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Status:
"Just livin' day by day"
(set 24 days ago)
Location: USA
3,166 posts, read 3,359,241 times
Reputation: 5382
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Opal is my birthstone so looking for something to own. I don't care if it's pre-owned as long it's genuine and natural. I've gone to Rock, Gem, Mineral expos and they're so pretty but so expensive on my budget. Is there any place other than eBay to try buying one at reasonable price. I don't care if there's other stones as well on the pendant as long as they're real.
Look up some facebook websites where people sell jewelry. There's one for vintage costume jewelry, and one for vintage jewelry goodies--google them. Don't look for costume jewelry, of course, but estate jewelry or--I just looked and there's one called Jewelry Sale Online. There are more but I didn't look.
The people who are trying to get rid of stuff take pictures of them and post them to the group. There are moderators who are in charge, which is good. The sellers ask to be paid by PayPal. You should probably lurk a while before buying so that you feel comfortable in the group. You could probably even ask if someone has opals.
I'd recommend Etsy but it's expensive. These facebook groups are cheaper because there are no fees for the sellers to pay and it's more informal. People who got fed up with sites like ebay and etsy have gravitated to selling on facebook.
It takes a lot more time, but poking around antique shows and shops, flea markets, yard sales and any place that sells USED goods is where to buy jewelry the cheapest. Sellers have their overhead costs to cover, so avoid anywhere, the seller's rents might be high.
If the goal is the cheapest price, one should never buy jewelry that is brand new. However, what is YOUR shopping time really worth? And the gas to get to all of those places? Plus, you should buy a magnifying loupe and gain the knowledge to know what is real and what is fake.
I've bought some nice opal pendant jewelry at antique shows, where the dealer basically priced the pieces at close to scrap value and didn't count the opals as worth very much.
For odd items I have always gone to Vietnamese stores. Small stores.
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