FTC Violating Vendors
This List is filled with those Vendors and Sellers who violate FTC Guidelines for the sale of precious metals, gemstones, and jewelery. This can mean anything from fraud to misuse of gemstones names to violations in statements to any other violation. Also for vendors and sellers who have been proven to provide misleading information about their wares or not fully disclosing gemstone treatments their stones have undergone. And even those who are knowingly committing fraud and scams. The vendors and sellers will fall under one, numerous, or all of the above categories.
This list is not to drive their clients or prospective clients away. Its intent is to educate consumers and clients of the violations the vendors/sellers are committing and to educate those consumers and clients on the actual facts and truths about the products so they can make a more educated decision on whether to shop, or continue to shop, with the violating vendor(s)/seller(s). It is a decision the consumer/client needs to make on their own based off of the facts we supply. We keep the list and explanations to facts, violations, information from trained & educated investigators, and leave personal opinions out of it.
This list carries no warranties and are used at your own risk.
New Listings will always be at the top.
Ebay Vendors
This seller has actually been contacted and informed about their incorrect/violating listing(s). They continue to misrepresent what is known as Girasol Quartz, it is actually a white quartz that exhibits an asterism if cut properly, this material is identical to the star rose quartz that comes out of Madagascar only this material is white and not pink. Supremetroll continues to represent this material as “Girasol Opal A.K.A. Blue Opal” in their listings. This is a violation of FTC Guidelines § 23.1 Deception (general). and § 23.23 Misuse of the words “ruby,” “sapphire,” “emerald,” “topaz,” “stone,” “birthstone,” “gemstone,” etc. Because this material is in no way shape nor for Girasol Opal nor Blue Opal, nor any type of opal. I have Gemologically tested this material and it is, as stated above, nothing but a white quartz displaying an asterism when cut properly.
This Seller is listing the lab created diamonds, as so many are anymore, disgusting! They list “Diamond” in the title with no mention of it not being a natural diamond! Then in the description they list it as “lab created”, but then refer to it every other time as just a “diamond”. This is not only a blatant violation of FTC Guidelines, but also, completely misleading and quite obviously incorrect!
This seller is knowingly misleading customers! They are listing lab grown, supposedly, stones and in the titles of their auctions putting the initials “cr”. This violates the FTC Guidelines and is not acceptable. The Seller is also doing the “Diamond” thing as well, sadly.Notice, this Seller is a Power Seller as well, which most of them seem to be!!In his listings they again call it a Diamond, but then mention it is a Synthetic stone. We all know a synthetic stone is one grown in a lab and it will have the identical properties of the natural stone. Lab Grown diamonds are NOT widely available enough, nor are they priced low enough, to sell them like this, plain and simple.
I would have to say that it is borderline fraudulent. Considering they are listing Lab Grown Alexandrite as Czochralski and never bothering to let folks know that they are lab grown and not natural. Using the word “Czochralski” is a coomon tactic of not so honest Sellers to sell synthetic Alexandrite and have unknowing buyers think it is natural.This Seller is also selling Created Diamonds. Never mentioning that they are NOT actually lab grown synthetic diamonds. This Seller is very “tricky” with his wording, but is still blatantly breaking the FTC Guidelines with their listings!
This Seller, bijouxgiftshop, is again, either knowingly or unknowingly, selling fakes and listing items incorrectly.This Seller is selling Lab Created Diamonds, which are obviously something other then true lab created diamonds as well as calling Rhodium plated silver Platinum.
Yet another bad seller, Bijoux Gems. Whether completely fraudulent or just uneducated, who can say.But either way their listings are purposely misleading in the titles and are incorrect as well. This Seller lists who knows what as “created diamonds”, not to mention Rhodium plated Silver as “Platinum”. They also mislead in almost every title calling supposed lab created stones the real thing not identifying them as lab created until the body of the auctions.
This Seller, mineral-station, is passing off Electric Blue Topaz Crystals as Natural and Unheated. Whether this is a case of blatant fraud or a case of just not knowing, I can not say. But either way, it is still incorrect.Blue Topaz is seldom ever found in nature, and when it is it is always typically smaller sizes and very little saturation of color, nowhere near this kind of color nor saturation. Almost all Blue Topaz today is treated via radiation or coating to achieve the coloring.So, just be very careful when purchasing from this Seller, because, if he is wrong about the Topaz, who knows what else may be incorrect.
vicalla, merrygemstone, and charmingbell
Be very careful with these Sellers. vicalla, merrygemstone, and charmingbell. They all appear to actually be the same person or group under different Ebay IDs.This group/person is misrepresenting stones and jewelry on a daily basis. Judging from feedback they know they are doing so, but I can not say for sure personally if this is a fraudulent situation or just a person/group that honestly just does not have a clue what they are selling; But either way, the facts speak for themselves.“100% Natural, Authentic, Genuine.. Sapphire Quartz”.. Well then, there is NO such thing as Sapphire Quartz and the quartz shown if the furtherest thing from Natural. In fact, judging from the air bubbles that can be easily seen in the picture it would be safe to say the stone is most likely colored glass, but at the very least is either treated quartz or synthetic quartz.Again with the “100% Natural” colored quartz thing. And a new twist aswell… “.925 Sterling Silver over 100% solid white copper”, well this would not
be .925 sterling silver then, but instead, plain old Silver Plating.
The Seller ready338 is misrepresenting stones they have for auction. The seller is listing normal Cubic Zicronia as Lab Created Diamonds of all colors, listing something as lab created black diamonds (there is no such thing), lab created Tanzanite (again, does not exist), and quite a few others.
This Seller likes to sell Simulants and not disclose that they are such! They Sell Alexandrite, Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire stones that are simulants such as glass, and does not bother to disclose they are. They instead lead the Buyer to believe that the stones are real natural Gemstones!! This is against FTC Guidelines!Remember to use the REPORT link at the bottom of any and all auction pages that violate FTC & Ebay Guidelines!!Deepbluediscounts has now started to list their gemstones as “Lab” stones, finally! But, they are still being a bit fraudulent by listing some stones as actual Lab created stones, when they are not (see attached image). Keep in mind that by definition, Lab Created, means that the stone in question has the same exact chemical composition of the natural stone, the only difference is that one is grown in a lab and one is grown in nature. Since there is no such thing as lab created Tanzanite, well, that pretty well sums it up.
Yet another Alert for you. This Seller tries to pass off Man-Made simulants as real Diamonds, but does mention in the body of the listing they are created, yet all other wording, including the title, tries to pass it off as a real Diamond!
Please watch yourself with this Seller as well, and make sure to read the listings very very carefully! He/She lists Diamonds, Sapphires, and other precious and semi-precious stones but if you read inside the listing very closely they mention they are created, but all other information leads the unsuspecting Buyer to think they are the real thing!
This seller is at the very least selling diffused, if not synthetic, star sapphires in blue and pink as natural and untreated from Sri Lanka.
This seller is selling created tanzanite and created peridot, neither of which exist in todays gemstone market.
This seller likes to sell CZs or some other lab created stone as man-made diamonds, which we know is just not correct, especially at a those prices, considering a man-made diamond costs near as much as a naturally made one!
This seller uses misnomers and tricks of words to sell lab created goods as natural items. He sells lab created opals as natural ones, often only using the word Ersatz in the description, which in German means replacement or substitute.
This seller has a myriad of things going wrong. First they list synthetic stones without mentioning anything in title about being synthetic and then bury the fact that they are in the middle of the page admist a bunch of gibber & jabber. Secondly they sell lab created zircons, which are not legit, as there are no lab grown zircons currently on the market. This seller also listed many stones as untreated, that are Gemologically known to be treated to achieve the colors. The seller also uses misnomers like “Green Amethyst“.
taladgems
This seller is selling irradiated gemstones as natural untreated and/or just heated. They are also selling hydrothermally grown synthetic quartz as natural untreated quartz from Bolivia, Brazil, and a few other places. Please watch out for this seller, this is a true scammer!
This seller is selling synthetic star sapphires and other stones as natural set in jewelry. They are also using the misnomer “Smoky Topaz” in order to make quartz seem more expensive. They use the terms, “vintage”, “estate”, “antique”, “fine”, and “deco” in the title and description of almost every auction, even when the pieces are brand new current items, like a coated pink topaz pendant. Yet another tactic to fool/trick people into thinking a piece has more value to it. All against FTC Guidelines and even Ebay’s rules and regs.
This seller is just your plain old ordinary Chinese scammer. They sell fiber optic glass spheres, beads, and other items as Mexican Fire Opals. They are also selling colored glass as amethyst, rubies, sapphires, aquamarine, etc. I would avoid.
vicalla, merrygemstone, and charmingbell are all 3 ‘No Longer Registered Users’. This probably only means they’re using other IDs now.
ready338 also sells his fake gem settings as gold when they are nothing but brass or copper with a little paint slapped over it.