Is anybody buying?

[stratobuddy]

I dug out my little cards a short while ago and had a nose. Pezzottaite is one ring I bought and it is a stone no one seems to mention now. Just a simple half carat in 2.5 grams of gold.

Pure gold is £43-53 per gram at the moment, so assuming it was 9ct, that would be about £41 just for the metal.

 

[GrahamBristol]

They were showcasing a gem a few days ago, cannot remember what it was, and they had made a mistake with setting them in silver. David Troth said they should have been set in gold and was texting his sister live on air to tell her about this 'mistake' :mysmilie_19:

Oh no!! That keeps happening. Not again! How embarrassing, I hope that Steve Bennett isn't watching. That said as it is an employee owned business the whole company it loosing out!

 

[harrytumkins]

Can only concur

What a bizarre channel this is now

Just put it on at 1pm today it is now 1.15 and still the presenter is just teasing the gem newest rarest e.t.c all the usual bull

finally you can actually but I have no idea how a shopping channel that hardly ever sells anything survives

 

[Anna]

I see Dave Troth and immediately turn off. Hey, that rhymes. Anyway, when he appears on the hour I realise that nothing will be sold for around another half an hour. He just goes on and on and on, etc. I just want to see what there is for sale and for the presenter to get on with selling.

 

[MissMagpie]

Oh no!! That keeps happening. Not again! How embarrassing, I hope that Steve Bennett isn't watching. That said as it is an employee owned business the whole company it loosing out!

Funny how all these channels (Gemporia by no means the only or even the worst offender) keep making these 'mistakes'... they keep getting the prices wrong, too, apparently. But of course none of these 'mistakes' is real, any more than the presenters' fake astonishment at the quality, rarity, price, etc. It's easy to be taken in by it at first; but anyone who's watched for a while quickly realises it's just a tacky sales pitch. Another trick is presenters begging the producer to 'save one for me because I love it so much': I'm sure presenters DO sometimes buy from the channels--after all, they DO sometimes flog some nice stuff at a decent price--but they'd need to rent a lockup if they actually bought everything they claied.

I do wish they quit all the acting and the histrionics. Just show us the item, give us some information about it, by all means tell us how lovely/useful/unusual/whatever it is, but in calm and measured tones, and stop telling us porkies. I sometimes watch Rocks & Co on the web, which is all in German now as they no longer have English presenters: I only understand bits of it, but it's the presenting style is calm and measured (even if the prices are often way over the top). Mind you, Rocks & Co was just as bad as the others when it was a proper UK channel: they must think we Brits like that sort of stuff.

 

[maymorganlondon]

Funny how all these channels (Gemporia by no means the only or even the worst offender) keep making these 'mistakes'... they keep getting the prices wrong, too, apparently. But of course none of these 'mistakes' is real, any more than the presenters' fake astonishment at the quality, rarity, price, etc. It's easy to be taken in by it at first; but anyone who's watched for a while quickly realises it's just a tacky sales pitch. Another trick is presenters begging the producer to 'save one for me because I love it so much': I'm sure presenters DO sometimes buy from the channels--after all, they DO sometimes flog some nice stuff at a decent price--but they'd need to rent a lockup if they actually bought everything they claied.

I do wish they quit all the acting and the histrionics. Just show us the item, give us some information about it, by all means tell us how lovely/useful/unusual/whatever it is, but in calm and measured tones, and stop telling us porkies. I sometimes watch Rocks & Co on the web, which is all in German now as they no longer have English presenters: I only understand bits of it, but it's the presenting style is calm and measured (even if the prices are often way over the top). Mind you, Rocks & Co was just as bad as the others when it was a proper UK channel: they must think we Brits like that sort of stuff.

I wonder if the regulations covering selly telly are stricter in Germany than here?

 

[puffin48]

I see Dave Troth and immediately turn off. Hey, that rhymes. Anyway, when he appears on the hour I realise that nothing will be sold for around another half an hour. He just goes on and on and on, etc. I just want to see what there is for sale and for the presenter to get on with selling.

I can't stand him either. He always looks like he is going to burst into tears and I wouldn't believe a word he says. Charlie Baron the pearl man seems a nice chap.

Ruth Linnett is the only presenter I can watch because she doesn't take it too seriously. I used to like Lynn Jinks but she seems to be trying to look younger than she is and failing. She looks quite hard faced now

 

[Mommabear]

Ruth is the only one I watch too. If I tune in and she is on I know there’s some fun to be had.

 

[Anna]

I can't stand him either. He always looks like he is going to burst into tears and I wouldn't believe a word he says. Charlie Baron the pearl man seems a nice chap.

Ruth Linnett is the only presenter I can watch because she doesn't take it too seriously. I used to like Lynn Jinks but she seems to be trying to look younger than she is and failing. She looks quite hard faced now

I can watch Ruth and Ellis. The others are hard to watch.

 

[user 17461]

Not a fan of Ellis, but at least she knows how to behave on telly. Adina is unwatchable: if she's not wiping her nose, she's fiddling with her hair. And if she leans any more forward in her chair she'd fall right out of her top.

Lindsay Carr is awful. All she has to do to sell stuff is read the graphics on screen, but she can't seem to do that without garbling it up.

Jess is so insincere. She's one of those people who will look you dead in the eye as she lies to you, then smirk afterwards.

Hattie is another who can't stop wiping her nose on camera. I feel sorry for the poor sods who have to pick up theitems after her and Adina's shows.

Angeline can be fun to watch, just to see how often she mentions how long she's been at the channel. I imagine that her nose was put firmly out of joint when Ellis joined and has become almost the face and voice of Gemporia's own ads.

Ruth is fun, but I would be annoyed if I was wanting to actually buy stuff. Lots of going off on entertaining tangents, but it's not helpful if you want to buy.

Drew goes off on tangents even more than Ruth, but he's not as funny as he thinks he is. Especially when he ignores the viewers to have lengthy chats with the camera folks, the director etc.

Finally Jeff: nice guy, and harmless. But he keeps saying the same couple of phrases every two minutes :"Thanks to everyone for getting involved" is one. The second is to say that something is coming tbrough. A gem's colour is coming through. Texts are coming through. Price reductions are coming through. Buyers are coming through. The poor guy must be bored rigid because all he can do is wear terrible shirts and say two phrases.

Have I bitched enough now lol?

 

[user 17461]

So, do I buy from Gemporia? Lol

No. Partly because most of the presenters are unwatchable, and partly because the cjannel isn't as open about gem treatments as it likes to say it is. And also because no matter how much presenters and camera people try to hide it, jewellery is only just above the level of gems wrapped in gold and silver foil.

Presenters only ever mention treated stones when they're flogging natural ones. Gemporia tells you that presentets don't need to discuss treatments in detail because they mention them in on-screen graphics. Um, sort of. They give a treatment code, which you can look up on their wrbsite. Except for when you can't. Treatment codes appear on screen that have no online explanation. Last week, one item I noticed stood out because its stone had the treatment code Z. Except that there isn't such a code listed on Gemporia's website. So how can viewers make an informed decision when they're not getting the full details regarding jewellery that they're thinking of buying? And if I am having issues, how is some poor old love who is terrified of the internet supposed to cope?

Also, the website gives no info about how stable treatments are, or how long they will last. Especially important for coated stones like mystic topaz.

So no, I am not buying. Not even their knockoff perfumes and cheap looking homewares

 

[user 17461]

I have Pezzottaite bought years back. No doubt they can no longer get it.

Mine is a simple one stone in 9ct gold to lazy to check the carat weight

Donna don't bother to. For some reason Shubwhatever just copied and posted part of your previous post from up the thread. Twice.

Not sure what that's meant to achieve

 

[MissMagpie]

Good morning, everyone. Returning gemaholic here!
I had to give up buying jewellery due to a change in circumstances but recently started again. Is anybody buying much from Gemporia these days? I bought a chrome diopside solitaire in silver from them last week and it knocked the socks off the diopside ring I also bought from TJC, to compare.

I gave up buying too, just because I had got bored with shopping channels really; but have recently started again. As with everything, you just have to be selective and not get taken in by the hype! Obviously Gemporia are doing really well, and they have clearly grown (as you can tell from the quantities, and the speed with which items sell).

Unfortunately, this Forum now seems to be entirely dominated by people moaning, and nobody ever posts pics of their lovely sparkly purchases any longer. There are definitely things to moan about, and we all need to get it off our chest sometimes; but it's NOT all completely negative, and I have made some lovely purchases recently. I wish this Forum was a mixture of positive and negative, as it used to be; but unfortunately it seems to have degenerated completely into a moan-fest, and hardly anybody posts here any more.

I have now joined a Facebook group called All Things Gemporia and Gemstones (which is not just Gemporia, but shopping channel and gemstone jewellery in general). That group seems to contain the right balance of legitimate beefs and positive posts.

 

[donna255]

I do not think they can be doing that well when they are reduced to selling makeup, scarves, handbags and candles quite a lot of the time. You are lucky actually catch them selling jewellery lately.

The quality has gone down, gold is very lightweight compared to the old days far more is in silver. They moved to using zircon instead of diamonds as accents on their jewellery pieces. I have rings with 4 grams of gold and gemstones you never see the selling now.

 

[bucksur]

well written and informed pieces and totally agree with your comments.

 

[Gee4]

Good morning, everyone. Returning gemaholic here!
I had to give up buying jewellery due to a change in circumstances but recently started again. Is anybody buying much from Gemporia these days? I bought a chrome diopside solitaire in silver from them last week and it knocked the socks off the diopside ring I also bought from TJC, to compare.

Bought loads last year during lockdown. Bit more selective this year. Destello has taken over with a lot of tat. I am particular about what I buy but you get a mix between them and TJC.

 

[user 17461]

I gave up buying too, just because I had got bored with shopping channels really; but have recently started again. As with everything, you just have to be selective and not get taken in by the hype! Obviously Gemporia are doing really well, and they have clearly grown (as you can tell from the quantities, and the speed with which items sell).

Unfortunately, this Forum now seems to be entirely dominated by people moaning, and nobody ever posts pics of their lovely sparkly purchases any longer. There are definitely things to moan about, and we all need to get it off our chest sometimes; but it's NOT all completely negative, and I have made some lovely purchases recently. I wish this Forum was a mixture of positive and negative, as it used to be; but unfortunately it seems to have degenerated completely into a moan-fest, and hardly anybody posts here any more.

I have now joined a Facebook group called All Things Gemporia and Gemstones (which is not just Gemporia, but shopping channel and gemstone jewellery in general). That group seems to contain the right balance of legitimate beefs and positive posts.

Miss Magpie

You complain about people not buying from Gemporia, or making positive posts about the company, on a thread dedicated to people saying why they aren't buying from them.

So I don't presume to speak on behalf of everyone else, but that complaint is like going onto the QVC forum and stating whow incredulous you are that nobody is talking about The Craft Store channel.

Perhaps forum members aren't posting gushing tales about their fabulous Gemporia purchases simply because they don't have any to tell? Especially when most people are repeatedly saying that they no longer buy because they either don't buy the market stall level tat that Gemporia is increasingly relying on these days for sales, and/or they feel that the quality of Gemporia's jewellery, what little of it there is, has dropped like a boulder.

I don't see why, after reading such comments in this forum, you feel that people should be offset their own experiences with fluffy puff pieces about nonexistent fantastic purchases because you can't accept that Gemporia might no longer be considered a good company to shop at.

 

[Gee4]

Miss Magpie

You complain about people not buying from Gemporia, or making positive posts about the company, on a thread dedicated to people saying why they aren't buying from them.

So I don't presume to speak on behalf of everyone else, but that complaint is like going onto the QVC forum and stating whow incredulous you are that nobody is talking about The Craft Store channel.

Perhaps forum members aren't posting gushing tales about their fabulous Gemporia purchases simply because they don't have any to tell? Especially when most people are repeatedly saying that they no longer buy because they either don't buy the market stall level tat that Gemporia is increasingly relying on these days for sales, and/or they feel that the quality of Gemporia's jewellery, what little of it there is, has dropped like a boulder.

I don't see why, after reading such comments in this forum, you feel that people should be offset their own experiences with fluffy puff pieces about nonexistent fantastic purchases because you can't accept that Gemporia might no longer be considered a good company to shop at.

Wow problem? Think we're entitled to an opinion!

 

[user 17461]

Wow problem? Think we're entitled to an opinion!

So am I. Life is weird like that.