Featured selling jewelry online: Risky? Problems?

Ebay accepts NO visual proof. It is all done by bots. After you get a faulty return, your option is to:
- File a report with your police department
- File a police report with purchaser's police department
- File an ic3 report if appropriate
- File a report with the USPS if appropriate
Then file a 'report buyer' with eBay and include ALL numbers from reports.
They MAY reconsider and give you a credit for either your postage cost or the whole thing if they are feeling generous. Note, they do not easily part with their cash!

 

What they count on is your time being worth more to you than to them and a fight being more hassle than it's worth. To them a seller's time is worth NOTHING; they only care about their cut. Tags mean nothing although they will keep the serial jewelry renters away. Appraisals other than GIA or European equivalent are worth nothing to anyone except the paper they're printed on.

Sellers are only protected if the buyer files for non-delivery and the tracking shows delivered to their address. Sort of. If the person used Paypal or a credit card you may still be on the hook. Ebay doesn't care. If they use a credit card and file you can jump through all the hoops, still be out money and item and get whacked for an extra $20 into the bargain. Someone pulled it on me once, and it was cheaper in the end to eat the loss. And in that I case I honestly believe it was mis-delivered. Pandemic garbage.

 

My meager 2 cents...

I have been selling on eBay for over 20 years off and on. I think the most expensive item I have ever sold was in the high $200s and it wasn't jewelry. I don't sell much gold on eBay because I just don't want to risk it.

Funny, but over the years I have found it's the inexpensive items that get the trouble buyers. I had someone accuse me of scamming them on the purchase of a $12 piece of electronic equipment. This was early on when buyers could see a seller's phone number so he called to yell at me. I calmed him down by saying "No one is going to get rich by scamming you on a $12 item. Send it back and I will be happy to refund including return shipping."

I have never had anyone claim a package arrived empty or return an item where they altered it like replacing a stone with glass. I can count the number of returns I have had on 1 hand.

I sell lesser or bulky items on Craigs list. I had a shop for a while on Ruby Lane but I couldn't devote the time necessary to making it pay. I am not on Facebook so no Marketplace for me.

I sell now at about 8 or so antique shows a year and at our local flea market on weekends from April-October. I like the face to face of selling and those are the places where I sell my better jewelry.

I don't know if any of this helps but it is another county heard from

 

I've had trouble with the $10 items too. The $100 ones go right through, but those lousy $14.99 including shipping sales are murder.

 

Wow!! I had absolutely no idea this was the case. Thank you so much for posting this important information. You helped me tremendously.

 

I learned a lot from reading your post. And I took note that with 20+ years of experience you prefer selling better jewelry at flea markets and antique shows.
Does that pretty much eliminate the problems discussed here including returns?

 

No, because I stand by my items. If someone buys something and later wants to return it I will take it back so long it is in the same condition as when I sold it.

I did take back a necklace sold at an antique show that the buyer damaged. It was a choker, I think it was too tight on her and she forced it. Fortunately is was an easy repair and I sold it at the next show to someone a little more delicate!

 

One ebay seller takes some strong steps to stop problems: For sales over $500 buyers have to provide a picture of their driver's license or state identification card.

The seller wrote:
"Please note the address on your driver's license or state ID card MUST match the shipping address. IF the address's do not match - additional vetting will take place.

IF WE DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE SENDING YOUR ORDER WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO CANCEL AND REFUND THE PURCHASE PRICE. WE DO THIS FOR YOUR SECURITY AS WELL AS OURS."

 

That's a bit much....
you want my drivers license....u better be a cop...or the Gov't !!

 

Yea, that seems a bit extreme to me.

I remember years ago I was signing up at a video rental place (tells you how long ago that was). They had an extensive application including wanting my SS#. Needless to say I found another video rental store

 

My daughter and I both sell on Etsy. Their fees are lower than Ebay, they automatically insure up to $100 vs $50 on ebay and give you discounted shipping. I do have a no return policy. Not worth the hassle even if it kills a sale. I started off with inexpensive stuff until I got a lot of good feedback and now I sell items worth over $500. Of course there is no bidding but 20 cents for 3 month listing means I can lower the price and relist. I get a lot more money for items than I did in my antique store.

 

Out of interest is that OK in the USA if you are a business? In UK/Europe you have to accept returns for online sales by law and this overrides any policy set by a sales website.

 

You can write what you like, but ebay won't take any notice of it, and if their listings get reported they may end up being taken down

 

Thank you for your informative post. It is particuarly helpful to know that you sell items over $500. It seems like there may be some significant differences between ebay and Etsy. It is interesting to read Etsy's "Not As Described" policy: "https://www.etsy.com/legal/buyers"
"An item is not as described if the buyer can demonstrate that it is significantly different from the seller’s listing description or photos." There are six examples of "not as described" cases including:

1. "The item received is a different color, model, version, or size.
2. The item has a different design or material."

 

Meanwhile that link comes up 404. I think you have to be logged in to see it.

 

Thank you for letting me know the link did not work. I put it in quotes, and now it works: "https://www.etsy.com/legal/buyers"

 

Now it's there. Their rules are a lot easier to read than Ebay's.

 

Perhaps this is of interest: I came across an interesting selling site: "www.worthy.com". This company has onsite experts that appraise the jewelry. I noticed quite a bit of the jewelry was under $5,000. I think the well known auction houses will only accept jewelry if it has a pretty significant value, so this site seems to fill a niche. For items up to $5,000 it is 18% commission. The site has a page on selling vintage jewelry: "https://www.worthy.com/sell-vintage-jewelry". The site also featured an interesting article on appraisals of antique jewelry:"https://www.worthy.com/appraisal/antique-jewelry".

 

My biggest issue/aggravation is non paying bidders. I have two right now that total $245, not a huge deal but not small either. I have learned to make larger priced items buy it now, and typically a buyer will send an offer. This gives you the chance to research the buyer a bit. Best bets are the dealers with over a thousand feedback. I do sell items over $500, but I check the buyer out first. If I get a bad vibe, I will absolutely cancel and let them know exactly why. I will risk a neg, but fortunately have never had to. Only once in my career have I been scammed; a lady bought a $10 base metal bracelet and started a return. She sent it back and I issued the refund before I opened the package (literally the first and last time I had ever done that). It was a dollar tree value necklace. I was aggravated but didn’t pursue it because it really wasn’t worth my time. I have had people complain about something (I am super honest in my listings and point out any flaws I see) and I always tell them I am happy to give a full refund for return of the item. So hopefully this doesn’t jinx me, but if you are careful then it can be done. I say that as a seller with over 4000 feedback, but I may have thought differently if I was new, so be aware that new sellers with low feedback are sure targets for scammers. Ebay has a seller forum- go on there and read the posts. Good luck!

 

I tried worthy for a Georgian 1.87 carat rose cut diamond ring. My offer was a bit over $300. Um, no. I did get a free EGL eval out of it though!!