Gemporia's Biggest Problem

[FreyjaMidnight]

I know this asked for 1 particular problem, but I have a few I've noticed over a long period of time:

1) Using different names for gemstones is misleading. I'm tired of seeing "red sapphire" as a sapphire is the same chemical structure as a Ruby, so a "red sapphire" is a Ruby, or depending on content of other minerals present it's a spinel.

Same goes for "Nilimani" it's kyanite, but the word means "sapphire" and so it is confusing for anyone who doesn't research.

There are a lot of others too, like types of feldspar (sunshine, moonstone & labradorite come under this), probably more I can't think of right now.

2) Far too much waffling on by some of the presenters like Dave & Toby. They come across like dodgie used cars salesmen, not jewellers.

3) On that point, far too much jade. If it's so valuable & rare how come it's not set in solid gold? How come there's so much of it available still? Not to mention the designs aren't particularly appealing. I remember seeing that awful pixiu piece. A quick search on etsy and you can find much nicer carved pieces for much less. This is a thing I've noticed with the carvings of all of the gemstones, they don't look particularly impressive or even resemble what they're supposed to in some cases.

4) I've noticed many times where they will say something will definitely sell out, then it's on multiple times of week and the same is being said and multiple times a day sometimes!

5) Too much "midas" and "gold tone" pieces. It looks cheap imo and it's expensive for what it is, and there's no info I can find on how thick the coating, or I suppose, plating is.

6) Changes in pricing that seem wildly different to when something was launched to when it's on sale. I've seen "sale" items more expensive than launch ones. It's bizarre! It also seems to different by time of day. Mornings are so expensive, then they can have the same piece on later with a price drop of £100+ sometimes

 

[AndyW]

On the topic of tall stories, Ellis has just spouted a complete word salad on "auras & energy", saying - in effect - that she used to believe only in science but now she has "knowledge", she Is A Believer. Her life has changed forever.

Speechless.

Whatever gets you through, Ellis, but implying that you were "ignorant" beforehand with an evidence-based appreciation of crystallised minerals and that everyone who doesn't believe in unproven twaddle is still ignorant? Really? Odd, irrational, a trifle gaslighting or strangely sinister.

(On a lighter note, I did buy an new square, Eden cut piece in Britannia standard silver. Love it.)

 

[Imogene9500]

On the topic of tall stories, Ellis has just spouted a complete word salad on "auras & energy", saying - in effect - that she used to believe only in science but now she has "knowledge", she Is A Believer. Her life has changed forever.

Speechless.

Whatever gets you through, Ellis, but implying that you were "ignorant" beforehand with an evidence-based appreciation of crystallised minerals and that everyone who doesn't believe in unproven twaddle is still ignorant? Really? Odd, irrational, a trifle gaslighting or strangely sinister.

(On a lighter note, I did buy an new square, Eden cut piece in Britannia standard silver. Love it.)

I remember Ellis a while ago waxing lyrical about her Third Eye .. and she sounded genuinely emotional about her 'journey'... which at the time I was not sure what to make of, but whatever floats your boat... To be honest I'm not entirely sure what to make of Ellis full stop but I do enjoy her shows and she doesn't shout which is good when on in background when working from home. She seems to be a slightly eccentric tough cookie who will snip a tassle off a bracelet if it offends her which she did recently on air. I can quite imagine she can lead management a merry dance. I am just surprised she didn't take the scissors to the Destello oversized artist style smock she modelled recently ... now that one really did knock the infamous teddy coat off it's perch!

 

[LittleOrange]

If you could only pick one.....

What is the single most important reason you have either stopped shopping with Gemporia or now buy less from them?

It can be for a personal reason like having less money and not because Gemporia have done anything you dislike.

Too much gold tone. It feels like a complete swizz as it limits the life of the jewellery. Plus there are loads of designs that would look better in plain silver. Gold tone is such a weird colour it always looks cheap

 

[Imogene9500]

Too much gold tone. It feels like a complete swizz as it limits the life of the jewellery. Plus there are loads of designs that would look better in plain silver. Gold tone is such a weird colour it always looks cheap

I like yellow gold but cannot do with the cheese wire Gemporia uses for most of its coloured diamond designs. I've also seen VSI diamonds in under 1.5gms which seems very odd.Gold over silver can be a reasonable alternative for certain gemstones but I would like more info about the plating used and it's durability. Rachel just referred to the Renaissance golden egg as being Vermeil but the description on web just says gold plated. I assume gold tone is a very thin layer, yet I think this is used frequently in so called heirloom pieces. Confusing

 

[harrytumkins]

The biggest problem is as others have said consistency in pricing.

You just CAN NOT have the same item airing on the same channel at a wildly different price in the same 24-hour period.

I have not watched much of late and have seen two examples I am sure there have been numerous more.

This strikes much bigger issues as this just should not happen.

 

[Rose de France]

I like yellow gold but cannot do with the cheese wire Gemporia uses for most of its coloured diamond designs. I've also seen VSI diamonds in under 1.5gms which seems very odd.

It's a good idea to buy gemstones from Gem Collector and then give them to your local goldsmith to frame.

 

[Spitfire]

Quite simply, I’ve lost faith. I tried to order a bracelet the other day and the price on screen was £29.98 and in the time it took my payment to be authorised it had gone up to £49.99. Needless to say I cancelled the order. Unless there is a big noticeable change I shall shop elsewhere.

 

[Bunnytown]

She was a freelancer - so she was only brought in 'as and when' they needed cover.


I can't say how I know this, because it might give away my identity - and I'd rather not have my buying account blocked simply because I like to refer back to the app now and again to remind myself what I've bought in the past and look at the details of the items.

However, I've heard from two sources (one ex-employee and one current employee), that sales stats don't really come into it - it's more to do with their 'face fitting' at Gemporia and also how 'flexible' / 'helpful' they are. I was told that there is a 'clique' - an if you're part of that 'clique', you're basically safe. If you're not part of the 'clique', and your 'face doesn't fit', you're not so safe. I've no idea how true it is - however, both sources have said similar things and I have no reason not to believe what I've been told.

From what I was told, Jim Brooman is VERY popular with viewers - but his sales stats are lower than most presenters.
Adina divides opinion - but her sales stats are one of the highest, if not the highest, out of all the presenters.
Vicki Carr was, allegedly, disliked by quite a few of the other presenters (past and current).

We know from the ITV documentary years ago that Scott Worsfold and Adina Stubbs had the highest sales figures at the time - yet their presenting style is fairly calm, knowledgeable and FAR FAR away from the constant shouting and faux surprise that we see from presenters now (Scott in particular was very genuine, honest, calm and likeable, without any hard sell) - so if that documentary is true, it would appear that it's actually the calmer presenting styles that get more sales.

I would be amazed if Jess Foley gets high sales figures. She's completely out of her depth as a presenter, she tells us NOTHING about the gemstones she's selling, and every sale is described using the same old tired lines - "I've just gotta let you know", "Absolutely", "Good luck to each and every one of you, well done".

The same applies to Cheralene. Zero knowledge shared - just constant repetition of "It's big, it's bold", "The light is dancing out of this", "In this design we can see here" and "we've taken every penny and every pound out of this". Awful presenter.

However, I've noticed that Jess Foley and Cheralene are ALWAYS covering for presenters that are on annual leave or sick. Cheralene always seemed to be daily on either Lifestyle, Jewellery Maker or Hobby Maker. So maybe this is why they were retained? (which perhaps backs-up what I was told about 'face fitting' and 'flexible' / 'helpful' presenters are 'safe' from redundancy).

Amelia rarely covered for other presenters - yet she was one of those to go, despite being popular with viewers, knowledgeable and one of the more tolerable presenters to watch. Not 'flexible' enough or not part of the alleged 'clique' perhaps?


I suspect you're right about voluntary redundancy because Alex McKay always used to say how much he loved doing Gem Collector and was still talking about the long-term fairly recently - but then suddenly, he announced that he was leaving (by choice), which came completely out of the blue. After ten years of service, he would have been entitled to a decent redundancy - so I suspect he took that to start his new business venture that he's in the process of setting up.

Hayley also left and set up her own business, as you say, and I'm fairly sure there was someone else that left and started a business around the same time too.

Some of the redundancies and presenters leaving were quite sensible choices. Derek for example hasn't been there long as a permanent presenter - and under UK employment law, employees with less than two years service are not entitled to redundancy payments - so Derek would have made sense from a financial perspective because they could take him off the payroll without needing to pay him off. He may have even offered to go because he does a lot of freelance work on other channels too. I suspect that this is why Todd the Cameraman also appears to have vanished too. He's fairly new - so wouldn't have been entitled to redundancy.

Some redundancies didn't make sense though. Jeff for example. He's been with Gemporia for years in various roles - he would have been entitled to a hefty redundancy payout. Satnam the cameraman - he's also been there for years and would have been entitled to a hefty redundancy.
Steph the channel manager (ex presenter) - again, been there for years and would have been entitled to a decent redundancy - whereas Cherry Cavill, who has only been there for 3 or 4 years (but I believe is also channel manager), remains - despite her being relatively 'cheap' to pay off compared to Steph.

Perhaps the alleged 'clique' played a part in that decision too? Who knows.

If you offer vol redundancy it isn't always easy to turn people down and if they wanted to go they may not be great employees afterwards

 

[TheManWithNoName]

The biggest problem is as others have said consistency in pricing.

You just CAN NOT have the same item airing on the same channel at a wildly different price in the same 24-hour period.

I have not watched much of late and have seen two examples I am sure there have been numerous more.

This strikes much bigger issues as this just should not happen.

What's even worse is when they claim to be a 'reverse auction channel' - but then sell items for MORE than their website price, as has happened on a few occasions recently. What made it worse was Ellis implying that the 'auction price' was wrong - and it should have been higher!

I just don't trust them now. It's clear they've got money problems and they're just taking the p**s out of us to get as much money in as possible.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

I like yellow gold but cannot do with the cheese wire Gemporia uses for most of its coloured diamond designs. I've also seen VSI diamonds in under 1.5gms which seems very odd.Gold over silver can be a reasonable alternative for certain gemstones but I would like more info about the plating used and it's durability. Rachel just referred to the Renaissance golden egg as being Vermeil but the description on web just says gold plated. I assume gold tone is a very thin layer, yet I think this is used frequently in so called heirloom pieces. Confusing

Gold tone is a very misleading description because it simply means 'Gold coloured'. It doesn't even have to be gold plating - just gold coloured!

Gold tone is such a weird colour it always looks cheap

Yeah, it looks 'yellow' rather than gold. It just makes jewellery look cheap and tacky.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

It's a good idea to buy gemstones from Gem Collector and then give them to your local goldsmith to frame.

Or better still, from Gem Select where the prices are lower on most stones (not all - but most), the quality of the cut is usually better, and you actually get the stone you see in the photo - unlike Gem Collector, where I've occasionally bought stones that look good on screen, but I've had a different stone sent to me, on the same item code, that is washed out or badly windowed.

They used to say that they didn't pick the best stones out to show on-air - but I'm not convinced these days - particularly when the presenters get the stone out of a bag that says "studio sample" on it.

 

[Rose de France]

but then sell items for MORE than their website price

Sometimes prices at auctions are higher than at sales on the website!

 

[SnowMoon]

The biggest problem is as others have said consistency in pricing.

You just CAN NOT have the same item airing on the same channel at a wildly different price in the same 24-hour period.

I have not watched much of late and have seen two examples I am sure there have been numerous more.

This strikes much bigger issues as this just should not happen.

This would also be my one thing.

 

[Dazzles]

Their business model seems to require that a proportion of their viewership make repeat purchases. However, you can't make people pay different prices all the time without making it right and keep your regular customers happy. It's deadly to brand loyalty, raises their return rate, and will generate more money in the short term only.

Tik Tok should bring in some new audience if done well, but younger viewers also don't like paying more than they ought to, especially when existence is far from cheap for most people.

 

[Womanwithnoname]

Agree with the points made above, thank you all for using this platform to share and allow people, many of whom experience Gemporia in an isolated environment of their living room, dear Mirabelle and her life story is haunting to me .

I am a recent addition to “gemporia family” and I see the rapid change in what is offered since I joined.

I experienced receiving items that looked like they belonged in Lilliputia.. and I looked elsewher, including Angara they love to quote for price comparison. That website and every other worth looking at allows a picture of a human person wearing the item, so it gives an expectation on a size.

If Gemporia wants to survive, then hey need to provide a photo of a person wearing what they are selling, minus the studio magnifying cameras.

 

[Looby Loo]

I too can't stop thinking about Mirabelle, very sad.

 

[LittleOrange]

Tik Tok should bring in some new audience if done well, but younger viewers also don't like paying more than they ought to, especially when existence is far from cheap for most people.

I think a big problem with this is that most of the current designs won't appeal to a younger audience

 

[rubia]

Too much gold tone. It feels like a complete swizz as it limits the life of the jewellery. Plus there are loads of designs that would look better in plain silver. Gold tone is such a weird colour it always looks cheap

Quality, price, presenters and no longer trust them the are not the ethical company they used to be imo. These are the reasons I no longer shop at Gems

 

[Rose de France]

It seems that Mirabelle had her account on this forum.

What a pity that she didn't use it since January 2015.

Mirabelle​

Registered Shopper · From Yorkshire
Joined Aug 20, 2008
Last seen Jan 13, 2015

https://forum.shoppingtelly.com/members/mirabelle.1002/