[lucyryalls]

Hi Guys!

I need to buy 12 multicoloured baroque Tahitian pearls around 11 - 13mm (the more variation in colour the better). I would like near round / semi-baroque (ie nothing too quirky!!) circled if possible - but not too many blemishes (I dont know how easy that will be). If anyone could help me with this it would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Lucy

PS I am in the Philippines so would need to ship there.

[jshepherd]

What I suggest is emailing me or another seller here on the forum as most sellers will not respond to these kind of questions (a self promotion/advertising issue). I would be glad to help you out if you would like to drop me a line:
pearlparadise@gmail.com

[perlas]

hi lucy,

i just sent an e-mail to you.

if you would like to buy off-shore, please note that philippine customs can be disappointing especially when they tax for small private parcels.

the last time i bought some stuffs from thailand, the taxes were almost as high as the purchase. fyi, under the philippine tariff and customs code, precious and semi-precious gems are supposed to have a 3% duty and 0% if imported from ASEAN countries. this is not the tax rate that i received.

in case of pearls, the duty is 10% and 3% if imported from ASEAN countries.

if you know someone who is a member of the guild of philippine jewellers, inc., then he/she may be able to help you with the 0% duty (under republic act no. 8502).

better yet, if you have family or friends outside the country who is willing to purchase the gems for you and visiting you soon, this is the best way to get the stuffs.

it is ironic that due to high fraudulent credit cards in the philippines, only few companies accept credit cards if purchasing from the philippines but they will be able to accept remittance.

good luck!

[jshepherd]

I agree with you about the tax. It is very high shipping to the Philippines. I recently sent a package that was imposed a duty higher than the value.

Regarding the fraudulent transations, this used to be a problem. But we finally, finally have a fool-proof way of accepting transactions from any country in the world via credit card with 0 liabilty. We have finally been able to welcome back customers from places like Malaysia, Singapore, and Montreal (yes - Montreal, Canada - the Internet Indonesia of North America).

2 secrets to creating a successful online business! This is it though - for the rest, you have to buy/read the book!
Legal Insurance - www.cover-your-business.com
Transaction Insurance - www.Paily.com

Both are very cheap, and worth at thousands for every dollar you spend!

[Richard W. Wise]

Jeremy,

Have started getting a fair number of international inquiries, people interested in buying loose stones; Singapore, New Zealand, UK. Don't come up to the Paily minimum of 20k per month. Have one now from the UK for about 4k will insist on shipping to billing address. Have the wire transfer option as well. Any wisdom?

[jshepherd]

Paily has no real minimum. You can just ask for an account. They will check out your business if they have not heard about you, but you are likely to get one.

I have been using them for a while. We now have no liability on International orders.

[jshepherd]

I would definitely use Paily over the wire transfer option. A member of this forum told me a horror story about giving out her banking information for an international wire. She received a call from a car dealership shortly thereafter asking why she wanted to ship so many cars to Nigeria - she had already paid - by check, and it had cleared.

Paily does away with any and all liability. The fees are not cheap, but you can likely split the difference with the customer if you otherwise will not take the order.