posted on August 28, 2000 12:34:37 PM new
I buy jewelry on eBay, and have noticed a trend which ultimately causes frustration for both buyer and seller. About 30% of the time, the jewelry item listed, which is often a high-ticket item, contains no information about its size. If it's a ring, the size isn't stated, and if it's a bracelet, its length and width aren't stated. The same goes for necklaces. When this happens and I really want the item, I have to e-mail the seller, which necessitates that he/she e-mail me back. This happened to me last week; the seller got so many requests for the bracelet's length that she ended up adding that information to her listing.
Why don't sellers include this information automatically, not only with jewelry but also with other items such as vases, statuary, etc.? It seems to me that it would save the seller a lot of time to offer as much information as possible about whatever it is that he/she is selling, thus eliminating a deluge of inquiring e-mails from interested buyers.
It's nearly impossible to tell what size something is based on a picture. Quite often, a piece of jewelry is photographed so close up that the jewelry looks larger than it really is. (I made the mistake only once of bidding on something without getting its measurements: it was a bracelet that had a very intricate, pretty pattern, and when I got it it was so narrow that you couldn't see the pattern. Complete waste of money for me, but it was my fault because I broke my own rule and didn't ask about the the width. Never again!)
posted on August 28, 2000 02:03:21 PM new
Same thing happens under gemstones. I'm
looking for a particular size (7x5mm, 8x10mm,
or whatever), and the seller lists carat weight or nothing at all.
I've been following the auctions of one jewelry dealer for *years,* and he never lists ring sizes (says he doesn't have the right tool for that). Like he can't afford a $6.00 mandrel after doing $$$$ in eBay sales to make his product more marketable?!! I don't get it. Frankly, I think there's some percentage of sellers in EVERY category that fail to list measurements for whatever reason. Some are inexperienced. Some don't want to bother to take the time. Only way around it is to ask and ask and ask and NOT bid until you get the information you need.
If they have enough auctions close with no bids, maybe they'll get a clue that something crucial is missing from the description!
posted on August 28, 2000 02:19:43 PM new
Nothing to do with jewelry. Everything to do with witless sellers. I can't tell you how many quilts I've seen described as "This is a nice quilt" - that's IT! No size, nothing. And usually a bad pic too. Same with fabric. Uh, I really would like to know whether I'm buying a 3" square or 50 yards, guys. Funny thing is, when (and if) I email these sellers asking about size, they always seem sooooo surprised that anybody would need or even want that information.
posted on August 28, 2000 02:39:36 PM new
Same thing with the inseam of slacks. It could be petite, regular or tall. The few times I didn't ask, I received petites when I am a tall person. I get tired of asking, so most of the time I don't even bid, even though I would like to find some bargains on tall length slacks. When I first started selling, I read a post that suggested you think of every question anyone could possibly ask about your item and then start writing your description, in order to hold down the amount of email you needed to answer. It seems to me the very first question would be "What size is it?" in a variety of categories.
posted on August 28, 2000 03:05:43 PM new
I sell a lot of jewelry on Ebay. I always try to list the specifics but sometimes I forget. I really like the idea of putting the stone measurements instead of carat weight only. I will try a lot harder on doing a better job. Its all true. Thanks for the post!
posted on August 28, 2000 04:32:37 PM new
On most expensive rings gold or plat. They can be sized to fit any finger with the exception of some channel set and some paved rings.
As far as stones and bracelets anyone who is a professional and not a hobbiest would include mm size. When I receive my stones I weigh and measure parcels as I divide the stones up.
If those demensions are not listed why buy from them. There are so many people selling jewelery and gemstones why not go with a professional. Who should know what they are talking about. What I am trying to say is that if someone is not listing something like measurements that is an SOP what else are they not telling you?
posted on August 29, 2000 05:50:35 AM new
msstone,
I have a question to ask you, but first I will say that I agree with you that professionals are the way to go if you're looking for a quality gemstone. But the hobbiests are often the people who have the occasional wonderful item buried amidst their listings for far less glorious things. I recently stumbled across a wonderful Taxco sterling bracelet listed with completely unrelated items (an eBay garage sale!) and snapped it right up (as soon as I found out its measurements via an e-mail!). For a buyer, this kind of discovery can be a lot of fun. But if I were buying a precious gem I wouldn't ever buy from this kind of seller because, through no fault of his/her own save lack of knowledge, you can be right: "What else are they not telling you?"
My question for you is this: how rare are mined Alexandrites? I don't think most people know the difference between them. I saw a piece of jewelry from the Middle East on eBay. The seller said the stone on it was an Alexandrite. It was a big stone and I questioned the seller concerning whether or not it was a mined Alexandrite or a lab-made Alexandrite. I told her that I had several similar pieces of jewelry because I had lived in the Middle East, and they were all adorned with amethysts, not Alexandrites, and that it was easy for an untrained eye to mistake the two. Her item went off without the reserve having been met, and when I asked her what her reserve was, she replied that it was nearly $400.00.
I suggested that she take it to a jeweler and make sure it was what she though it was, because the same item with an amethyst would never sell for more than $80-100. I told her that if she marketed it as an Alexandrite and it turned out to be an amethyst, the buyer, to say the least, would be very annoyed! (I learned this lesson the hard way many years ago; I took what I thought was an Alexandrite ring from the Middle East to a jeweler, only to be told that it was an amethyst, and if it were an Alexandrite I could retire on what I made on it because it was such a large stone.)
I hope I wasn't out of line by writing to this seller, but even my limited knowledge of this item indicated that she was more of an amateur than I am - it was a piece of her own jewelry that she admitted she was selling because of a family situation (details not necessary, but I believed her).
I never got a reply from her, but when last I checked she hadn't relisted it on eBay.
posted on August 29, 2000 11:20:17 AM new
Hi Wisegirl. I am by no means an alexandrite expert. What I do know is that it changes color from sunlight to incandescent light. It comes from Russia, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Burma. It is chrysoberyl. Optimal colors are blue green to green and change to purplish red. It is expensive and rare. Stones over 5 carats cost some peoples annual incomes for several years.
You did the right thing by questioning the seller. She may have been misinformed about what she had.
I know buyers want to get good deals but they have to remember if you want to find someone you can trust. These people have to make a living.
I have put up emeralds over one carat starting at $9.99 and had a guy cancel the bid because it was $10.40 not $1.40. The $1.40 would not have covered my import duties. I am offering stones at prices the non jeweler person should never even see. Ebay has changed all that. I have to make a profit so I can keep on selling.
True you can find gargage sale prices on some jewelery. Buyer beware ask questions to protect your self. I hope this helped
posted on August 29, 2000 12:04:18 PM new
Hello wisegirl, and thank you for posting these questions.
We sell a lot of jewelry on eBay and elsewhere. No matter what the piece is, I have a small table that lists the three dimensions in both metric and its english equivelent.
What you are rightfully complaining about is what makes my business go so well!
I only want to mention that I deal with a lot of gemstones and finished jewelry. When describing the value of a particular stone, I always inform the potential bidder the old saying,"Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder."
Truely, I sell pieces of stone that are not typical of what is generally expected. For instance, a piece of Rhodonite may not be clearly defined iron pink with manganese black patches, but instead be mixed together so closely that it creates a dark pink.
Now, the common wisdom is that the clearly defined areas of Pink and Black are much more attractive and hence, the more expensive stone. But I sell the blended pink-black stones for the same amount simply because someone prefers it over the traditional stones.
The point is, is that a gemstone's value or a piece of jewelry's value relys upon individual tastes more than market value. What good is a $100,000 diamond if no one wants it? It would only be worth that much if you expected someone to be born at some time that might like it enough to pay that much!
Use Market Value as a large Rule of Thumb when dealing in jewelry and gemstones, in my opinion.
posted on August 30, 2000 01:10:17 AM new
MORE THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ALEXANDERITE:
MsStone is right about alexanderite- The real stuff in good quality (color, color change, clarity, and sizes over 4mm is BIG bucks- Can be more than a diamond, ruby or emerald of the same size and similar quality.
Decent quality natural alexanderites retail at somewhere around $4,000 per carat- Lower quality around $1,000 /ct. and top quality about $8,000 /ct.
If it is a "genuine, "created" alexanderite it is still going to be quite expensive. Chatham http://www.chatham.com/consumer.htmlmanufactures a stone that IS a "real" alexanderite -chemically the same(Berylium - aluminum oxide), and in the lab, they have duplicated the same conditions under which natural stones grow. Their prices START at $300.00 per carat.
MOST of the synthetic "alexanderites" out there are not even chemically the same as real alexanderite; they are merely corundum (Aluminum oxide) to which a tiny bit of NEODYMIUM has been added. (This material sells for about 6 cents per carat in the rough. With "third world" cutting, a finished stone should run no more than three dollars per carat, and that is rather generous)
In fact if you add NEODYMIUM to plain old glass, you can get the "alexanderite like" color change.
_____________________________________________
Now, as to the original topic of this thread-
Ring auctions without sizes:
I run a regular dutch auction of rings 10 - 20 at a time. I don't list sizes-
WHY??? Because a few months ago I had my auctions "ENDED" by safeharbor because I was offering a choice of sizes. (Winning bidders could have any size between 4 & 14 (including 1/4 and 1/2 sizes) for the same price.) They told me I'd be suspended if I did it again.
EBay expected me to run a separate auction for each possible ring size I don't think I want to pay $650.00 per week to run 40 featured auctions to sell ten or twenty $10.00 dollar rings-
So, I quit offering sizes in the auction.
If people ask (and you would be surprised how few do), I tell them that the rings are all size 7 1/2, but I offer free ring sizing after the completion of the eBay auction.
posted on August 30, 2000 07:32:22 AM new
Thank you, msstone, Borillar and silviron, for your informative replies.
Msstone, I do believe in buyer beware! Even when I ask all the "right" questions I sometimes get a piece of jewelry that isn't what I thought it would be. My problem, not the seller's! And nothing I've purchased on eBay has been awful; just not what I expected every once in a while, as is anything that you can't hold in your hand and look at in person. So if the transaction has been trouble-free and pleasant I enter positive feedback without hesitation.
You are right, Borillar, about individual taste - I don't buy jewelry as an investment and never buy anything that I don't love.
And Silviron, thanks especially for your detailed response about Alexandrites. I'm surprised that Safeharbor ended your Dutch auctions just because you offered a choice of sizes. I've seen countless listings for non-Dutch auction rings that offer free sizing; what's the difference?
A response to HartCottageQuilts: I agree with you that omissions have nothing to do with jewelry and everything to do with witless sellers. I'm a magazine editor so notice errors - can't help it! - and a few times the description errors have been so wrong for items that I own and with which I am familiar that I've e-mailed the sellers about them. Most of these careless sellers have responded with something like, "Oh, well; I goofed!" and haven't amended their text at all. This amazes me because an accurate description or the correct spelling of an item's name would have to help the seller's profit margin in the long run, but these few careless folks really don't seem to care. But good grief - wouldn't you want to know if you had spelled "Jerusalem" "Jerusesem"?!? Or that a piece of cutlery from the Middle East didn't have a wooden handle but rather a goat's horn handle? Yikes!
[ edited by wisegirl on Aug 30, 2000 07:56 AM ]
posted on August 30, 2000 07:56:28 AM new
Thank you, msstone, Borillar and silviron, for your informative replies.
Msstone, I do believe in buyer beware! Even when I ask all the "right" questions I sometimes get a piece of jewelry that isn't what I thought it would be. My problem, not the seller's! And nothing I've purchased on eBay has been awful; just not what I expected every once in a while, as is anything that you can't hold in your hand and look at in person. So if the transaction has been trouble-free and pleasant I enter positive feedback without hesitation.
You are right, Borillar, about individual taste - I don't buy jewelry as an investment and never buy anything that I don't love.
And Silviron, thanks especially for your detailed response about Alexandrites. I'm surprised that Safeharbor ended your Dutch auctions just because you offered a choice of sizes. I've seen countless listings for non-Dutch auction rings that offer free sizing; what's the difference?
A response to HartCottageQuilts: I agree with you that omissions have nothing to do with jewelry and everything to do with witless sellers. I'm a magazine editor so notice errors - can't help it! - and a few times the description errors have been so wrong for items that I have that I've e-mailed the sellers about them. Most of these careless sellers have responded with something like, "Oh, well; I goofed!" and haven't amended their text at all. This amazes me because an accurate description or the correct spelling of an item's name would have to help the seller in the long run, but these few careless folks really don't seem to care. But good grief - wouldn't you want to know if you had spelled "Jerusalem" "Jerusesem"?!?
