Nasty pain in the behind, buyer

[artisticcreations1]

I sold an item on another id, I am a powerseller on that idea(big deal you say) not such a big deal i know 🙂

anyway, I buy all my items from australian wholesalers, as I have started a business and serious selling on ebay.  I do not buy items from shonky companies from overseas, who arent real wholesalers with quality control.  so to make this as short as possible, I sold a ankle bracelet to someone and they are now trying to claim, that the crystals on it, are not genuine swarovski crystals.  Like i said i deal with australian wholesalers, who I get to meet at fair trading shows etc, so we are serious about the companies we deal with and the products.  So this is the first complaint, in all of the items i have sold, being made with swarovski crystal.  First time I have heard this about our items.  buyer, accused us of deliberately lying, and selling fakes on purpose.  My jaw dropped as this is definitely not something we would do, not on purpose anyway. 

So I contact my wholesaler, and ask him to explain, with that exact item and he tells me, that this line of item, have all been made using swarovski crystal.  So I pass the email onto the buyer and ask her to send it back if she is not happy for a full refund etc. She has not even mentioned anything about agreeing to sending it back, only saying that she will get it checked out properly.  Also threatens that she will contact ebay and get our account suspended due to us selling this imitation and lying about it.  I told her to watch herself and the accusations, as I have now notified my wholesaler, ebay and will be taking further action towards her for her false accusations, with no proof.

what would you do, in this situation, this nutcase, has had problems with most transactions, a few negetives, to other sellers which seem bizarre to me, some neutrals and even some positives that are negetive positive comments. Some of the items she does seem happy with, but alot of them she isnt.

I cant believe, idiots such as this person, is allowed to trade on ebay. 

If you would like to know more info on the item number you can always message me in private , as i can assure you all, this is one for that special list of yours. 

I havent mentioned the item here, as most of you know that, most of the time, you can get alot of trouble, letting others on board know your selling id, so for this reason, i want to keep it as private as possible

thanks all

rant over

[phorum_junkie*]

May I ask approximately how much you are paying for the crystals? Discounting of course enough to cover the other materials and time to make them.

If they are genuine Swarovski then they will not be cheap, even at wholesale prices. I would certainly be taking them to a Swarovski outlet and asking if they were genuine and if they aren't you need to get very serious with your supplier.

A lot of people, and many who should know better, think that if a bead is made of glass and has enough facets to be 'sparkly' then it is Swarovski, it isn't.

[artisticcreations1]

hello, pj, no we dont make these ourselves, we buy all our items from australian wholesalers, some are asian wholesalers as well as your other ethnic backgrounds but they are australian based, in australia and have wholesaler businesses, with permits etc. 

I know what your saying licorice, yes i understand they come in packaging, I will have to ask my wholesaler whether they are getting these made themselves and just adding the crystals to them. what a headache this has become lol.

[artisticcreations1]

we also get these, for roughly $5-$6 wholesale price and gst is added to this etc.  there are about 4 crystals on the bracelets, sometimes more and they are usually gold platted

[licoricebabyandfabmama]

yes  to be honest i knew nothing about swarvoski crystals ( dont even know how to spell the darn word)       until i read up on them.  So i guess it comes down to how you are describing them in your listing,  Im starting to think they may not be genuine Swarovski so if you have them listed as such i guess i could see how buyers may get upset (athough they should know better by the price)         Your supplier may not be knowingly ripping you off,    its just theres seems to be confusion all round as to whats genuine and whats just a swarovski "style" of crystal.       Im just as confused about it as you actually.   lol      Hmm I know theres a few posters that use this board that know alot about jewelry  but i guess they havent read this post yet.   Good Luck getting it sorted though    🙂

[phorum_junkie*]

At those prices I think it is wise to assume they are NOT genuine. The genuine item would cost more per bead for the packaging even at wholesale never mind for the bead!

For your own protection please go to a genuine Swarovski store and ask them about them, take all the wholesaler's details with you as you could actually be sued if you have sold even one bead that was not genuine.

[i-once-was-bump]

I have paid $4 to $5 for one genuine Swarovski crystal bead and have used 3 or 4 smaller ones in just one earring so a total of 6 -8 beads and that costs me least $20 including the st sil findings for a pair of earrings.

I use to buy these at wholesale prices from a gold and silver merchant but he closed his city shop.(smilies are on strike so please imagine you are looking at a very sad smilie.)

[artisticcreations1]

ok, back with some more information, i asked my wholesaler to prove authenticity and he emailed me back with the following message and an authenticfication swarovski certificate

"The main stone of the anklet is Swarovski Cyclamen Opal 398, please check the attached Chatons file to take a look. We source Swarovski crytal from authorized Swarovski agent, please check the attached certificate. If the customer still don’t believe, just ask the customer take the anklet to confirm with Swarovski Australia anytime."

[artisticcreations1]

and yet bump, i have seen them online for sale, not sure of the size, but as low as 13c each, and its from one of the sellers, who tells everyone how to notice the difference between the real and fake ones. so unless she is selling fakes, you obviously can sometimes get them for bargain prices??

[i-once-was-bump]

Just like so many other items now available on eBay it is a minefield.

I do not think that most sellers are out to rip off anyone but it is becoming increasingly impossible to know what is fake and what is genuine.

Even if your beads are genuine I still have to ask how could a jeweller be able to tell you the brand because there are some very beautiful crystals out there and they are not the cheap rubbishy copies.

If I was in you situation I would probably curl up in the fetal position in a dark corner and start rocking to and fro.

good luck with this customer.

[digital*ghost]

It is possible to distinguish Swarovskis from other beads, with  one of the the most notable (and easily determined) being a weight comparison, because they contain more than twice the amount of lead than other crystal beads so are heavier than an identical bead made from normal glass / crystal. 

With beads already attached to jewellery, that kind of test can be a bit impossible, but someone experienced and familiar with Swarovskis should be able to determine to a pretty good percentage of assuredness whether they're the real deal or not, based on clarity, cut and light refraction. 

Price alone can't be a determining factor - you'll pay through the nose for them at somewhere like Spotlight or smaller 'boutique' style bead shops, even for some of the more common ones (bicones etc), because from the former you're paying premium retail prices for small amounts that are individually packaged, not to mention their prices factor frequent member discounts @20% into them as well, then from the latter - along with a few other reasons - you're buying from a retailer that probably hasn't purchased in bulk wholesale prices.