pizzano
Cave Dweller 
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Feb 20, 2020 0:49:47 GMT -5
"It’s almost intimidating how well-worded some of you are. You could author a book with that stuff.".........lol..........I have, although not rock hobby related.
Accept what you believe to be truth........Trust what your wisdom has proved to be fact......verify everything.....!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2020 1:50:05 GMT -5
It isn't fraud because the source ot the material is in the detailed description, but it is misleading. Good point, although there is plenty of stuff that crosses the line into outright fraud. Just out of curiosity, I once bought from a Chinese vendor some "Owyhee Jasper" supposedly from Oregon that turned out to be faked in glass. Likewise, doing an ebay search on gems such as "musgravite," "red beryl"/"bixbite", "taaffeite", etc. turns up large numbers of cut gems and rough from Asia - even some that are supposedly lab "Certified" - that are not what is being represented at all (some will disclaim that they are "treated" or "heated" though they are absolutely not what is claimed). While the problem of Asian cutters, and the people who write their descriptions, mislabeling the type or origin of materials (intentionally or not, e.g., African "jasper" being sold as Biggs or Deschutes; Black Skin agate being sold as Montana) has been longstanding, there also is a thriving market at such venues dealing in outright frauds - simulants and glass being sold as something else, the "Red Andesine" scandal that still goes on, "Sea Sediment" limestone being enhanced and sold as jaspers, glass "opal", "heated" rubies that are mostly glass, "natural" sapphire and other that are synthetic, ad infinitum. Definitely "Buyer Beware", especially for less common material - but some are very sophisticated, and as it is easy to come back under a new guise, there seems to be no penalty even after being caught. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2020 2:14:56 GMT -5
Very possible that will turn out ok for you. Aside from taking a gamble on things like undercutting (although some is now done entirely by auto-cabbing and beadmaking machines), the big thing I look for in tiger eye is filling and color treatment (mostly for pieces with reds). Obviously, the seller is getting subsidized postage - no way that the price with "free shipping" for many/most of these deals even covers the US leg of the trip (set by UPU) at the prices offered - let alone the cost of materials, cutting, fees, packing material and labor. I see this stuff all the time at rock/gem/bead shows, and there are good deals for buyers to be had digging through the piles. But it just points up that there is no pathway for most of us to compete with them on the mass-produced stuff that no longer carries a decent value. |
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Post by knave on Feb 20, 2020 5:44:39 GMT -5
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Post by fernwood on Feb 20, 2020 6:42:13 GMT -5
I have seen bins of inexpensive cabs at local events. They are often priced at $2.00 each or 12/$20.00. Other than chipped edges and some scratches on top, the quality was OK. Kinda you get what you pay for. Am sure the seller purchased them from another country. Transported them to many shows, which caused the chipping/scratches.
There are a lot of dyed corals, dyed Brazil Agates. Some other stones.
I found it interesting that the corals and agates that were not dyed, were priced higher.
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Post by rockjunquie on Feb 20, 2020 8:23:09 GMT -5
Guess I'll chime in. First off- apples and oranges. A US (or any competent) lapidary artist producing the quality of stone that jewelry ARTISTS are looking for are NOT competing with the Chinese junk. You are competing with other artists who also make designer cabochons with decent material and advertising the truth. It is tough, there are a lot out there, but I think the market is big enough. I have yet to meet a lapidary artist who could not sell their excellent cabs. There is a bit of a science to it- online, anyway- but everyone I know has done well to very well.
There will always be a market for quality.
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Post by knave on Feb 20, 2020 8:28:35 GMT -5
Guess I'll chime in. First off- apples and oranges. A US (or any competent) lapidary artist producing the quality of stone that jewelry ARTISTS are looking for are NOT competing with the Chinese junk. You are competing with other artists who also make designer cabochons with decent material and advertising the truth. It is tough, there are a lot out there, but I think the market is big enough. I have yet to meet a lapidary artist who could not sell their excellent cabs. There is a bit of a science to it- online, anyway- but everyone I know has done well to very well.
There will always be a market for quality.
Thanks for chiming in. I was hoping this was the case. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2020 11:41:22 GMT -5
ETA link, this is scheduled to be at least partially shut down this year. No, the subsidized "free shipping" isn't going away. The only thing that was rejiggered was the price the usps receives for the last leg of the trip, which of course is irrelevant if the originating government is picking up that cost anyway. Nor is this a problem limited to Chinese sellers (and even if it was, many already by-pass the international part of postal shipping entirely by using alternative services to handle that leg - for at least a couple of decades there is a whole shadow postal system out there designed to get around the UPU/UPC framework). Nothing's changing as far as leveling the playing field  |
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Post by knave on Feb 20, 2020 13:21:14 GMT -5
ETA link, this is scheduled to be at least partially shut down this year. No, the subsidized "free shipping" isn't going away. The only thing that was rejiggered was the price the usps receives for the last leg of the trip, which of course is irrelevant if the originating government is picking up that cost anyway. Nor is this a problem limited to Chinese sellers (and even if it was, many already by-pass the international part of postal shipping entirely by using alternative services to handle that leg - for at least a couple of decades there is a whole shadow postal system out there designed to get around the UPU/UPC framework). Nothing's changing as far as leveling the playing field That’s just crazy. |
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Post by knave on Mar 5, 2020 17:55:24 GMT -5
 hmmm corona town |
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Mar 5, 2020 18:23:03 GMT -5
I get sent a lot of these cheap cabochons for setting work and they are always painful to work with; uneven domes, backs are not flat, little to no girdles, cut too thick, cut too thin, voids filled in with epoxy, poor polishes, insane back bevels, etc., etc. It's always a pleasure to be sent a cabochon that was cut with care and thoughtfulness, usually made by a domestic artisan. The finished jewelry turns out better too.
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Post by knave on Mar 5, 2020 19:36:21 GMT -5
I get sent a lot of these cheap cabochons for setting work and they are always painful to work with; uneven domes, backs are not flat, little to no girdles, cut too thick, cut too thin, voids filled in with epoxy, poor polishes, insane back bevels, etc., etc. It's always a pleasure to be sent a cabochon that was cut with care and thoughtfulness, usually made by a domestic artisan. The finished jewelry turns out better too. You get what you pay for. Seems to hold true. |
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Post by knave on Mar 10, 2020 19:14:54 GMT -5
  They arrived today. If you look close you can almost see the corona lol. |
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