I'm not exactly a savvy shopper. I hate spending hours searching for the perfect item, which led me to make a simple but expensive mistake: buying cheap jewelry that promised to last but never did. I wasted both time and money trying to find a decent 925 sterling silver men's necklace on various random websites.
I thought I was saving money by purchasing chains for $25 or $35 each. But when they started fading within two weeks, I realized my error. I ended up wasting nearly $150 on five different cheap chains that all wound up in the trash. That money could have bought me one genuinely good chain instead.
Here's what I learned so you can avoid making the same mistakes:
When you buy a necklace online for $20, it's not actually solid silver. It's typically a cheap metal base coated with a thin layer of silver or rhodium. That thin coating is the real problem.
I purchased one chain advertised as "925 silver plated." It looked fantastic when it arrived. But after just three showers, it began turning dark green and scratching off. I had no choice but to throw it away. I learned that extremely low prices usually mean extremely thin plating. Thin plating will always fade within a week if you wear it regularly.
If the seller doesn't clearly state the plating thickness or confirm it's solid sterling silver, assume it's junk. This mistake cost me about $65 on just two chains.
Action Step: If the price seems too good to be true for a silver chain, it probably is. Look for necklaces stamped "925" and ask whether they're rhodium-plated. Rhodium plating helps prevent tarnishing and extends the necklace's lifespan.
Online ads often use deceptive tactics. They take photos that make necklaces appear much thicker than they actually are. I was searching for a sturdy, substantial 925 sterling silver men's necklace, perhaps 5mm wide. The product photo looked perfect.
When the package arrived, the chain was tiny—maybe 2mm wide. It looked more like a thread than a necklace. This happened to me multiple times. Sellers rely on impressive photos to trick buyers, hoping they'll overlook the small measurement details listed in the description.
You need to be smart about sizing. Millimeters (mm) matter most. If a chain is only 2mm or 3mm wide, it will appear delicate rather than strong. To avoid being deceived about size, always check the millimeter width and look for customer photos showing how the item looks on real people. Even when shopping for accessories like a new sub_category item, finding the right size can be challenging.
Step-by-Step Check for Size: