Never came across any plastic stuff from them. Just :
1. extremely thin 'sterling silver' supposedly platinum plated (I actually commented to them that the platinum must have been waved over the top!!!)
2. dull silver-grey matte looking alleged 'sterling silver' - doesn't look like any silver I've bought because the silver I've bought was, well, silver-coloured and shiny. Looks like the colour of an Aussie 50c piece after its been in circulation for 10 years (I think they're partly silver, and shiny at first but go dull later), so if it's genuine it sure ain't good silver.
3. The big pink CZ is probably a pink CZ, but not a very good one (more like those ones that the Asian sellers put on ebay in a tray of 100 for $50)
4. The other CZs on the heart necklaces were fine (sparkly, etc) - but so small that you practically needed a magnifying glass to see them - genuine, but honestly almost as small as teensy diamond chips and a polished CZ gem hardly costs anything
5. The Victorian earrings were pretty enough, and may or may not have been CZ, but they were so small and insignificant looking that I honestly have seen better and cheaper on market stalls locally - and 24karatstore.com claims that their resellers should be able to mark up the goods at least 60-70% (remember, the price that I'm saying is over the top was with a special 11% discount for resellers off their normal wholesale price). They were also in a little plastic bag dumped into a slightly bigger cardboard box, so presentation was zilch.
6. The necklace chains were practically cotton thin (both the so-called platinum plated and the sterling silver)
7. The lab created diamonds in the bracelet were fine, nothing wrong with them, looked sparkly etc, but you'd have to do loads of dressing up with fancy boxes etc to get retail what they charged me. They were just in small plastic bags also. If everything else had been OK, I could have been persuaded to take a small loss and try to sell these.
8. The stud earrings were lovely. Paradoxically, these were their 'customer appreciation items' (one only per order) genuinely reduced for resellers at an insane price and genuinely a bargain. I say paradoxically because these freebies and almost freebies were better quality than the other items. But as I've said, I couldn't morally keep these when they are meant only to go with an order. I wouldn't feel right about sending back the order and keeping the really nice freebies.
9. OK, I know that one pays for handling, but the way they were put in that box didn't really justify me paying around $25 when they paid little over $8. There was minimal handling, and certainly not enough to justify it.
These were my complaints in particular, which I commented on in the email to them one by one. (They didn't seem to like that - is there any more diplomatic way of saying that you don't think their stuff is good enough for you to put on sale?)
It seems that you are in a lose-lose situation as a customer. If you return something that is not up to your standard, they keep 15% as a restocking fee, then go on to sell the same stuff to someone else. And to make sure you get the 15%, all you have to do is accuse someone of not being a genuine customer and use that as a justification to keep it.
Compare the email they sent me with the treatment I received at Bidz (who have been bagged a bit on Salehoo, but they have, I think a problem with the way FedEx handles and transports their stuff rather than a problem at their end - and they're now looking into it.) I received my latest stock of stuff from Bidz today and one lovely watch was in a tin which FedEx packed quite attrociously for Bidz, so that things moved around and the tin got slightly dinted. (Bidz doesn't do their own packing - FedEx does it all.) I contacted Bidz and let them know exactly how FedEx packed the stuff (which was inappropriate for jewellery). They apologised, immediately offered me a refund (which I didn't want as I will sell it discount instead), thanked me for bringing it to their attention, told me that they would investigate further re FedEx's handling of the jewellery, and told me to contact them 24/7 anytime I ever needed any assistance. I could have got a refund. But their stuff was good and I kept it. I didn't get a nasty response for bringing it to their attention. If 24karat had been different, they would have got a different response from me. Also, if their stuff was mostly good (instead of mostly not so good) I probably would have kept it. I was looking for a long term supplier for a stable lower end product line. They lost a customer, and don't apparently care, as long as they have plenty of other people to peddle the lower grade wares.
And you're right, of course about lower end stuff - I'm not about to order higher end stuff from anyone unless I sample the lower end stuff first. Imagine if I bought a $5000 solid gold chain and had issues about the quality. 15% of that would be a huge restocking fee!!!!!
PS a bit off the track - for those that have had trouble with loose claws with Bidz rings etc, I'm convinced that if FedEx packed the rings the way they packed my watches, I'm not surprised if the claws were loose (claws are delicate things). I also let Bidz know that there has been discussion amongst our members about this and that I felt it was very likely the handling by the carrier (based on my experience of the inappropriate packing I've had with their carrier), so they are now very happy to be aware of this and in the process of fixing that particular problem.