[cindyclark]

Wow--I just got off the pearl section on e-bay and am shocked. I have never seen such cheap prices ANYWHERE! (even at the markets in China) There is photo after photo of stuff selling for next to nothing from sellers in Asia.
So here is the dilemma, I am a manufacturer in the U.S. (I buy in China) and really do have some good extra inventory to turn at a marked down prices. Am I wasting my time to post real pearls and pearl jewelry at marked down (but not give away) prices?
Any thoughts on this? To anyone who has bought pearls on e-bay--what type of products did you buy? What type of vendors did you buy from?
Now I now why the folks on this message board call it Flea Bay! (But I think that could be an insult to Flea Markets)

[lochi]

Hi Cindy,

Before coming to pearl-guide I was about to make a huge mistake. I was about to buy a tahitian pearl pendant on ebay from one of the fraudulent ebay sellers mentioned frequently on this forum. Thank god I googled the seller's name first and came upon PG's discussion. As a consumer, when it comes to pearls I almost never buy from ebay and buy only from the vendors listed on this site (particularly pearl paradise). this is because with the 99% of frauds out there, it is very difficult to tell who is real and who isn't -- and even if the price is really low (i.e. 99cent bids, etc) it isn't worth the risk. I have made two pearl purchases on ebay so far, generally low price items ($19 and $25), and here are the factors that motivated me to bid (despite my wariness) (pls. note they are not listed in order of importance -- just as they come to mind):

1. the seller was usually not in the business of selling pearls exclusively. they were sellers who sold a variety of items (seemed like individuals who held online garage sales rather than those who are in ebay to run a regular business).
2. seller 99% feedback from buyers
3. seller's feedback score was numerous in quantity
4. seller's item was covered through paypal's $1000 protection (though this claims process has nightmarish qualities of its own -- at least its something)
5. item was listed at low price -- under $50
6. this was most important: there were numerous pictures of the same product taken under no staged conditions what i mean by this was that the pearls were either worn on the seller's fingers or held up by a live person. the pictures were taken under sunlight at different angles as well as indoors under ordinary incandescent light. I know this can be faked as well, but at least i could be assured that the pics weren't merely ripped off of other sites (particular from the sites of vendors here).
admitted that simple digi pics such as this don't do justice to the real beauty of pearls, but then again consumers who buy on ebay (generally) aren't buying something expecting it to be top shelf goods. If i wanted a $10K+ tahitian or SS necklace (or fwp of freshadama caliber) I would be better off even at exorbiant retail prices in the brick and mortar stores than ebay.
7. before bidding, when i emailed seller they responded back
8. seller has at least 7 day return policy
9. if seller claims that part of the pearl piece is "gold" then picture showing the proper "10K" or "14K" mark is clearly shown
10. seller is located, and selling from, the US
11. an online store didn't have the particular style of pearl item I wanted to purchase

In the end, I would never trust ebay enough to buy a good quality set of pearls from there. I'm more likely to buy online from a well rated (and verified) business. The main reasons being: the existence of an online retailer can be verified by (1) verifying the domain name ownership (2) verifying the business actually exists by checking with the appropriate state govt (they will have bus id number) (3) reading consumer feedbacks from other independent sources online (ebay feedback scores make me wary -- ever notice how one ebay member accounts for 50% of a seller's positive score ?) and (4) if they claim trademarks on their sites then checking the USPTO's online site for appropriate TM registration. Those are my 2 cents. hope this little rambling was helpful.

Lochi.

[Valeria101]

'FleaBay' insult to real world flea markets... I guess it is, inasmuch as one doesn't get to touch the goods and seller's reputation relates to a fleeting, immaterial persona.

I haven't met too many Ebay dissidents and spend time and money on FleaBay too. So far, I've ended with several saltwater keshis and non-nacreous pearls and intend to add more of the same as desirable examples come up. A dark 23mm baroque drop the shape and color of an eggplant was too cute to miss despite being a nucleated pearl. I am looking for some quantity of fine 2mm-ish seed pearls, preferably vintage; since October only a few came up and prices were quite high with one exception that I missed Might just end up with normal akoya keshi for which I have a local source already, but... what's the rush. Currently, a small lot of 12-13mm pink and white freshwater buttons really beckon I want them! And the seller has some largish petal shaped pearls too with ominous mabe-gai mirror...

'Don't think this shopping list is any indication of what makes good business on Ebay though. It might just be a matter of catching some buzz words and leaving it to buyers to make the 'rational' decision that a more expensive purchase is a safer one at any budget. Selling stuff just freaks me out.

[cindyclark]

Hi Lochi,
Wow--Thank you so much for all of your feedback. It never occured to me to post a bunch of pictures of each strand or the unconditional guarentee (I thought that was a given),etc
I will go ahead and test the waters, although my things might be too pricey to make it work. It is sad that what could be such a great way to business has degraded to the state it is in, I am surprised the folks at e-bay don't care.

[DFrey]

Hi Cindy,
I am not as familar with the pros and cons of selling pearls on ebay as selling gems and gem rough. When I look there are some good values in gems and gem rough to be had, but you have to sort through the dealers that are offering junk and those that are offering genuine products at good value. And you have to check regularly with sellers that you know have value.

You may be able to build up an ebay following over a short period of time but the few people I know selling on ebay complain that ebayers generally are not willing to pay the price for quality goods and I think that is part of why there is so much junk being offered. Some reputable sellers use it as advertisement to drive traffic to their website.

DFrey

[Kevin Canning]

I think the consumer and merchants are both to blame for the state of Ebay. The consumers want pearls for pennies and the merchant wants their business. Ebay also attracts the bargain hunter shopper who gets just as much pleasure from finding a good deal as from the actual product itself.

Well there is no point in using Ebay to purchase an item for the same price it can be had with a real store. So merchants have to offer ridiculously low prices to earn sales, but instead of cutting into their profit margins they simply cut the quality.


Kind of a chicken or the egg situation.

[cindyclark]

What I couldn't figure out was how can there be so many things selling for $1.92 (or less!) with pictures that show something that has to cost more. In addition the sellers all have perfect customer scores.

There is an article this morning in the San Francisco Chronicle talking about how sellers sell (pretty much give away) items in return for a high score and other companies selling the service of giving sellers high ratings...Unbelievable.

[jshepherd]

Originally Posted by cindyclark

What I couldn't figure out was how can there be so many things selling for $1.92 (or less!) with pictures that show something that has to cost more. In addition the sellers all have perfect customer scores.

There is an article this morning in the San Francisco Chronicle talking about how sellers sell (pretty much give away) items in return for a high score and other companies selling the service of giving sellers high ratings...Unbelievable.

Except the pictures likely mean nothing. If they are selling something for a dollar, and they are selling it from China, they are likely selling it at cost, and making money on the shipping charges. Even a margin of just a couple dollars in China is very good.

[Armand]

Originally Posted by jshepherd

If they are selling something for a dollar, and they are selling it from China, they are likely selling it at cost, and making money on the shipping charges. Even a margin of just a couple dollars in China is very good.

Chinese usually sells cheap. Thier business principles is " Make small profits but sell in volume ". Also, the cost of living in asia is just a fraction of the cost in western countries. Thats why we could afford to
sell our goods at a much lower cost