03/12/10 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – “What’s with all these ads to sell my gold jewelry?” writes a reader “Will I get a good deal on that?”
The short answer: No.
In general, the mail-order gold people are paying about 10-25 cents on the dollar.
We’re seeing monetary psychology at work here. It’s the feel of cash in hand. We have relatively unsophisticated people sending in “old” jewelry, and they don’t know what they have. The mail-order gold buyers are sending back a check, and the crinkle of that check makes people think they got a good deal.
Don’t sell your goods to the mail-order crowd, unless you want to get taken to the cleaners. If you sell your old disco chains at a reputable jewelry store, you’re likely to get a reasonable deal for the gold content [up to 75 cents on the dollar], as well as for any precious stones.
We’re living in tough economic times. There are a lot of people who are desperate for immediate cash. So they send in their “old” gold and such. But the process we’re seeing is a classic case of valuable goods flowing from weak hands to strong ones.
Byron King
for The Daily Reckoning
Byron King
Byron King is the managing editor of Outstanding Investments and Energy & Scarcity Investor. He is a Harvard-trained geologist who has traveled to every U.S. state and territory and six of the seven continents. He has conducted site visits to mineral deposits in 26 countries and deep-water oil fields in five oceans. This provides him with a unique perspective on the myriad of investment opportunities in energy and mineral exploration. He has been interviewed by dozens of major print and broadcast media outlets including The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, MSN Money, MarketWatch, Fox Business News, and PBS Newshour.
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You missed the most important part of the mail your gold scam.
It is one of the best ways to fence stolen gold that is then melted and all evidence destroyed.
The voice of experience? ^^^
I don’t think you can generalize about all those cash for gold companies. I agree that most all of them are scammers and only paying a tiny fraction of the worth of the gold….BUT, when I needed to sell a bunch of my old jewelry to get some cash, I went around to many of my local guys (jewelers, pawn shops, and even a local gold buying place) – and they ALL offered me less than a few of the online guys.
But because I know they’re not so reputable I did a bunch of investigating before choosing one. I then chose the Silver And Gold Exchange because they had no complaints against them, paid among the highest, would make me an offer that I could refuse (rather than simply sending me a check too late in the mail that I then couldn’t get my stuff back!). I also called and spoke with them and they were really professional.
All in all, it was a really good experience since I was really scared. They were the utmost honest and professional in an industry that seems to have many ripoff’s artists out there.
I’m going to use them again! I recommend checking them out if you’re going to sell some stuff. here’s a link if you want to: http://silverandgoldexchange.com