the loyal fans include the moderation, who would delete and edit anything in their favor, and ban anyone that questioned them. And God-forbid anyone question the almighty Pricescope.

I wasn't even a very active poster, I probably had about 15 posts in the year I belonged, if that. But the slant was so obvious I just stopped going and found a different site to research my upgrade on, and I found I wasn't alone in my choice when I found other boards of ex-Pricescope members sharing their disgust. I go back from time to time just to see the rings these women end up with and drool because my upgrade won't be that big (my 15 year 1 carat!!), and today I spotted the post about the banning that led me this site.

It's a shame that a site that claims to be so "consumer oriented" is so obviously not. But it goes to show that everyone has a price.

Have a great Sunday evening!

[ladykemma]

well, you will be sorely missed.

kemma, still a mikimoto fan!

[youngster]

You will be missed on that site as there is precious little accurate information about pearls whatsoever, though I do believe that Stephen from AngelaCarolPearls was posting there for a while. I haven't seen him post recently over there. Perhaps he, too, was banned?

[jshepherd]

Originally Posted by ElisabethMitchell

And God-forbid anyone question the almighty Pricescope.

Just found what PriceScope has give for an excuse:

This member breached the forum policies about no-link-dropping and no-self-promotion by linking to another forum that he owns without proper disclosure of this fact anywhere, including his own forum.

Do I own the this forum? Well here is a little known fact. I actually do not. Kevin Canning from PearlsOfJoy.com owns this forum. It is simply hosted on a Website that I own. That fact I have never hidden. Also, I do not Admin the forum and neither does Kevin simply to keep the forum unbiased and clean.

So because I posted a link to a thread on this forum to answer a question by a PriceScope member, I was banned?! Their policies state link-dropping to commercial Websites is not allowed, but unlike PriceScope, this forum is not commercial in any way - I guess they did not stop to check that out. Unlike so many others who were previously banned for no reason, I am thankful to have such a popular forum from which to defend myself, Pearl-Guide.

I would like to point out the fact that pearl-guide is an informational forum that accepts all points of view. This is in no way self promotion. I would also like to point out that my post which contained a link to the forum was to a specific thread which was relevant to the current discussion. I think it is also VERY important to note that I did not post a single link to any portion of my Website. That would have been self promotion.

I also find it very interesting that before I complained to PriceScope my posts appeared to be "randomly" removed. My response to a post about the nacre depth of Japanese grown Akoya vs. Chinese produced, and a post about the durability differences between Akoya and Freshwater pearls. Also a few random pearl farming answers. This was selective deletion. Selective deletion is, in my book, censorship. If you do not want consumers to know the truth, and you delete posts that do not agree with your point of view, that is censorship. Because they are not used to being challenged on their throne they post a message on thier board blasiting me as a self promoter. Many of you now on this forum read all the posts I placed on PriceScope. Was there any, and I mean ANY self promotion? No, I was there to fill a need that I saw was greatly needed. People were asking questions about pearls, and good answers were extremely scarce. This was my only intention, and I do not feel any consumers who read it thought it anything but.

Well here is an offer guys over at PS! I promise not to delete the thread or your posts if you would like to come over here and debate your views. Novel approach, eh?!

[jshepherd]

PS
Thanks guys, I am glad to hear that my posts will be missed on PriceScope. I knew they were being well received. But like I said in my last farewell post (that was deleted after about 2 minutes), if any of you encounter any questions there and you would like me to answer them, just send them to me or post a question on this forum.