[Rose]

Hello

I´m trying to buy pearl earrings

I have seen online stores announced in the blog, but they are in USA and maybe I have problems with customs.

I have seen the following article but I don´t know if I can trust if is authentic

Do you think is a reasonable price?

http://cgi.ebay.com/AAA-14K-585-WHIT...QQcmdZViewItem


Thanks in advance

[Sueki]

Hello Rose,
Are you in the U.K. ?
The ebay seller is registered in Germany, so no tax will be levied if they are shipped from Germany to the U.K.
I'm always wary of vendors who describe as AAA+ which doesn't exist - experts please correct me if I'm wrong.
Personally, I prefer to buy from the trusted vendors on here, and one or two other on-line sellers, and pay the duty. Maybe it costs a little more than ebay, but the peace of mind from dealing with honest vendors is well worth it in my opinion.

[The Pearl Outlet]

I doubt the picture is of the actual pearls they are selling. Some (if not all) of the pictures are stolen from various sites. Take for instance the picture near the bottom right of the auction, of 3 various colored pearls. It is stolen directly from the earrings page on American Pearl.

http://www.americanpearl.com/earrings.html

Also, AAA+ is widely considered a fictitious grade.

[pattye]

Hi Rose,

I don't know anything about that particular ebay seller, but some of his feedback on another style earring is bad. And Terry is right, you are seeing a stock photo, not his actual pearls. It is a bad sign that he is using others' photos to sell his goods. You probably can get some AAA earrings from one of the online sellers here for about $200+ shipping--not sure how much duty on something like that. And that is an excellent value in top Akoya! Good luck!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

p.s. Remember the saying, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is!?"

[Sueki]

Hmmm,
Terry and Pattye are better detectives than I....
I would be very reluctant to buy from a seller who steals other's photos.
I wonder what else he /she is dishonest about......
If Rose is in the U.K. and the items are in Germany, there will be no duty.
For us in the U.K., import duties from countries outside the E.U. work out at about 30-40% of the item value, if the value is over 18 GB pounds, which is around 37 or so US dollars.

[knotty panda]

Glad you caught that, Terry. I noticed it right off. You'd think if someone was going to steal pics, they'd use pics that aren't so obvious.

[jshepherd]

It does not appear as if this seller limits stealing to item photos. Check the similarities here!

http://cgi.ebay.com/AAA-14K-585-WHIT...QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.bluenile.com/

I would not be surprised if the pearls turn out to be lifeless button fresh or fake all together.

[Rose]

Thanks to all

I would prefer to buy in Europe just because of the duties.
Yes, I see that there are the same images from different vendors. I can´t guess who is the original ones from.Maybe is from none of them....Excuse me but I´m a novice.
Do you know where to buy freshadama or akoya white silver pearl earrings, here in Europe in a reliable shop?

Kisses

[jshepherd]

Hi Rose,
Try edelkontor.de, selectraders.com, aperlea.de, or netperles.com.

[jshepherd]

I just went back with more time today to actually examine the pearls this seller has on offer. It was difficult to gauge the validity of the seller by only looking at the photos that are clearly stolen, which account for every "professional" shot on all the listed items. But after viewing the seller's auctions again I thought it important enough to revisit this thread. I don't think any of us commented on anything other than the stolen pictures.

But looking at the photos that go with the uniquely listed items, it is clear that the seller cannot be trusted and the 'akoya' earrings or strands will not be akoya, or look anything like the pictures.

Supposed South Sea pearls
These are clearly freshwater pearls...

South Sea Pearl Earrings
Again, freshwater pearls...

Black akoya pearls
These are dyed freshwater pearls...

Lilac color akoya pearls, supposedly from Japan
These are lavender freshwater pearls from China...

Huge strand of South Sea cultured pearls
Very low-quality freshwater pearls...

Tahitian cultured pearls
These are treated, peeling freshwater pearls. This is the worst strand of all as even beading grade would be a stretch...

[Valeria101]

To bad there's no way to know how long this shop as been in business... or will be. What a line-up!

[GemGeek]

I'm going to have nightmares from that "Tahitian Pearl" photo!

[Ashley]

Whoa Those are some really bad looking "Tahitians"! I wonder how long a strand of pearls that bad off can last before crumbling into dust... At least whomever purchases them will have only done so for 24.99.

[Sueki]

Ahem...
24.99 GB pounds, plus 5.00 pounds shipping.
Which is a total of approx. 60.00 US dollars.

[olmander]

And what would you say about this?

I saw it on http://www.luna-pearls.de/, don't know anything about the shop, although it sells on e-bay too. This collier stands as 10,2-14,8 baroque FW , looks to me bleached but is pretty big and fat, which is a bonus. If of course the picture shows it correctly.

Olga