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Buying pearls on eBay can get to be a bit like playing roulette. If you don't know what to look for, and if the seller doesn't offer a good explanation of his/her wares, you could be buying glass beads coated with pearl paint! So get yourself a quick pearl education, and make sure you ASK questions!
First, beware of sellers who show a stunning photo of a perfect pearl piece, but don't tell you what grade of pearl you are buying, or what the size of the pearl is, or what the length of the necklace is, or whether it is knotted silk or rayon thread, or if the clasp is made of base metal, metal that is plated, metal that is gold-filled, sterling silver or 14k gold!
A picture may look exquisitely lovely, but unless the seller stipulates that you are buying THAT exact necklace, you might be in for a very nasty surprise!
For example...I bought a couple of strands of pearls from a seller on eBay many months back. The photos showed beautiful strands of stunningly lustrous, round, gorgeous pearls! The seller referred to them as "Mikimoto" pearls, which are some of the highest quality cultured salt-water pearls available! They were on sale for a pittance (remember that old adage, "you get what you pay for?") and I picked them up for less that a dollar a necklace! What a bargain! Of course, the SH price was $32 per necklace, so I assumed that the seller was using the SH to get the normal price for the items (the old "circumvention of eBay fees routine"). $32 for a beautiful pearl necklace is dirt cheap!
So when they arrived, and I opened the styrofoam shipping container (which indicated that the seller had spent less than $10 US to ship both strings of pearls from China), I naturally expected to see some wonderful, lustrous pearls.
So much for assumptions!
I pulled out a pair of the saddest looking, ugliest strands of freshwater pearls I've had the misfortune of seeing in ten years on eBay! So much for assuming that the seller had posted a picture of the actual pearls I was going to get!
The photo below shows a set of "South Sea Pearls" I just bought. South Sea Pearls are larger, lustrous, salt water pearls. Note the luster and the perfect, smooth surface.
Instead of the ones above, I got a set of white, large pearls that had growth rings and off-round shape. Although these pearls were large (about 9mm) and fairly round, these were not the same pearls shown above. The price? $4.99 plus $35 SH and insurance. Remember...Ya get what ya pay for!
How Pearls Are Graded
Akoya and Fresh Water Pearls are usually graded with the AAA-A system.AAA: Very high luster and the surface is at least 95% free of defects
AA: High luster, and the surface is at least 75% free of defects
A: The lowest grade of jewelry-quality pearl. The luster is not as high, OR the surface shows more than 25% defect.
Many A graded pearls are mounted so that the defects are invisible. These still make lovely pieces of jewelry.
Note: I have had buyers ask me why strands of AAA pearls have small imperfections on the surface. Well, since a pearl comes from an oyster instead of a perfectionist diamond cutter, you are going to have some tiny flaws. Even Mikimoto of Japan, once of the world's foremost pearl stores, tells you on their grading page that even the most perfect, stunning pearls have some tiny natural flaws.
These are AAA grade Akoya pearls.
Note the perfect round shape and high luster.
So, here are a couple of important things to remember when you shop on eBay for pearls.
FIRST, expect the seller to tell in the item description the quality (grade) of the item, the size (in mm's) of the pearls, and what type of metal is in the clasp or findings. Also expect the seller to tell the length in inches of the necklace from clasp to end.
NEXT, be aware that most pearls available on the market these days are coming out of China, and are freshwater pearls. There are hundreds of sizes, shapes, and colors! Yes, there ARE round freshwater pearls! One important thing to remember is that the nacre (the pearly shell around the matrix that started the mollusk making a pearl) must be thick and lustrous, no matter what shape or size you are buying. Pearls with thin nacre layers will look dull or have uneven luster.
If the pearls are not on double silk thread that has been knotted between the individual pearls, the nacre will rub and eventually wear away. If the thread is not knotted, you will lose your pearls if the strand breaks. Silk thread is stronger than most other types of thread.
Pearls of higher quality should have precious metal clasps.
Inexpensive base metal (gold-tone or silver-tone) or gold-plated or silver-plated base metal clasps indicate that the pearls may be lower quality, or may even be faux-pearls. (Faux-pearls were very popular in the early part of the last century, and still remain popular in beading because real pearls are so much more expensive than pretty plastic or paste bead pearls.) Faux-pearls are perfectly round, lustrous beads, and many vintage necklaces and pieces of jewelry you pick up on eBay do contain these older, high-quality paste pearls. Gold plated clasps look pretty for a few months, then lose the plating and turn your skin green.
If the seller states that you are buying "South Sea Pearls", please ask the seller if the pearls are cultured, or man-made Sea Shell pearls. Remember that REAL South Sea or Tahitian pearls are very expensive, and because of the size of the mollusks they come from, they can get to be huge! So if the seller is touting that he has a gorgeous set of 14mm South Sea Pearls for sale for $29.99, don't bite. They are usually "Sea Shell" pearls. I saw at least thirty sellers yesterday on eBay advertising "Gorgeous perfectly round South Seas shell pearls". I guess they figure you won't know the difference.
"Sea Shell" pearls are big and lustrous, perfectly round, and often come in exotic colors. Even if the seller does not indicate that the pearls are man-made, you can usually tell by the sheer size and perfection. Most Sea Shell pearls I have found are anywhere from 10 to 16 mm's.
The sea shell pearls below are about 16 mm's.
Man made Sea Shell Pearls are very beautiful, and if manufactured properly, are as lovely and as strong as real pearls, but the seller must tell you what you are buying!
Pearls that come in exotic colors, and look perfectly round, in larger sizes, are usually manufactured pearls. Man made Sea Shell Pearls are not plastic or glass beads. They are made of real mother of pearl, crushed and often colored, and coated thickly around pieces of mother of pearl matrix or small glass or stone beads. The layers of mother of pearl are thick and highly polished, and these "pearls" are large, beautiful, natural-looking pearl beads that are often far larger and more perfect than many real pearls could get to be.
These are man-made Sea Shell Pearls
Man-made pearls
The most beautiful man-made pearls in the late part of the 19th century and the early part of the last century were called "Majorca Pearls" (or Mallorca/Majorica). These fine manufactured pearls (made of hemage and fish scales for high iridescence and beauty) were invented in Mallorca, in Spain, and were bought for their sheer perfection by folks who could not afford thousands of dollars a strand for natural, large, perfectly round pearls! All strands of Majorca (Majorica/Mallorca) Pearls were originally sold with precious metal Sterling Silver clasps. These pearls are still made today by the same factories. However, today, these gorgeous man-made pearls come with base-metal, gold plated clasps, which I feel degrades the still amazing high quality of the product.
In The Long Run, It's YOUR Choice!
The final thing to remember is that if it is a real pearl, it may have some small surface imperfections, especially if it is not the highest quality pearl available. Freshwater pearls often have growth rings around them, or have small "bulbs" of nacre that make them look irregular in shape. Higher quality pearls will have thick, lustrous nacre, and a more uniform shape. A strand of "Button Pearls" or (even rice pearls) that is AAA quality is just as lovely and lustrous as a perfect set of round Akoya Pearls...the only difference is the shape and the price. Lovely odd-shaped baroque pearls can be stunningly gorgeous!
The pearls below are real Tahitian Pearls, but they are not "gem-quality". They do have high luster, but they are not perfectly shaped. They have uneven, flat areas or small bulbs that make them less than gem-quality. The surface has visible blemishes. However, these still make a stunning necklace!
Pearl Prices
Pearls can be purchased for as little as $1.00 a strand, (mostly low-luster,dyed freshwater with odd shapes and sizes) or as much as $19,000 a strand. (Natural pearls go as high as MILLIONS per strand!) Obviously, the highest gem-quality pearls will go for very high prices. Gem quality pearls are costly, and you pay dearly for them. To buy pearls like the ones in the Crown Jewels, expect to pay an arm and a leg (or any number of valuable body parts). Queen Margharita di Savoy of Italy wore swathes of huge natural pearls that you couldn't find today for under $10,000,000. (Or so I am told!)
If you search eBay on any given day, you will find sellers offering "Perfect round AAA quality Akoya Pearls" for as little as $10.00 a strand. Not likely. Most likely these pearls are round or near-round freshwater pearls mis-labeled by the seller for visibility. And they will certainly not be "AAA" quality for that price. Most likely AA or A. The pearls are photographed under professional lighting that makes the luster appear even better than it really is. When you get them, you'll wonder if they are the same strand of pearls.
The metal in the clasp is usually gold plated (GP), although the seller doesn't tell you that unless you pin him down with an e-mail. Some may be gold filled (14K/20), which is far higher quality than plated, because it contains far more gold. Sometimes you will see one that has sterling silver, 9K, or 14K solid gold. Of course, the prices on those are a lot higher because of the precious metal in the clasps and findings, not necessarily because the pearls are nicer quality.
Yesterday I saw an Aussie seller who had labeled his pearls as "AAA quality Akoya". Then down in the description he states clearly that these are "freshwater" pearls. That appears to be blatantly misleading advertisement, since Akoyas are SALT WATER pearls. The pearls were pretty, and reasonably priced, though.
On eBay, "Akoya" seems to be used to pertain to about any pearl that is even remotely round-shaped.
So please be well aware that a lot of sellers are NOT selling Akoyas, even though they state the pearls are "Akoya". Sellers tend to lump all of the nicer pearls into that category for search engine visibility.
As I stated earlier in this guide, one seller called his pearls "Mikimoto". (Definitely not Mikimoto for under $700 a strand.) Others call their pearls "Hanadama", which means the "flower of pearls", or the highest gem-quality available in Japan. They show a photo of a gorgeous strand. Please be aware that pearls of that quality would not be selling on eBay for $20 or even $50 a necklace. I buy from several excellent sources in China and Japan, and if you buy large lots, you get better prices. But I have never been able to buy Mikimoto or Hanadama pearls at those prices. You can get an education on these pearls by going to the Japanese Mikimoto website.
The Mikimoto Akoya Pearls below are on sale on that website for about $32,000. These are considered to be "Hanadama". The clasp is 18K solid white gold and has a fine large ruby cabochon. The sheen is magnificent, and the shape is perfect round. Not a single "sorta-round" pearl in sight. Yet even these stunningly perfect, highly-expensive pearls do have some tiny flaws!
If you want exquisite round pearls, expect to pay a fairly high price for them.
You don't get gorgeous gem-quality pearls cheaply.
Also expect the seller to be honest and up-front about the quality. Make sure the seller is showing the actual pearls that you will be getting. And be sure to report to eBay any seller whose merchandise is not as advertised!
And please, realize that pearls are always a matter of personal choice in jewelry, and some women adore the off-round, glowing lustrous pearls, while others insist on perfect rounds! Look at the picture and decide whether the pearls shown are worth that $50 to you.
Jeweler's Mark-Up
Often the seller states that the pearls are worth $3,000, but is selling them for $350. Sellers tend to price jewelry high to leave room for "sale" pricing and "slashed clearance" pricing. Remember that fine jewelry is marked up high (MSRP) so a jeweler can mark it down and still make a profit. The price being asked is normally an amount that still leaves some profit for the seller, despite the low price tag, so don't the the "Retail Price" throw you. YES, the price would be $3,000 if you were looking in a high-class jeweler's case...but NO, the seller is not taking a loss.
I price my pearls to sell. eBayer's are not necessarily looking for the highest quality, but the ARE looking for the lowest prices. I try to give them both...highest quality at the lowest prices.
If the seller lists the clasp as 14k, e-mail him to verify if that is gold plated, gold filled, or solid gold. (Gold filled would be marked 14/20 or 12/20, or sometimes 1/20 12k.) If the clasp is listed as 9K, remember that 9K means "9 parts pure gold and 15 parts other metal. This gold content is perfectly acceptable in other countries, but you only see 10K or higher in the USA. 10K gold is the lowest gold content used in jewelry manufactured in the USA. That is "10 parts pure gold and 14 parts other metal", and so on. European gold markings are under the metric system, with 14K gold shown as "585" or 58.5% pure gold, while 18K gold is marked "750" or 75% pure gold. Sterling Silver would be marked "925".
But the price of a pearl necklace or earrings is only half of the issue.
If the actual necklace is shown, and it is an expensive one, yet you don't personally like the color or the shape, it's not for you, no matter how expensive it is (or was). Just remember, if that strand of pearls looks beautiful to you, and it is reasonably priced, go for it. The value of a strand of pearls for personal wear is in the eye of the beholder. :)
See my other eBay Guides on buying pearls.
Buying on eBay should be a fun, satisfying experience for both seller and buyer.
JUST DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS!
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