I realize many buyers of gemstones and gemstone jewelry have no clue except that something just looks pretty and looks authentically real. Most gemstone vendors, or the hundreds I've perused, seem to prey on those type of buyers. But Ebay should also facilitate those of us who have sparse time to plow through pages and pages of vendor whose own knowledge is either very amateur or deliberately evasive. I set a trap and caught those type which are many on Ebay.
I found most overseas vendors sneakily claiming their gemstones are "natural" instead of lab grown which is different than lab created or made. However a licensed U.S. gemologist can distinguish which ones are earth natural from lab natural. Many gemstone hustlers use Ebay to unload Lab natural gemstones which bear a fraction of the dollar value of earth mined gemstones. Try insuring a lab version - the agent will be laughing at least behind our backs. Most vendors avoid emailing when I ask them to specify if their gemstones are earth natural or lab grown. When a vendor also claims a gemstone only has heating or color untreated, it can still be lab grown. Lab grown means that the same chemical elements which forged earth excavated gemstone over millions of years are applied to lab grow same type of gemstone but in months instead of years - those in the industry are called "synthetics". In the clothing textile industry, the word synthetics refers to made made fibers to mimic natural animal or land cultivated sources of fiber as silk, wool, cotton etc. Lab created or lab made means that other elements were used just to create the illusion of a real gemstone, called simulants.
Also, I found many gemstone vendors are literally ignorant of most differences as I set a trap and found out they are using terms without being able to prove their claims and Ebay let's them. Dishonesty is dishonesty even if unintended because ignorance is no excuse.
As for Ebay, it is inconsistent in the refinement filtering categories many of us more knowledgeable gemstone collecting buyers take for granted. Under filtering choices, there should always be included range of carat weights on both mounted fine gemstone jewelry and loose gemstones. There should always be not only 'cut grade', but clarity grade. Cut grade for Ebay's gemstone novices has no bearing on level of a gemstone's internal inclusions. In fact, I found hundreds of gemstones under category of "excellent cut" at best, as ordinary. Instead of just having "natural" which many vendors sneakily apply to lab grown, as I caught them, there should be added "earth mined" or earth natural. Then under lab, there should be 'lab grown natural', 'lab created or made'. Even under treatment, many vendors assume irradiation and heating are synonymous, but intensity, how and how long and why certain gemstones are heated does make a difference, at least in the interest of integrity of full disclosure.
Not all buyers have the time during a refund grace period to go to a gemologist and pay increased fees to examine a gemstone labeled "natural". Most gemologist fees cost more than the price paid for lab grown naturals. I will admit I do set email traps to protect myself in the event I buy a gemstone listed as "natural" and untreated or just heating. Then if I find out otherwise, Ebay has to give refunds as there is no room for debate given what has been said in writing has legal standing. Refunds are not profitable nor convenient for sellers and Ebay. Seems to me that honest disclosure is more favorable in the short and long run. In the time I spent playing detective, I could have easily bought several gemstones which appealed to me. Instead I wasted time emailing questions to those vendors. Most refuse to respond because they fear admitting using deceptive language in their descriptions. One vendor naively wrote back saying that she did not know the origin of the gemstone because she is not a jeweler and that the real jeweler told her to write "natural" in the listing. Luckily, consumer and seller laws overseas are more flexible than in my home state where consumer laws are very tough.
My advice to gemstone vendors is if your gemstones are actually earth natural, that is bragging rights. They should not compete with ridiculous low start price bids against lab grown gemstone vendors. As a buyer, I should be able to use the time to do more buying than to waste time figuring out which sellers are pulling a slight of hand card trick on us. More discrepancies I read, more skeptical I became, thus lost inclination to buy any gemstones on Ebay. Less likely I would recommend anyone to buy gemstones on Ebay unless they had a gemologist friend to examine those gemstones upon arrival for smaller or no fee. Then buyer does not waste more money before asking Ebay for a refund. When I spend money, it is with the intention of keeping the item. It is no fun to return purchases either.
E bay should add to the filtering category choices to facilitate buyers who want only "earth natural" items which demand more refinements than those buyers just looking to buy stuff that look like the real thing. Ebay should recruit U.S. based experts to advise Ebay's website staff. I know many tech geek geniuses in the online services who are naive about anything or anyone outside their small world and even tinier consumer experiences. When shopping for gemstones on Ebay, no one at Ebay should assume that we are willing to buy anything looking like silk even if made with polyester. I never buy polyester to look like silk, only 100% "naturally grown" silk. Buying gemstones is no different. Ebay should expand its filtering choices to give us more control in what we want to buy and from whom. Then if we have any regrets, the fault will be on us instead, thus sparing the cost of refunding.
Also, a note to Ebay's consumer knowledge limited staff involved in the gemstone/jewelry side of the website, "loose gemstones" merely refers to those not jewelry mounted, obviously. But in jewelry, Ebay allows choice of "solitaire" or cluster etc.. In loose gemstones, it is not segregated and should be. There should be another filtering category as "single stones" and "parcel of stones" for those of us only seeking single gemstones, not pieces of the same gemstones. It is annoyingly time consuming to flip page after page after page because we cannot avoid seeing gemstone pieces. I bet at least 50% of refunds would cease if we buyers of gemstones could be in greater control upfront of what we want. Faster we find what we want, faster we buy. Longer we encounter deceitful descriptions of gemstones, more annoyed we become to the point of not buying at the time we had planned. Many of us buy gemstones for far different reasons than buy short lived items as clothing, purses, appliances, breakable holiday ornaments etc. I wish Ebay understood those consumer differences. Also, since the value of integrity and full disclosure varies from culture to culture, country from country, then a more expended and consistent filtering category refinement would induce vendors to be more careful, and give consumers more control.
