Yeah, shoulda been clearer -- by "mall jeweler" I mean the big chains, not the physical location per se. The two I trust are in strip malls, but then, in NC, everything is in a strip mall.

Oh, believe me, I understood! I actually clarified out of habit: whenever I recommend this place to people, I make sure to specify that, while it's physical location is in a mall, it's most certainly not a mall jeweler. (The mall in question is weird and upscale, but it does contain many shops I like. Also, it's mentioned in Say Anything, and is thus Lloyd Dobbler approved.)

I am pretty naive about jewelry, though.

Me too.

I have a question: Years ago I knew a woman who had a bunch of jewelry that she said had been appraised for $15,000. So she went to a jewler to try to sell it and was only offered $1,000. Unrelated to that, here in Chicago we have a place that advertises their low-cost jewelry (they "cut out the middleman" or have their jewelry "baked by elves" or something) - they guarantee that all jewely you buy from them "will appraise for at least doubel" what you paid for it.

So my question is, is this jewelry appraisal thing a big scam?

This happened right outside my building.

Ugh. I saw that on the news this morning. The bastard's still loose, too....

So my question is, is this jewelry appraisal thing a big scam?

Depends on who's doing it. You'll almost never get appraisal value when reselling, and it's more useful for things like insurance than anything else, to get a ballpark for replacement. I see people trying to sell things for close to the appraisal on craigslist, and just have to say, "Honey, no!" because what they want is usually double what a similar item will go for at market value.

Damn, brenda. That's --- people are crazy. I hope they get him soon.

Brenda, that's creepy and scary.

Definitely glad you weren't there, brenda. Yikes.

Yikes, Brenda. So sad, that a guy should make it 51 years only to get zotzed over cabfare.

When I was 19 I was 6' 3" and 140 lbs. People were concerned for my health.

Tommyrot was me. Nineteen and skeletal. In my case, clumsy as hell, on top of it all.

A Goth fisking

eta:

Fisking, or to Fisk, refers to the act of critiquing, often in minute detail, an article, essay, argument, etc. with the intent of challenging its conclusion or theses by highlighting supposed logical fallacies and incorrect facts.

Someone having fun with a "how to tell if your child is a Goth" article. The article is so lame - as the fisker says, " I really can't tell if these things are for real anymore."

If five or more of these apply to your child, please intervene immediately. The gothic culture is dangerous and Satan thrives within it. If any of these problems persist, enlist your child into your local mental health center.

eta: Maybe not as fun as Cat Stacking, but... world's smallest PacMan game. No, really....

A Goth fisking

I've definitely been around here too long, because I didn't read that word as "fisking" the first 4 times I read it.

However, I have no idea what a "fisking" is anyway, which may be part of it.