Jewelry auction websites look too good to be true, you can see incredible pieces on offer for unbelievably low costs that you can enjoy for yourself or even sell on for a considerable profit.
Why is their jewelry so much more inexpensive than the high street? Well firstly trading anything on-line has much smaller operating expenses than trading through a physical retail outlet. Passing these savings on to the customer assures more sales at a decent profit.
Secondly the auction sale model is based on putting beginning prices substantially lower than they can be discovered elsewhere - even on-line. If an item you desire is being sold at the same price or even less on a regular web site why get involved in a bidding war and end up paying more than you have to?
Therefore with beginning prices being very low you as a bidder have a very genuine prospect of winning an item no one else bids on for a real bargain price. Or on the flip side as a vendor you can put on an item that fetches far more than you could hope to get for it through traditional methods - even on the high street.
The start out price has to be small enough to lure people to bid on the item - and ideally maintain bidding until it's way over the actual value of the item.
Are all the scam tales true about sub standard products being posted out, gems being swapped out and credentials not matching the actual piece? With some jewelry auction web sites that may have been the case at some stage but the chances are they won't be around for long so it's advisable to look for the more recognised websites that have stood the test of time.
Like any recognised and reputable auction website be sure that there are processes in place for disputes and returns.
So are there still any proper buys to be had out there? That depends entirely on how well you know what you're bidding for or not. Like any auction on or offline if you know your material then you'll be competent at spotting a deal. Of course you can't physically pick up and scrutinise what you're bidding for - but you can't really do that at offline jewelry auctions either. At the last major one I attended in Geneva the jewelry was being guarded by men with guns.
So are you ready to start bidding at jewelry auction websites for fun, profit or both?. There are several sites out there and the most popular ones have plenty of reviews. Probably the biggest and most established one to cut your teeth on is bidz.com - you will find many - including our own - bidz reviews on-line. If you have a good eye for jewelry and recognise a deal when you see it, you could end up a winner.
Peter Webber is the owner of Custom Unique Engagement Rings a website that specialises in helping people find high quality engagement rings and other jewelry at bargain prices on-line
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