I'm turning Siamese, I think I'm turning Siamese, I really think so
As we have seen from the great "my Green Sapphire is the yellow peril" exposé, the impending Chinese menace is not so impending as some would have you believe.
But wait! In the World Gem Society report "Collateral Damage", there is yet more proof our livelihoods are in danger from the dastardly Chinese. Here, we discover a nefarious group have apparently set up camp in a Hong Kong post office box (to which I say... bendy little devils, aren't they?) and are STEALING the good names and reputations of honest Thai dealers. Man oh man, whoever thought of this certainly had huevos!
In said report, our SuperHeroGemmo, YourGemologist, the World Gem Society/International School of Gemology's Robert James, Sheriff of the Known Universe was honourable enough to blank out the "well established and highly trusted" Thai dealer's name in order to protect them from more damage to their reputation since those sneaky Chinese contortionists / treaters / cookers had USURPED the poor dear's name.
...snicker...
Only... below is the disclosed-as-lead-glass-filled ruby that the International School of Gemology's YourGemologist bought for 99 cents from eBay vendor extraordinaire Thaiddna, who incidentally also sells Tiger Balm, Thai Curry Paste, mentholated pain relief pads and sundry other well established and highly respected "major gem dealer" products.
Currying favour
Information is power and having the former in hand, we, too, ordered goodies from Thaiddna. After all, one does have to be vigilant in face of the Yellow Peril. If we have to resort to purchasing curry paste to protect our freedom, so be it!
Now obviously, we can't speak for the parcel that Mr. James received at the International School of Gemology/World Gem Society's bedroom office, although we do find it odd that it bears an HK "Permit Stamp" since these are reserved for bulk mailing of periodicals and documents and a Thailand customs document. We know it's Thai from the "TH" despite that the top has been conveniently peeled down over the bit that says "Thailand".
However, we can speak for the three parcels that members of the Gobsmacked Gang ordered from the same vendor. Ours, as you can see, were all mailed from Thailand, bear Thai postage and on the back of the parcel, the return address in Thailand. No customs documents at all, but for something worth just 99 cents, not that big a surprise.
Now that you, too, have the vendor's name, you can prove this yourself. Delivery isn't as fast as with Jingjaigems though, so be warned. But the green curry paste is highly recommended.
Yellow journalism
So where does that leave the great Chinese "When-We-Rule-the-World-Your-Children-Will-Eat-Nothing-But-Rice" conspiracy theory? Well, it leaves us facing the very real and frightening possibility of... consolidated shipping! Dun dun duuuuuun!
Because we've been shopping from other Thai vendors present on the International School of Gemology's YourGemologist feedback list, now haven't we? And one of the parcels showed up bearing this:
What the f*%k?
Rather than suspecting some Dr. No-No-No conspiracy theory, we thought we'd just ask the guy. His response? I drop my stuff off at the DHL Servicepoint in Chanthaburi. That's right, DHL offers mail shipping consolidation services in Chanthaburi, as does Fedex.
It works like this. Dozens or more parcels are dropped off at the DHL collection point, where they are thrown into a large shipping box. That box is then sent to Hong Kong where DHL's Asia hub is located. Here, the box is opened and individual items are shipped onward using a much cheaper bulk permit postal rate than is available in Thailand. Hong Kong is a duty-free port, so no worries about import or export taxes. This is why an eBay vendor can sell a single stone for a dollar. When he's being paid $9 for postage to send you a stone that is essentially worthless, his profit is in the shipping fees. He's not getting rich, but he's getting by. Saving 50 cents or a dollar is nothing but win.
Instead of imagining all sorts of complicated outlandish conspiracies and fake scandals involving crowded Post Office boxes and Chinese identity thieves, the erstwhile guardian of the gates at the International School of Gemology / World Gem Society should consider simple economics. Or maybe just ask the people you're buying from and verify from there.
Honestly, all we can say is that Sun Tzu most certainly would have come up with a better plan for World Domination than usurping the eBay account of a Thai vendor. He'd probably work out a complicated scheme where all of your Waterford and Baccarat transforms itself from lead glass into sodium silicate, aka "water glass", aka head gasket sealant.
Oh wait... maybe someone's already on that job. What say you, Charlie Chan?
••••••••••••••••
About us
We are the Gobsmacked Gang, those who cannot believe the things that spring from the mouth of the International School of Gemology's Robert James, the Mr. Bean of the gemmological world. Please note that the Gobsmacked Gang has nothing to do with what appears to be yet another Robert James attack site FakeGemology.com, which is designed to hurt someone making an honest attempt at teaching gemmology. Once again, as is copiously detailed on our Files page, James reveals what an evil little spawn he is. We would pray for his soul, but there is no evidence he has one. Thus we suggest a career change. A man like this certainly belongs in the Trump administration.
Testimonials
"If I were to catch any of my ISG Registered Gemologists or Registered Gemologist Appraisers trying to pull the stunts that you are pulling on eBay, I would pull their diplomas, publicly expel them from the ISG, and personally make sure that they did not work again in this industry with anything but a broom in their hand."
— Robert James
"They [the insurance industry] do not take kindly to frauds being perpetrated on consumers."
— Robert James
Read about the Robert James eBay fraud in our article here.