If you have gold or other precious metals to sell, you should definitely do your home work before deciding who to sell to. Most people believe that there are laws in place to protect the public from unscrupulous "cash for gold" businesses, but that is not the case.
The different types of gold buying businesses available to the public range from small time "johnny come lately" dealers to giant internet based "mail-in" services. Regardless of size, 99% of them advertise things like "top dollar paid" and "highest payouts guaranteed", but you really need to know what the actual scrap value of your gold is to know what percentage of that actual value their really paying. How will you know if your getting "top dollar" when the person making the offer is telling you what your gold is worth? That makes no sense at all.
We pay our customers a consistent preset percentage based on the actual final scrap value of their gold via our exclusive refining service. However, you should still find out what your scrap gold is worth before you decide to sell it to anyone.
Either way, please take a few moments to read the information below so that you don't become one of the thousands of victims taken advantage of each year.
Cash For Gold Online
These internet based cash for gold businesses have grown exponentially over the last few years. They have incredible advertising budgets which allow them to bombard the public through television, radio, internet and more with advertisements that claim they pay "top dollar" for gold and "big bonuses" if you mail your gold in right away (and don't forget your coupon). Fortunately, a little common sense will tell you all you need to know about these companies.
First, in order to have a multi-million dollar advertising budget each year they must be making a profit to justify it...and they are. Independent studies have been done to see just how much "top dollar" is with these online gold buyers and the results were shocking to say the least.
Three of the biggest and most popular online cash for gold companies were tested recently with a bag of gold items that was pre-tested as solid 14k gold. The same bag was sent to each one and then returned to the persons conducting the study. Keep in mind that there was absolutely no question about the karat (purity) of the gold items or the total weight of the contents when each of the online gold buyer companies received them.
The first company offered 28% of the total scrap value, the second offered 26% and the last offered 11%. Of course, when the third company's offer was rejected they raised the offer stating that the first offer was a mistake.
Several studies like this have been done and can easily be found online as well as thousands of complaints to consumer protection agencies.
Second, you have to be careful about the "fine print" when it comes to returning your gold for free if you don't accept their offers, insurance costs when sending your items in as well as returning them to you if needed, "satisfaction guaranteed" hidden clauses and more. If you should decide to try an online gold buyer, make sure you read every word of their agreements, policies, etc.
The bottom line is simple. If you just don't have the time to take your gold somewhere to sell it for a fair price and don't really care how much you get then one of these companies can help you. Otherwise, don't mail your gold to them and expect a truly fair offer.
Traveling Coin & Gold Shows
We've all seen the occasional full page newspaper ads that appear in the major news papers promising "top dollar" for coins, gold jewelry, antiques and more. These "carnival" gold and silver shows are the last place you should sell gold, silver or any other items of value. Again, common sense will tell you that any gold dealer that is "here today and gone tomorrow" has no accountability to their customers. If you feel like a savvy negotiator and you know exactly what your gold is worth then maybe you'll do okay, but we wouldn't recommend it.
Cash For Gold Parties
This is definitely not a good option. First and foremost it's completely irresponsible and dangerous. Having 10-15 people all gather at somebody's home with thousands of dollars of jewelry and no real security precautions is simply ridiculous. To make it even worse there will be a "gold buying agent" there with a lot of cash on hand. Any criminal with a half a brain would see this as an easy target for a very large score.
Furthermore, these cash for gold parties are based on the "pyramid" business model. John signs up Jane, Jane signs up Mike, Mike signs up whomever and John, Jane and Mike take a percentage of the profits from the parties and the person hosting the party gets 10%. This is not beneficial to the people selling their gold.
Cash For Gold Stores
Last, but not least the "pop up" cash for gold stores. These establishments have been "popping up" everywhere over the last few years due to the rapid increase in the price of gold. Unfortunately, their the ones benefiting from the increase...not you.
The average cash for gold store pays between 40%-60% of the estimated total scrap value. Again, to be completely fair, they are buying your gold based on an it's estimated "melt value" and at the price of gold at the time. If the gold doesn't refine as expected or the price of gold drops dramatically after the purchase, they are protected by the fact they only paid 40%-60% of it's true value. Is this unfair? That's for you to decide.
Pawn Shops
Pawn shops are not cash for gold scams, but they just don't pay a high percentage for scrap gold jewelry. In all fairness, pawn shops are required to hold the items they buy for 30, 60 or 90 days so the scrap gold they buy does tie up their working capital. Unless they think they can sell the gold they buy as used jewelry in the future, it's just tying up their cash for long periods of time and thus requires a higher profit margin.
If you really want to get the most money for your gold, our refining service is a great alternative to losing money that should be in your pocket just to support someone else's greed or risky business model. Use the link below to learn more.
Copyright 2007 C R Coins 7511 Boulevard 26, Ste. B, North Richland Hills, Texas 76180
Proudly serving Dallas, Fort Worth and NRH Numismaticists since 2007
