[pierrettedE]

I see that the bidding isn't reaching monumental levels but for the ignornant consumer, it's just so unethical!


This is terrible, and from PA!!!

Item description "We guarantee this is a 100% TOP GRADE GENUINE AUTHENTIC FINEST TAHITIAN SOUTH SEA CULTURED PEARLS OVAL Beads Strand, 16" Long, Bead Size
9MM, *** 221 Carats ***. THE FINES PEARLS! THE FINEST BEADS! VICALLA! Look at the Fancy PEARL Beads! Look at the quality of pearls, the layers of nacre, and luster, the reflectivity and shine of the surface and the rich color!!!"

Pierrette d'Entremont
bijoux pierrette d'entremont

[Caitlin]

They sold for $2.47. At least the postage isn't $100, it's 5.95. Add them together and it is about the right price for such a small circled CFWP. Too bad the buyers have such a crippled picture of them in their brains though!

[Slraep]

Oh, wow, they have a SKY BLUE ringed potato necklace of "100% TOP GRADE GENUINE AUTHENTIC FINEST TAHITIAN SOUTH SEA CULTURED PEARLS". But the one that takes the cake is the 100% TOP GRADE GENUINE AUTHENTIC FINEST TAHITIAN SOUTH SEA CULTURED BIWA PEARLS. I think if they also inserted the words "freshwater" and "akoya" somewhere in those descriptions, they'll have all their bases covered.

Slraep

[pierrettedE]

Yes, those genuine tahitian akoya south sea biwas! Unfortunately Here's another one that's being bid on!
"We guarantee this is a 100% TOP GRADE GENUINE AUTHENTIC FINEST TAHITIAN SOUTH SEA CULTURED BIWA PEARLS ... Look at the Fancy PEARL Beads! Look at the quality of pearls, the layers of nacre, ... !!!"

[edit]NO ADVERTISING[/edit]

Makes me upset... There is also 6mm ruby beads and 12mm natural emeralds too that look rather suspicious

Pierrette

[jshepherd]

I feel as though the seller "Vicalla" had been discussed here before. At least one of the auctions has been called into question, I am certain. There is a contact email in the auction so I will send this thread to them. I have strong doubts that their dishonesty is completely unintentional, but you never know!

[pierrettedE]

yes Jeremy, good idea. I think the seller in question may have received a few emails about product descriptions, quality, honesty, disclosure... from various people. I hope...

Pierrette

Bijoux Pierrette d'Entremont

[Bodecia]

I feel as though the seller "Vicalla" had been discussed here before. At least one of the auctions has been called into question, I am certain. There is a contact email in the auction so I will send this thread to them. I have strong doubts that their dishonesty is completely unintentional, but you never know!

Hi All,

I am sure Vicalla knows what they are doing. They sell cheaply but you have to read the fine print. Buy over $50 worth, I think it is, and they slug you an extra $15 or so for handling their precious "tahitians". Every now and again some poor bidders get on a roll and pay more than the low to medium quality pearls are worth. I think most people are on to them but not all. I have bought from them and didn't read the fine print. I knew that they were not Tahitian's though but still some of their dyeing standards are very low.

What really p****s me off though is that they send out a Christian Phamplet with their "goodies". Flogging religion along with intentional deception puts a sour taste in my mouth.

When I do resell their "Tahitians" either as cheap strands or made up into reasonably (read cheap) priced bracelets etc. they will be called FW button pearls or whatever they really happen to be. Mind you some of them are fine but some are really horrid.

Price is okay as long as you don't spend to much and that I DO find ridiculous as well as unethical. So one cannot buy too many items to resell cheaply for what they really are because in buying more they slug you. I am positive they know exactly what they are doing.

But to leave bad feedback (and some do) risks getting slammed right back. My feedback was more subtle - positve but then in BIG letters - NOT Tahitians ..etc. . they didn't seem to spot I had blasted them, but I am sure other potential buyers did. They are way to shonky for me to deal with again and I couldn't stand getting another of their Bible Bashing "thanks for dealing with us" notes again.

Bo

[Caitlin]

This is a very good critique of your experience and interpretation of Vicalla's eBay auction lots and their corresponding advertising copy.

Just to balance the discussion,there are few good pearl sellers on eBay that I know of. For loose beads and finished designs, several people have already given unsolicited positive commendations about Drusy Designs' Care Ehret. Care uses Ebay effciently as a distribution device for her wares. She has a following. She is not cheap, but she is fair to all, especially her sources. She has mostly baroque pearls combined with 22K ( ) gold findings. She gets Sea of Cortez pearls, too.

You are more likely to find good sources for CFWP strands & findings on eBay than for finished strands. My rule of thumb is that it is an illusion that you are paying really low prices on eBay. You mostly end up paying average to high prices on eBay for what you get.

With thast said, Pearl Emporium carries a wide aray of pearls as does Integrity pearls. Both have a family buyer perched in the Philippines who launch off to China frequently for the latest in commercial quality pearls.

I am sure there are more, but I am no longer looking at pearls on eBay.
I have trouble with eBay for pearls myself. I have a set of filters in place to exclude many words but it still isn't good enough to catch all the bad copy. I look every day for a new eBay search engine or eBay search client but have not found one better than eBay's own search, yet.

If anyone uses a good Ebay search engine, post it in a new thread in the Pearl resources forum.