Featured selling jewelry online: Risky? Problems?

What has been your experience selling vintage jewelry worth more than $500 online? I was researching selling vintage jewelry online and was very surprised by the problems that some sellers said they have faced. One problem I read about is that scammers buy jewelry just to try to sell it, and if they can't sell it for profit, they return it. Another expert warned-- if you don't have proof (an appraisal?) of an item, you will lose out if the buyer files a dispute.
Another seller describes the "switcheroo" where the buyer returns a similar item of lesser value.
Do you think these problems are common? On ebay, is there any way to vet the buyers for higher priced items?

 

I know a number of sellers sell expensive jewelry on eBay but I am not comfortable doing it. Just too much risk. There are other methods of selling where you get your money, deliver your item and the deal is done.

 

It's less common for their to be fraud when dealing with costume. Real gold and sterling are riskier, unless you're selling true vintage for more than melt weight. Maybe not a lot over, but over. I don't sell much at that price point, so I'm going on what I see instead of what I've run into. Most of my precious metal gets sold for cash locally.

 

I don't sell a lot on ebay at that price level, but when I do I am always nervous about it. No problems so far. I don't sell high dollar gold on-line, too tempting for scammers. Many sellers do, though.
If you are a low feedback seller without a history of selling high end jewelry, it might make you more of a target for scammers.

 

It is one of those answers that depends on a lot of circumstances. If you are a professional business with a track record you don't tend to get targeted by scammers. Ebay are also now much better than they used to be supporting business sellers with a proven record.

Selling as a private individual is more risky especially if you are not familiar with the potential scams and you don't get the same level of support from ebay either.

Kind of, if you set your item with best offer you can check the buyers feedback before accepting, but this doesn't stop someone buying at full price who you can't check first. That in itself might be a red flag of course.

Don't forget that you always hear the horror stories and rarely the good. Most transactions are fine, it is a small % that go wrong, which on a £10 item isn't so bad, but on a £1000 items may cause significant hardship.

 

It's primarily what I sell. 2000 orders later and I can count the number of problem buyers on the fingers of one hand. I mostly sell vintage silver jewelry and costume jewelry. I don't normally sell gold or pieces over 300.

 

I will say I stay AWAY from Tiffany on line. Tiffany themselves are known to cause problems, and it's a target for scammers. I don't buy it if the seller knows what it is, and either sell it locally or just melt it and to heck with it. Sometimes you run into idiots, but that can happen with brand new bedsheets.

 

In your listing, you can state that sales to individuals with less then 100 purchases and/or negative feedback will not be accepted without prior approval. at this point you give yourself the proper authorization to cancel the sale at your discretion. set the purchases number and feedbacks at your comfort zone, but this will often send scammers looking for an easier target.

 

You can cancel bids before the auction ends, if you catch them, for pretty much any reason. BINs though...are the reason to stick to auctions for precious metals.

 

I think those are issues sellers of all sorts of items face. There are ways you can protect from the "switcheroo" by photographing your item before it is sent and adding something that only you can identify on it. Unless you state clearly that you won't accept returns you are always going to be faced with dealing with returns. I have been tempted to sell on Etsy but haven't gotten into it yet. I have had good experiences buying on Etsy, but steer clear of E-bay. There are issues for both buyers and sellers.

 

I am venturing into selling vintage jewellery on Etsy soon. I am already a seller on there of other vintage items. I can let you know how I get on if you like!

 

I would be very interested to hear how it goes for you. Thank you

 

You can refuse returns but not refunds. If you get a buyer with half a brain, they can file an SNAD request and automatically get to keep the item AND get their money back if you're set up for no returns. There's no point in fighting returns and there is no such thing as all sales final. If a buyer abuses the rule once too often Ebay can step in, but don't count on it.

 

You can say what you want in your listing but if it doesn't follow eBay rules, you will not win. You can only set the negative feedback at 2 I believe. Scammers know your rules do not apply, only eBay's do. Learn the rules and read the Terms of Service.

 

Here is someone asking the same question and the answers she received.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Selling-estate-fine-jewelry/td-p/31687832

 

As a follow-up to antique85's original question, then: What methods and channels do people here use and which can they recommend?

I've been slowly selling some inherited items over the past few years and eBay has been the right place for quite a few of them, especially items below approx. 300 EUR. So far no jewellery -- china, glass and a few coins (including silver coins but nothing over 50 EUR).

The combination of high fees, limited exposure and pandemic restrictions makes it unlikely that I'm going to get more via a traditional auction house -- even if I factor in the risk of an occasional eBay sale turning nasty. But that calculation doesn't work -- for me -- for higher value jewellery items, so when the time comes to part with them I'll be looking at auctions and consignment stores. Unless people here can share better ideas...

 

Build up a relationship with your local auction house (as long as it is networked ie on The Saleroom) and if you have decent items and are a regular you should have no trouble getting a flat 10% which is less than most online sales platforms without the hassle. Many things now sell better at traditional auction houses than online as well. I often get left with bags of costume jewellery as I bought a job lot just to get 1 or 2 items that had been missed. It would be too much work to sell online, but bag it up in presentable lots and you'd be amazed how much it can sometimes fetch at auction.

 

Thank you for posting this very informative ebay community thread. I learned a lot about how buyers can claim "not as described."

 

Are there any other online websites that members have used such as The Real Real, leprix, and "I do now I don't"?

 

I learned a lot from reading your post. I do not see any mention of any seller protections. I hope you don't mind my asking--is this till the case even if the seller has taken the following steps: an appraisal, a picture of item on a scale, and I read somewhere that sellers put a special tag on items and photograph items with the tag and they stipulate the item must be returned with the tag intact.