Expensive item of jewellery is a fake

[GermanHouseCat]

I bought a piece of vintage Tiffany jewellery on Ebay and had it shipped from Japan. The seller had lots of great feedback and was selling a wide range of second hand jewellery that I felt gave them some gravitas.

The item arrived last week and I had a moment of doubt when I opened the box. I posted photos on an online jewellery forum, and have just received an opinion from an expert (they have quite low traffic, hence the delay) that the item is fake.

What do I do? If I ask the seller for a refund I will have to pay return postage to Japan. I also won't get a refund on import taxes (about £100) which is a huge amount to lose.

Do I take it to Tiffany and ask them for a letter to show it's fake? What if they won't play ball/sieze the item?

If I raise a case with ebay, what do I need to prove?

Thank you for any advice you might have.

you will need to open a case and see what eBay say. Have you contacted the seller? There is no way of getting the £100 import duties refunded unless the seller offers that. But I doubt very much they will. But yes you may have to return tracked which will cost a lot of money I presume.

I think if you have proof it's fake ebay will refund you ( and you won't have to return it) but yeah, no way if getting the import tax back:(

it sounds like an expensive item - I don't think eBay will give a no fault refund for a large amount?

Get a second opinion from someone who can examine the piece carefully. If Tiffany / a Tiffany expert will do this all the better. Then contact seller and ebay to see how to go next on resolving the matter. I hope it gets sorted.

I don't think you are allowed to send fake goods in the post so I don't think you will have to return it. Open a case with ebay asap and get yourself some proof.

In theory eBay should refund and ask for proof the jewellery is destroyed. The difficulty you will have is getting proof it's fake.

Tiffany might not play ball, you need something on headed paper from a recognised body (store, jeweller, expert etc) that says 'this item is fake'. It's often not as easy as it seems, many retailers take the view that if you bought from eBay rather than them in the first place then why should they help, though that said if this is vintage Tiffany you might have more luck.

I think you'll have to write off the £100 though.