It really irritates me when people are selling things (on eBay or elsewhere) and they really have no clue what they’re selling. For example, there was a pendant I was interested in and it was listed as “German Silver”. Now, German Silver can mean that it’s a silver-coloured base metal made of some alloy of tin, zinc, nickel, etc. OR it can mean actual silver which is simply below the standard for sterling (such as .800 or .900 as opposed to .925 purity). To me, it’s important to know what it is, because I have real problems with costume jewellery (my skin is very acidic, and base metal tends to turn black, green, and other nasty colours, and the jewellry is ruined very quickly).

So I wrote to this seller to ask what is was. I was very polite. This is the reply I got:

When I list an item for auction I am obliged to list it as it is. When I purchase items that are sold to me as German Silver I have to state that is what it is. I am not an expert in metal and therefore am not able to comment on the standard of one as opposed to the other.

Uh, right. They might as well have said, “I have no idea what I’m selling.” Seriously, that’s precisely what they’re saying. They don’t know anything about jewellery, they don’t know anything about precious metals as opposed to base metals. I mean, I’m no metallurgist, but it’s not all that difficult to learn basic things like whether the item you’re selling is base metal or actual silver, is it?

People like this are the ones who make online trading such a big risk, particularly through eBay or similar sites. And yeah, it does irritate me. No, you don’t have to be an expert, but you could at least have some damned clue what you’re offering the public!

Rant over.

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