I think I've been had...

[maiakity]

Hello All,
I am a VERY NEWBIE to the pearl world. I've just recently become obsessed with pearls, and I can't even remember what initially set off my obsession. Unfortunately, I found this site and forum after I already made my first purchase (on ebay of all things!) The seller was very nice and communicative, and I did leave positive feedback after I received my purchase because I was very pleased with the customer service, communication, and shipping speed. However, I was disappointed with the quality of the pearls (which she had indicatd were "AAA akoya pearls". The pearls have quite a few visible blemishes, more than I would have expected from any AAA pearls, and I am beginning to strongly suspect they are freshwater pearls, even though the seller insisted they were akoya saltwater pearls even after I specifically asked about this. I will try to upload some pics, all opinions would be greatly appreciated!

They look a little mismatched in terms of color in these pictures, in some lights they look pretty well matched, in others they don't. I'm bummed because the seller was so nice, but I don't think that I received what I paid for or what was described. Thanks for any input!

 

[jshepherd]

You do have a strand of freshwater pearls there, not AAA akoya. Who is the seller on eBay? If one does a search on eBay for "akoya pearls," it is very difficult to find someone selling the real thing. Instead, you will find thousands of listing, most coming from China, of freshwater pearls labeled as akoya.

 

[maiakity]

Wow, thanks for the very speedy response to my post! That's what I feared The seller is moon16178. She was very nice, but I think I'm going to email her and suggest that she allow me to return these for a refund, we'll see what she says. I'm not even sure if she's aware that the pearls aren't geniune akoya? I noticed that many of the listings on ebay indicate "Freshwater Akoya" pearls, so I specifically asked her if they were saltwater akoyas or freshwater pearls, and she assured me they were saltwater akoyas. I will direct her to this link. Thanks so much! I obviously have a lot to learn about pearls I find this website and these forums fascinating!

 

[jshepherd]

The seller knows exactly what she is doing, unfortunately. With 3500 feedback, she has been doing it a long time. I just checked her listings and every one is fraudulently represented. There are freshwater pearls being described as akoya, South Sea, and even a natural-color black akoya, which doesn't even exist. None of her auctions state what the pearls actually are.

We used to spend a lot of time here calling out the scammers on eBay, but it is so overrun with them, more and more the forum has started calling out the honest sellers on eBay instead as good sources. Unfortunately, the ratio of ethical sellers to thieves is probably less than 1 to 100, and most are shipping out of China, so returns are difficult.

 

[pearlescence]

It may well not be fully her fault (though each of us sellers is totally liable for what we sell) she may have bought some pearls frrom some wholesaler in China who has described them as akoya. Remember that UK seller who insisted that her rather poor quality freshwaters were tahitians (even though she was selling a necklace at a couple of ?gbp) because that is what her supplier told her.
With that seller we directed her to the relevant thread and when she saw the list of experts with shops around the world she was defensive but half convinced (though she did accuse me of wanting to put her out of business at one stage)

 

[pattye]

If you paid through paypal, you will have recourse as the item was not as advertised.

 

[maiakity]

Thank you for all of your knowledge and input. I have sent her an email with a link to this thread. I hope that she visits and I will see if I get a response. Do you think that eBay would allow me to open a case if she doesn't respond, given that I've already left her positive feedback? It wasn't a terribly expensive set, but I would rather put my money towards geniune akoya pearls or a higher-quality set of freshwater pearls. I have peraused the PP site and I have fallen in love with the Freshadamas! Not in my budget for the next few years, but I'm going to start saving

 

[maiakity]

^^ OOps, I posted before I saw your reply about PayPal, thank you for the info! I will try to go that route if she doesn't agree to refund my purchase price as well as return shipping, I'm guessing it's going to cost a pretty penny to ship them back to China! Thanks again All

 

[jshepherd]

It may well not be fully her fault (though each of us sellers is totally liable for what we sell) she may have bought some pearls frrom some wholesaler in China who has described them as akoya. Remember that UK seller who insisted that her rather poor quality freshwaters were tahitians (even though she was selling a necklace at a couple of ?gbp) because that is what her supplier told her.
With that seller we directed her to the relevant thread and when she saw the list of experts with shops around the world she was defensive but half convinced (though she did accuse me of wanting to put her out of business at one stage)

I've never met a wholesaler in China that describes freshwater pearls as akoya or South Sea; at least not a true wholesaler, and there is no way someone in China selling that much on eBay for that long would be sourcing from an eBay-style middleman. They source from Zhuji, or one of the other freshwater pearling areas.

Also, I've never met a real pearl dealer that can't tell the difference between a freshwater, akoya and/or South Sea. She knows exactly what she is selling. She has been selling pearls on eBay for six years.

A few quick rules for eBay that are valid for more than 99% of the pearl auctions:

1. Akoya or South Sea = freshwater
If you want to see real South Sea or akoya, sort by price from high to low.

2. Natural pearl color = dyed
Akoya and freshwater are never naturally black, and many of the other colors are dyed too.

3. We are an original supplier and a big wholesaler = They buy pearls from the pearl market in Zhuji or one of the other places. None of the producers or even processors I've ever met in China have told me they sell on eBay. They don't sell piecemeal. They sell by hanks (loose strands) or by weight.

 

[pearlescence]

Ah, point taken Jeremy..I didn't spot her as a Chinese volume seller. Should have checked <embarrassed>

 

[Caitlin]

I am glad we keep getting chances to bring this up. If it was not as advertised, you can bring a case with paypal, regardless of feedback.

Tahitian black = dyed freshwaters
9mm = 8.1mm; 8mm = 7.1mm, etc.
baby south sea = freshwaters
low cost south sea = freshwaters
real south sea shell pearls = fake pearls
south sea white = freshwaters
any "akoyas" sold by mainland Chinese sellers = freshwaters

In fact anything claimed to be other than freshwaters that comes from mainland Chinese export companies are ALL freshwaters!

 

[Caitlin]

Well, let's add a caveat. I should say eBay sellers, because there are perfectly honest wholesalers of akoyas in China-but they mostly do not deal with retail buyers in the US. I was talking in an ebay context, but let's be perfectly sure of that!

 

[R&B]

Surely this scam has grown to the point for government intervention.

Trade ministers of countries that grow pearls should be lobbying the Chinese Government to take action on the basis that the current situation highlights a view that when dealing with China, basically you are dealing with crooks.

 

[morphius]

how much did you pay for the necklace though?

 

[Amanda]

how much did you pay for the necklace though?

I don't think that matters.

I've noticed a tendency, often from the people on this board from America, to think that it doesn't matter if someone sells X as Y, so long as the price is realistic for X.

I think that it's entirely wrong, to sell X as Y, whether the price is right for X, right for Y, or somewhere in the middle.

 

[morphius]

I don't think that matters.

I've noticed a tendency, often from the people on this board from America, to think that it doesn't matter if someone sells X as Y, so long as the price is realistic for X.

I think that it's entirely wrong, to sell X as Y, whether the price is right for X, right for Y, or somewhere in the middle.

Oh I agree with you completely...it doesn't matter how much someone pays if they paid for X but got Y...and though I'm not American, my impression of much of this whole situation has much to do with the price paid.

Let's be honest here...how do sellers selling false products get away with it and manage to rack up hundreds and thousands of sales? Whether it's eBay, Amazon, Etsy or anywhere else online, more often than not, the seller is charging a price that the buyer feels (most of the time), that it isn't worth making a stink over...like AAA 9mm Akoya earrings for $25 USD (for example). The bottom line is that even if the person is upset that they didn't get Akoya's, they'll figure it's not so bad since at least they didn't over pay for freshwater (again for example)...and this is a big part of the problem.

If it wasn't for the fact that people are willing to risk it on questionable purchases (and I'm not saying that is the case for the OP), then these scammers would be shut down due to lack of sales.

Personally, I'm beyond tired of seeing the massive amount of sellers that clearly are falsely labeling the pearls...and it doesn't matter where they are located...China, Australia, USA, UK, Canada etc...if buyers didn't say to themselves "ohhhh wow $1,000 Akoya's for $0.99; I am so buying that...", then most of the problem wouldn't exist. It's the buyer that allows these people to continue to scam.

 

[Amanda]

If it wasn't for the fact that people are willing to risk it on questionable purchases (and I'm not saying that is the case for the OP), then these scammers would be shut down due to lack of sales.

Personally, I'm beyond tired of seeing the massive amount of sellers that clearly are falsely labeling the pearls...and it doesn't matter where they are located...China, Australia, USA, UK, Canada etc...if buyers didn't say to themselves "ohhhh wow $1,000 Akoya's for $0.99; I am so buying that...", then most of the problem wouldn't exist. It's the buyer that allows these people to continue to scam.

I agree with that. But sometimes, it's not possible to tell.

Or, if it's a place that's supposed to be Kosher, that's even worse in a way - if people think they can trust the seller's word because it's a well-known brand.

 

[morphius]

I agree with that. But sometimes, it's not possible to tell.

Or, if it's a place that's supposed to be Kosher, that's even worse in a way - if people think they can trust the seller's word because it's a well-known brand.

Yes I totally agree - it's an absolute shame, the level of dishonesty that exists.

That said though, and this is not an excuse, nor does it make it any better but...let's say I pay $100 for AAA 7-8mm Akoya pearl necklace...which turns out to actually be a AA 7-8mm Freshwater pearl necklace. Well in truth I was scammed...but at least I wasn't totally and completely ripped off because I still got something that was worth more than what I paid. At the very least, if the item cannot be returned, I can take some small comfort in knowing I didn't buy a total piece of crap (hopefully).

But I totally agree - dishonesty about an item is dishonesty no matter how one paints it or reasons it...and company's like eBay, Etsy, Amazon etc, should have clear cut and enforceable policies on dealing with misleading and falsely labeled items...and the staff with the knowledge to know how to identify such items...since they are giving the seller the ability to scam people.

 

[Amanda]

I think we're in violent agreement.

 

[Caitlin]

Most pearl buyers know from nothing and buy cheap and don't even care what kind of pearls they get, they are going to be great because they know from nothing. Many eBay sellers exploit that and get away with it for thousands of sales. Then one knowledgeable person sees the scam and alerts, but the tidal of wave of buyers is not affected, because they know from nothing.

Pearls are complex and deep and worthy of research, but most do not know that or care, yet everyone has an idea of a pearl necklace and a time to wear it. What perfect situation to exploit and how easily done. Too bad more people do not check out Pearl-Guide.com, before buying pearls!