Yet more misleading

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TheManWithNoName

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Feb 16, 2023
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Jess 'absolutely' Foley flogging a diamond gold ring.

She says "£45? Nowhere else could you get this for £45"

Well, you can't on Gemporia either - because the price was £135.

£45 was the amount of the first split pay................

Blatant shystering from the worst presenter on the channel. If someone partially sighted was viewing and couldn't see the price on the screen clearly, they could have easily fallen for that waffle thinking they're going to get a bargain.
 
Now that you say it, this has made me start a couple of times recently too. Washing up, just listening vaguely and exactly that kind of statement grabbed my attention. The BS alarm did go off I have to say but, when no kind of qualification followed, I did shout at the screen. Not sure it's just Jess Foley who's done this, but it might be...
 
Now that you say it, this has made me start a couple of times recently too. Washing up, just listening vaguely and exactly that kind of statement grabbed my attention. The BS alarm did go off I have to say but, when no kind of qualification followed, I did shout at the screen. Not sure it's just Jess Foley who's done this, but it might be...
I've heard more than one of them refer to the split price 'where else can you get xxx for only £split price out of your pocket today' and not follow it up with and the same amount for the next 2/3 months. It's yet another way to get you to buy after all £49.99 is much more tempting than £149.97.
 
Jess Foley is bloody awful for misleading people. I saw the show you mentioned and it was so blatant it shocked me. Mind you, there also seems to be an increasing whiff of desperation from all the presenters at the moment. There is definitely more badgering to multi-buy. More time-pressure, more inducing of fear of missing out and definitely more "this is worth absolute thousands". I also think they are selling time slots to Cavill and Debbie Harry Jewels. This is just my feeling. They are not buying items in from Troth or Cavill. They are letting them use the channel to sell. Probably for a fee. Let's face Troth has not set up a limited company with Jake's Missus for a laugh. Nor is he selling much online or setting up shops (that I have seen). Gemporia is his shop front. Again, just my opinion but it would explain why he is now presenting for hours and hours each day and using the same kind of stuff.
 
Jess Foley is bloody awful for misleading people. I saw the show you mentioned and it was so blatant it shocked me. Mind you, there also seems to be an increasing whiff of desperation from all the presenters at the moment. There is definitely more badgering to multi-buy. More time-pressure, more inducing of fear of missing out and definitely more "this is worth absolute thousands". I also think they are selling time slots to Cavill and Debbie Harry Jewels. This is just my feeling. They are not buying items in from Troth or Cavill. They are letting them use the channel to sell. Probably for a fee. Let's face Troth has not set up a limited company with Jake's Missus for a laugh. Nor is he selling much online or setting up shops (that I have seen). Gemporia is his shop front. Again, just my opinion but it would explain why he is now presenting for hours and hours each day and using the same kind of stuff.

My gut feeling, especially after hearing a comment from Jeff last night, is that Gemporia are still struggling financially.

Someone messaged in to ask if Gemporia would be going 24/7 over the Christmas and New Year break - to which Jeff said "Sadly not, no".

The lead up to Christmas has always been their busiest period - to the point where even the old 'The Lounge' channel used to extend its hours in the lead up to Christmas.

If they can't / won't pay for a few freelancers to come in, or pay for a few presenters to do overtime, at the busiest time of the year, then that rings alarm bells to me.

Maybe that's why the hard sell continues to get harder and harder - and the shystering is becoming more and more common and noticeable?

It'll be interesting to see what happens after April. Didn't an ex member of staff come on this forum earlier in the year to say that April was make or break for the company due to one of the banks breathing down their neck over a substantial loan? I have recollections of reading it on here earlier in the year.

As for Jess Foley - she's just awful in general. Completely out of her depth as a TV presenter. It baffles me how she keeps getting promoted to better time slots. Maybe she has some awkward photos of Jake Thompson bursting out of various items of clothing as he gradually gets more rotund - and she's being offered better time slots to stop the photos from being leaked :oops:

There's a lovely image for you to all imagine just before bedtime!
 
I wonder if the sales of the Primal, Kimbie and YouBamboo brands are key here. If you discount the Cavills and the David & Harry entities as being separate and just using Gemporia as a marketplace, the Gems TV jewellery offerings are nothing like what they were, let's say two years ago, even after the end of the COVID hiatus.

(Thanks for the mental image 🤣... perhaps they include some with a rhinestone YouBamboo posing pouch, forking in some of that vile-sounding Ultra Processed noodle crap they tried to hawk in a very odd cooking demonstration.)
 
I also think they are selling time slots to Cavill and Debbie Harry Jewels. This is just my feeling. They are not buying items in from Troth or Cavill. They are letting them use the channel to sell. Probably for a fee. Let's face Troth has not set up a limited company with Jake's Missus for a laugh. Nor is he selling much online or setting up shops (that I have seen). Gemporia is his shop front. Again, just my opinion but it would explain why he is now presenting for hours and hours each day and using the same kind of stuff.
I think you're probably nearer the truth than not with your feeling about selling time slots. Jade Troth is on at 12pm (Opal), 1pm (Jadeite market update!!) and again at 3pm with Sakura Agate. That's all the schedule is showing at the moment anyway but we know how that changes.
 
I just checked Companies House again for David Harry Jewels and the nature of the business is listed there as:
"47990 - Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets "
So retail, not wholesale, not selling to other traders but selling to the public. Not selling via shops, stalls or markets." So, yes, it looks very, very much to me like Dave is selling his own stuff via Tatporia. That explains why is he often on for three hours a day and why Gemporia is putting up with jade, jade and more jade.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14427942
 
I just checked Companies House again for David Harry Jewels and the nature of the business is listed there as:
"47990 - Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets "
So retail, not wholesale, not selling to other traders but selling to the public. Not selling via shops, stalls or markets." So, yes, it looks very, very much to me like Dave is selling his own stuff via Tatporia. That explains why is he often on for three hours a day and why Gemporia is putting up with jade, jade and more jade.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14427942

If Dave Troth is doing this, and he is effectively 'running solo' with his business without Gemporia buying all the materials, etc, then I would imagine he would have had to take out a hefty business loan to start out. Lets just say that each of his Jadeite stones cost just £1 each, he bought thousands and thousands of the bloody things.

That is one hell of a risk doing that, given the recent financial position of Gemporia. If Gemporia had gone bust, or were to go bust, as he's reliant on Gemporia as a sales outlet, it would have a devastating impact on his business too.

'Renting' schedule hours would be VERY expensive. I can't remember the exact figure I was given, but a very reliable source (Gemporia employee) once told me how much it costs to be on-air per minute - and it was a LOT of money. I can't remember the figure now so I'm not going to put a figure up for the sake of it because it would be wrong - but I remember being shocked. There are a lot of overheads - and, at the time I was told (around 6 or 7 years ago) the biggest overhead was the fees they pay for the channels that they broadcast on (hence why some channels, such as The Lounge / The Outlet & the Diamond Room, went online only).

My suspicion is more along the lines that Gemporia are buying the stones, metals, making the jewellery, etc - and DT gets a large percentage of each sale through commission. He can simply invoice Gemporia for his cut then - that way, he gets the benefits, without the risks.

The setting up of a Company could be for tax reasons. Rather than being just an employee of Gemporia and paying tax on his percentage through PAYE, setting up a Company allows him to invoice Gemporia for his percentage, and then he can pay himself a low wage at the basic tax rate and take bigger chunks in dividend payments. That reduces his tax payments perfectly legally and its quite common in the business world. It also allows him to claim for allowable expenses (driving to and from the studio and warehouse, office costs should he work from home, etc).

It's quite common with TV presenters, radio presenters, etc so that they can get around paying higher tax rates. Most of them have "registered companies" with a name like "Cilla Black Entertainment Ltd" (an example) - but in reality, they just invoice the production companies of whom they do work for, bank the money into their business account, pay themselves a small PAYE wage at the lowest tax rate via their company, pay themselves a nice big directors dividend once a year, and enjoy the perks of lower taxes as high earners.

I'm not saying that this is what DT does - I'm saying that it's a possibility.

I'd be amazed if anyone set up a business and relied on Gemporia as their one and only sales outlet. If they go bust tomorrow, it effectively kills his business off too.
 
It's going to be interesting when the accounts get lodged. Remember also Jake's Wife is involved in DH Jewels.
 
It's going to be interesting when the accounts get lodged. Remember also Jake's Wife is involved in DH Jewels.

It'll certainly be interesting to see how the accounts are listed.

The stocks and general costs incurred will be the biggest clue as to whether Gemporia are sourcing / making the jewellery, or whether Dave is indeed sourcing and stocking his wares himself.

With the amount of Jadeite he's been flogging, if he's sourced and paid for it with his business, then I'd expect the stocks and costs incurred figures to be high.
 
I just checked Companies House again for David Harry Jewels and the nature of the business is listed there as:
"47990 - Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets "
So retail, not wholesale, not selling to other traders but selling to the public. Not selling via shops, stalls or markets." So, yes, it looks very, very much to me like Dave is selling his own stuff via Tatporia. That explains why is he often on for three hours a day and why Gemporia is putting up with jade, jade and more jade.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14427942
Yes, just as I said before!
 
Jess 'absolutely' Foley flogging a diamond gold ring.

She says "£45? Nowhere else could you get this for £45"

Well, you can't on Gemporia either - because the price was £135.

£45 was the amount of the first split pay................

Blatant shystering from the worst presenter on the channel. If someone partially sighted was viewing and couldn't see the price on the screen clearly, they could have easily fallen for that waffle thinking they're going to get a bargain.
This is just one of their tricks that is completely out of order. They repeat the split pay instalment amount as though that's what the customer pays for the item and I daresay if the viewers aren't paying too much attention to the screen, just listening to the commentary or (as you've said) have visual problems then some probably do immediately buy it thinking this is the total they'll be paying. At one time, when split pay first came in, the presenters (or most of them) used to make a point of saying "£xxx on split pay", but increasingly the words "on split pay" seem to have fallen by the wayside. The ethical approach would be to always make it clear every single time that the lower amount is the split pay instalments - and do this for every item.
 
This is just one of their tricks that is completely out of order. They repeat the split pay instalment amount as though that's what the customer pays for the item and I daresay if the viewers aren't paying too much attention to the screen, just listening to the commentary or (as you've said) have visual problems then some probably do immediately buy it thinking this is the total they'll be paying. At one time, when split pay first came in, the presenters (or most of them) used to make a point of saying "£xxx on split pay", but increasingly the words "on split pay" seem to have fallen by the wayside. The ethical approach would be to always make it clear every single time that the lower amount is the split pay instalments - and do this for every item.

Totally agree.

I would report it to the ASA, but because I've reported a few things so close together this year, the ASA will just ignore my complaint because they see it as though you've got a vendetta against the channel if you repeatedly complain in short spaces of time :(

Not that the ASA would do much other than give them yet another soft warning............
 
I never knew this until a few minutes ago - but Hattie said if you refer someone to Gemporia and get your free £10, you have to spend a minimum of £25 to use it!

Yet the other day, one presenter (Lindsey Carr I think) was selling a £10 chain and she said "If you refer a friend, you can both get one each and you both get it for free" - implying that you'd only have to pay postage.

When will all this nonsense end?
 
I never knew this until a few minutes ago - but Hattie said if you refer someone to Gemporia and get your free £10, you have to spend a minimum of £25 to use it!

Yet the other day, one presenter (Lindsey Carr I think) was selling a £10 chain and she said "If you refer a friend, you can both get one each and you both get it for free" - implying that you'd only have to pay postage.

When will all this nonsense end?
She did, indeed. Absolutely right - I heard that too. I actually thought at the time "oh yes, that's true" when she said it. Little did I realise - not that I've engaged with the little scheme.
 
She did, indeed. Absolutely right - I heard that too. I actually thought at the time "oh yes, that's true" when she said it. Little did I realise - not that I've engaged with the little scheme.
I meant Lindsey Carr when I said "she", not Hattie 🙄😀
 
She did, indeed. Absolutely right - I heard that too. I actually thought at the time "oh yes, that's true" when she said it. Little did I realise - not that I've engaged with the little scheme.

The way that they push this scheme so much suggests to me that they're really desperate to get new customers on board.
 
I wonder if the sales of the Primal, Kimbie and YouBamboo brands are key here. If you discount the Cavills and the David & Harry entities as being separate and just using Gemporia as a marketplace
Dare I say, this puts the idea of Debenhams (other department stores are 'still' available). I recall, as you probably do, when Lifestyle was running, they even went down the food road: brownies.
 
Me again. Thought for you, probably unoriginal, but never mind, eh? ;) Talking of misleading, when they say words to the effect of, irreplaceable or there's no more. IF they said irreplaceable 'first hand', that kinda thing has been mentioned in the past, regarding Tanzanite. That way, they'd cover their backs. Instead of saying there's no more, and 5 mins later another showcase.
 

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