Buying Gemstone Beads on Ebay

There are 2 ways to buy gemstone beads on Ebay:  bidding on and winning auctions, and buying them now (no auction).
The reason I mostly buy gemstone beads on Ebay using auctions is because it is cheaper.
I also select the "free shipping" box when searching for beads on Ebay.
I always select "worldwide" in my searches.
If a person in the United States doesn't want to wait 3-4 weeks for beads to arrive from overseas, then they can limit their searches to North America or to the United States.
However, the vast majority of cheap gemstone beads are sold in other countries -- mostly in China, not in the United States.

There are certain things one must become skilled at when searching for beads on Ebay, in order to narrow down your searches to find what you're looking for.
You can put a price range limit.  I often put .01 to .99 in my searches.
Or, if you want really cheap beads, I might put .01 to .50.

You can exclude categories by using the advanced search option, and list words you don't want to pop up in your search results.
Or in the search bar you can put a minus sign before words you don't want to appear in your searches.
Examples:  If I only want a certain mm of beads, I'd put 10mm say and only get 10mm bead auction results.
You can set established searches and save them and that is another way to save time in searching.
I often insert these to eliminate what I'm not looking for:

-seed, -2mm, -3mm, -4mm, -acrylic, -resin, -clay, -wood, -wooden, -plastic, -lucite, -glass, -lampwork, -pugster, -czech, -shell, -pearl, -pearls, -MOP, -porcelain, -2pcs, -4pcs, -10pcs, -20pcs, -mixed, -faux, -5x, -2x, -10x, -manmade, -imitation, -pendant, -bracelet, -ring, -earrings, -half, -back, -halfback, -sew, -crystal, -rhinestone, -rhinestones, -silver, -gold, -golden, -copper, -metal, -brass, -pendants, -cab, -cabochon, -howlite, -turquoise, -bicone, -teardrop, -drop, -cone, -tube, -column, -square, -cube, -helix, etc.

Sellers usually put bead size in millimeters (mm) in their auctions, so its safe to search for 8mm, 6mm, etc.
Size of beads are usually in 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 16mm, 18mm and a few larger mms.
Rarer size beads are 5mm, 7mm, 9mm, 11mm, 13mm, 15mm, 17mm, 19mm, etc.

Sellers use abbreviations for types of beads. For Mother of Pearl, they may put pearl or MOP or spell out Mother of Pearl. 

Sellers may add the word gem or gemstone or stone to their gemstone auctions.
Sellers often add the word loose for their bead auctions.
Often sellers put the string length of beads in the auctions i.e. 13.5", 15", 16", etc.
Occasionally you might see a seller put "2 strands" or "3 strands" of beads in the auction title, but this isn't common.

You can search for beads by shape i.e. round, oval, bicone, rondelle, abacus (same as rondelle), helix, seed, button, coin, disk, disc, tube, column, square, cube, rectangle, rectangular, ball, circle, onion, etc.

Beads that have been cut to be more jewel-like are considered "faceted".  You can insert in your searches the words "facet", "faceted", "cut" to find such beads.  Sometimes beads are "micro faceted".

Sometimes sellers put "smooth" in auction titles to indicate the beads are smooth and not faceted.

Not all sellers know the names of the types of gemstones, and sometimes they put the wrong name of gemstone on their auctions.  Or they may simply say "gemstone beads".

This is where if you look on Ebay and the internet, you can become familiar with common gemstone beads sold on Ebay so you'd recognize what they are.

Some sellers use the stone "Jade" interchangeably with other types of gemstones.  You might find "Emerald" and its actually jade beads.

They may put "jasper" when actually the beads are obsidian.

Again, learning what the gemstones look like and looking closely at auction photos helps.

Some sellers dye their beads.  I've only found one auction of beads I won where the gemstones were dyed and they did a terrible job of them.  I've never had color come off of any gemstone beads I bought on Ebay, no matter how bright or synthetic looking the colors were. I never had color rub off on my clothing or skin. 

Gemstone beads are often treated by heat and with chemicals, and using other processes such as pressure treatment, and a common quartz bead can appear amazing afterwards. 

Some sellers put "Natural" in their bead auctions to indicate the stones haven't been altered or treated.

Some "rough" or "natural" beads on Ebay are simply chunks of gemstones, unpolished and having drilled holes through them.

High polish on beads commands higher prices.

Other features of beads include transparency (transparent, translucent, etc.).  Matte is a frosted appearance, and the beads on purpose do not shine.  Sellers add the words Matte, Mat, Frost, Frosted, etc. so you can search for them by adding those words in your searches.

Glass and "crystal" beads are often treated by heat or chemicals to give them rainbow or other colored hues.
The seller might add "fire treated", "treated", AB or other terms to indicate this.

If you search for beads using bead, you sometimes get full strings of beads in auctions.
And you may get many pendant (single bead) auctions.
If you use the word beads, some of those auctions might pop up but it helps separate the bead from the beads auctions.

A seller might call a bead auction "Ruby" and actually they aren't rubies but are colored jade beads, which is still a gemstone.
If you search for jade beads, you will find it in a multitude of colors:  white, yellow, red, orange, brown, black, etc.
Multicolor Jade is another search where Kunzite beads are found.
If you type in the word "kunzite", people fight over those beads so "multicolor jade" or "multicolor gemstone" might bring lower-cost auctions and they would still be kunzite beads.

What types of beads do I like to get on Ebay?

Alexandrite, Dalmation Jasper, Snowflake Obsidian, Grey Agate, some Coral beads, Agate, Onyx, Lemon Jade, African Jade, Opal, Opalite, Topaz, Rubies, Emeralds, Quartz (Rock Crystal), Aquamarine, Tourmaline, Morganite, Sapphire (Corundum), Nephrite, Lepidolite, Peridot, Aventurine, Rhodonite, Moonstone (Albite, Microcline Feldspar, Orthoclase, Plagioclase) , Labradorite, Larvikite, Zoisite, Unakite, Fluorite, Amethyst, Citrine, Hematite, Malachite, Lapis Lazuli, Chrysocolla, Pyrite, Bronzite, Serpentine, Sandstone, Sodalite, Tiger Eye, Azurite, Pietersite, Angelite, Vesuvianite, Kyanite, Sugilite, Epidote, Rhodochrosite, Garnet, Amber, Jet (Lignite), Carnelian, Mookalite, Amazonite, Amethyst, Chalcedony (Heliotrope or Sard), Iolite (Cordierite) , Chrysoprase, Apatite, Larimar, Ametrine, Kunzite, Tanzanite, Peridot, Chrome Diopside, Rubellite, Hessonite (Grossularite), Tsavorite, Sunstone (Oligoclase Feldspar) , Lodolite, Beryl (Heliodore), Goldstone, Cacoxenite, Charoite, Datolite, Spinel, Scapolite, Cats Eye (Cat's Eye or Catseye), Andalusite (or Andalucite), Phrenite (Prehnite), Seraphinite, Ammolite, Zircon, Spodumene (Hiddenite), Andesine, Sphene, Axinite, Casserite, Clinohumite, Danburite, Diopside, Dioptase, Dumortierite, Hambergite, Kornerupine, Turquoise, Zeolite (Thomsonite), Moissanite (manmade), Mother of Pearl (Nacre), Eudialyte, Pectolite, Prasiolite, Axstone, Pezzottaite, Pietersite, Batrachite, Helenite, Spectrolite, Humite, Clinohumite, Malachite, Thulite, Titanite (Sphene), Tsavorite (Grossularite), Moldavite, Mozarkite, Nuummite, Ekanite, Batrachite, Anyolite, Augite, Saussurite, Scheelite, Sphalerite, Pectolite, Bloodstone, Chrysocolla, Chrysoberyl, Sardonyx, Triphylite, Pollucite, etc.

Some really expensive rare gemstones you won't find beads on Ebay for:

Jeremejevite ($2000 a carat!),
Musgravite ($35,000 a carat!), 
Blue Garnet ($1.5 Million a carat!
Grandidierite ($50,000 per .5 carat!)
Serendibite ($1.8 - $2 million a carat!)
Painite ($50-$60,000 a carat!)
Red Diamond ($2 - $2.5 million a carat!)
Jadeite ($3 million a carat!)

Red Beryl, Black Opal,Taaffeite, Poudretteite, Benitoite, Bixbite, Sillimanite, Paraiba, etc. are very rare and expensive.  You won't find beads on Ebay for these.

I also search for bone beads (including Dinosaur Bone), sandalwood beads and certain types of shell and pearl beads.

Many sellers misspell the names or words in auction titles.
Therefore, you might find results by searching for Tigereye rather than Tiger Eye, Sand Stone rather than Sandstone, Sugalite rather than Sugilite, Amatrine rather than Ametrine.

Sellers sometimes indicate country of origin in gemstone bead auctions i.e. India, Indian, Peru, Peruvian, Brazil, Brazilian, etc.

When searching for agate, there are many types of agate and you might add "dragon" or "dragon vein" to find that type of agate.

Same for jaspers - vein, spider, spider vein, spot, spotted, etc.

For quartz beads some put "rutilate" or "rutilated", snow, and other variety names.

As far as competition for gemstone beads on Ebay, there are many factors that affect how much you may pay to win an auction.  Time of year, time of day, time auction ends, supply and demand (seldom-listed gemstone beads are in higher demand), quality of the beads (say some vivid apple green jade beads of transparent quality stone would sell for much more than cloudy translucent dull green beads. Beads of uniform size and shape will command a higher price than those in rougher form.  However, some buyers prefer the rough / cruder forms of beads and irregular beads (irregular is often in the auction titles) might command higher prices.

The Chinese New Year falls during the month of January, so if you bid on bead auctions in January, sellers might post a warning that delivery of those auction beads will be delayed several weeks due to the Chinese New Year.  Also, after the Chinese New Year, they have a backlog of sales to process so Caveat Emptor - let the buyer beware when buying beads in January.

When you win gemstone beads on Ebay for a reasonably low cost price -- i.e. say a 15 inch strand of 8mm round agate beads, with free shipping -- for a winning bid of say $1.25 USD, you cannot expect perfect quality of the item.  Sellers often have one photo for numerous bead auctions and the beads you receive may vary in color and appearance from those in the photo.  Some sellers state exactly that in their auctions.  You might receive a 15 inch strand of green jade beads and find that one or two of them have a yellowish hue - different than the others.  Or you might find a few beads smaller than the others or larger than the others.  Or a bead might have a chipped hole or even be broken or have a fatal crack or chip.  Considering the beads travel overseas to reach you, the buyer must allow for some breakage of small packages like beads.  Sellers usually use bubblewrap-lined envelopes to mail them in, but even still, processing machines that move the mail might occasionally cause a bead or two to crack or break.  I never complain about this to a seller.  Occasionally I might open a bead package (always do so carefully!) and find the strand has broken or envelope containing the beads has opened, resulting in loose beads in the package.

I consulted a gemologist in Denver, Colorado about gemstone beads, wondering if I could have some of the rocks I have collected made into beads.  He told me that the labor intensive work involved would result in very high cost for the beads, and said that your best bet is to buy stone beads on Ebay! I looked into stone bead makers in the U.S. and Canada and couldn't find any that provide such a service and if they would, the cost would be prohibitive.  The owner of a lapidary shop in Wyoming told me one could have this done in Mexico, but I'll be darned if I can find such a bead manufacturer in Mexico.  And I'm looking!  If anyone out there finds a bead manufacturer in Mexico that would provide beads made from your stone for a reasonable price, please let me know!