I have purchased a number of diamond jewelery items on ebay and for the most part it has been a pleasurable experience. I have also had a few not so pleasurable experiences.  Three times I have bought diamond jewelery items all from different sellers that were listed as genuine diamonds but were not. All 3 sellers had excellent feedback, one claimed to be a jeweler and another was an Ebay power seller. Two of the sellers did stand behind their jewelery and refunded my money with return of the item and all ended well. I am sure most sellers try to be honest but to protect yourself from getting a fake here are a couple of tips (I had to find out the hard way). 

Do a little research on rating diamonds. Search diamond rating charts online and you will find tips on telling genuine diamonds from fakes.

Before bidding, if this information is not already disclosed in the description of the item ask the seller the following questions.  Has the diamond been tested for authenticity and is in fact a genuine diamond? Does the seller back their jewelery with a guarantee of a complete refund including any shipping and handling charges you paid if item is not as described?  Some sellers have a return policy of not refunding the postage amount you paid on an item. If an item is not as described you should not be penalized and should get a complete refund including the shipping and handling cost you paid. Request reimbursement on the cost to ship it back to them, a transaction involving a misrepresented item shoud have no out of pocket cost to you at all. 

Watch out for slippery wording in the descriptions. Stay way from "simulant", "created",  "lab", etc.  Look for the words"genuine" and  "natural" when describing a diamond. Natural earth mined diamonds can be "enhanced" or "treated".  Sometimes the fact that the diamonds are "lab created" is tucked in the middle of a lengthy description, so make sure to read the ENTIRE description. Just because an item has a title of "Diamond Ring" doesn't mean in the description the seller might not say "I think it's a diamond?" or "diamond like". If it is not clear or you have any questions, ask the seller.  Most sellers are more than happy to answer your questions. I stay away from sellers who do not respond to questions concerning the quality of their jewelery.

Be careful of diamond and expensive jewelery sellers with 0 (zero) feedback. Dishonest and scam sellers shut down and reopen with a new name all the time. Find a seller that has a 100% satisfaction and refund guarantee. Check feedback, honest sellers will generate repeat customers.

Pay with Paypal. It will be near impossible to get your money back if you pay with a check and never send cash! Paypal will help you sort out the problem with the seller.

Make sure "Ebay Second Chance Offer" emails you receive for expensive jewelery are legit.  Never respond to Second Chance Offer email. Computer scammers send these out en mass hoping someone will bite. If you do respond through one of these emails they will route you to a fake Paypal site hoping you will enter your password to pay for the item offered. There goes all your personal financial info. If you are really interested in a Second Chance Offer  log on to Ebay, go to "My Ebay" and click on "Second Chance Offers". If the offer is legit it will be there.

Be careful when buying jewelery from other countries.There is a lot of imitation gemstone jewelery coming out of China and Thailand that claims to be genuine diamond and gemstone. Check photos of the items closely, if you see no prongs, channel or bezel holding the stones in beware. Quality gemstone jewelery does not use glue to hold in the stones! Also check the quanity of items sold. If there is a good number of the same piece of jewelery for sale don't take a chance that it is genuine. Pieces may have counterfeit gold hallmarks. The hallmark should be indented and not raised as in some fake hallmarks. The best advice is to buy U.S. Other countries may or may not have laws about selling imitation stones as genuine to the public. 

Once you have received your purchase have your local jeweler check to make sure your diamond is genuine. If diamonds are your bag invest in a diamond tester yourself, it's well worth the money and easy to use. I bought a diamond tester online for about $90. Believe me, I feel much more confident buying diamonds online knowing I can check them myself. Test your diamond purchase as soon as you get it and if it is not genuine email the seller asap! Don't put it off, the sooner you inform the seller the better.  

If you do find yourself with a fake try to work it out with the seller. If you can't come to some kind of a resolution report the item and the seller toEbay and Paypal if that was your form of payment. Nobody likes giving or receiving negative feedback.  Leaving bad feedback for a bad transaction is safe for buyers now that Ebay has changed its feedback policy. You no longer have to fear negative feedback retaliation from a seller and can leave an honest feedback.

I have had some really great experiences with some awesome jewelery sellers on Ebay. I am sure most jewelery sellers are honest but this info might help you weed out the undesireables.

Remember, "genuine" diamonds are a girl's best friend :) 

See my other guides on purchasing jewelerey on Ebay. Good luck & happy bidding!

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