The bigger problem though is people without proper education buying gemstones from somebody they don't know, hard to imagine there are so many. Some in their feedback said how happy they were with their 1+ carat perfectly clean and beautiful blue Tanzanite they paid $10 for...... another delighted one with a 4 carat Chrome Diopside for $40.....
Couldn't agree more Lee. There is so much of this running rampant in the Industry it makes me wonder why and how half these ppl out there have even made a go of it! I see it at every show Jen does, 6 out of the 8 jewelry stores in our area, and all over the place on the internet! I don't see how folks with any kind of knowledge in gemstones, more or less an education int hem like so many of these Gemologists out there, can believe they can buy heated only rubies, just for example, for a few $$$ per carat faceted wen one can NOT even purchase the rough direct from small miners for anywhere near the same price per carat! Just like all the .99 cent multiple carat gemstones ppl buy on Ebay, crazy to think one can buy even a top color 5ct Amethyst nicely faceted for .99, but obviously one can do so if it is fused quartz(aka quartz glass) or even synthetic quartz!
But so many think that these websites and Ebay sellers selling at these prices are the true wholesalers the "big boys" buy from and that they are just getting the cheap prices the true retailers get them for, lol. I have dealt with GG's who even think this, sadly!!! Too many to not be worried about it! They don't realize, either that or just ignore, the fact that one can NOT buy finished stones for less then the rough costs to cut those stones, lol, unless there is multiple treatments involved and/or synthetics/simulants.
How I try to educate folks is to point them to the many reputable rough vendors all over the internet, as there are even plenty who sell direct to the public, and tell them to go look up the price per carat of the material in the rough. Now, take the carat weight of the finished stone in question and multiply it by 4-5x. Now take that number and multiply it at the price per carat for the rough. If the finished stone costs less then the rough, then something is not right! So, if you have a 1ct finished stone and the rough costs $10/ct., it would be 1x4=4x10= $40 total for that piece of rough to cut the finished stone. Now, if that finished 1ct stone costs $40 or less, something is more then likely awry! Because even at $40, you have NO cutting fees involved! And while overseas cutting per stone is relatively cheap for lower end commercial cuts, one still needs to figure in the $100 shipping & customs fees that each shipment also costs, so it is not quite so cheap in the end.
Even on Ebay there are divisions of legit vendors from overseas who even setup at Tucson and such, but on Ebay they more or less scam ppl, yet deal legit at the shows. The biggest issue is lack of disclosure of treatments! Cheap rough can be bought for cheap per kilo! Once they clarity enhance it, irradiate it, diffuse it, or any combo of treatments, it can be made into sellable products, BUT, these stones are worth a small fraction of the natural stuff!
I get my rough as cheap as possible, couldn't get any cheaper unless I mined it myself, thx to Jen's biz relationships with many different miners in USA and other Countries. And I can assure you, even buying direct from the ppl owning and doing the mining, one can NOT buy the rough as cheap as these scammers are selling the finished product for! Even if buy it by the multiple kilo!
Feedback though, on Ebay, is so easily padded and faked it is no surprise ANYONE can have outstanding comments regardless of the junk they are selling.
But, as long as folks buy from them, these scammers are not going anywhere! They know folks are not gonna return an item that costs them more to ship back then they probably paid for it too!
Don't get me wrong though, there are some legit Ebay sellers and such, but not many.
Folks just need to use some common sense! You just can't buy heated only .75-1ct+ rubies/sapphires, for example, for $10-$50/each, lol.
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