Thanks
Sherry

I’ve been researching the “gold buying” industry and specifically online cash4gold like companies. There are only a few of the websites that actually publish their prices. I’ve only found two. So if you are looking to sell your gold online, check to make sure they publish prices. Also, make sure you talk to someone live before you send your package to make sure the company is legit. Confirm you will receive a payout amount “BEFORE” they process your gold and silver.

Be careful and do what I say above before you sell your gold or silver. Also, know the price of gold or silver when you call, so you can do the math on the phone.

I obviously called them to let them know that $30 was far too low and that I want my rings back. They shockingly told me “Oops! Your rings have already accidentally been melted! We can offer you $90 for the melted rings.”

Now what am I to do? They can’t follow through on the guarantee of returning my rings because of an “ACCIDENT”. And they are offering me three times the original offer.

Any ONE of those rings would be worth more than $90. But…they are gone! So getting them back is not an option. It seems I am forced into accepting a check that I still consider to be far too low because I CAN’T get my rings back.

I received a cheque for $32.67!!! Sent the cheque back the same day and phone them to advise I want my items back please. I was then told I could get a new cheque sent for $74.22, I said NO. They offered $103.32 then telling me several items were not worth much…..I know that…but still it was all gold,,,,,of course some items are worth more than others….duhhhhhhhhhhhh…..she mentioned it was recorded in the system some items were broken so they would not be worth as much to them as they would be if not broken….I thought they were melting things down so why does THAT matter??? She then pointed out I clearly was not going to wear these items so why not just take the $$$? I insisted I wanted my items back. She said they needed to receive the cheque back first…of course…I know this…so I waited…..47 days now NO GOLD! NO CONTACT! EXCUSES WHEN I CALL! ONE PERSON SAID I CASHED THE CHEQUE-I DID NOT. ANOTHER SAID THEY DIDN’T SEE RECORD OF THE GOLD BEING SENT BACK SO THEY COULD CHECK AND CALL BACK….NOTHING! ANOTHER SAID THEY WOULD HAVE A MANAGER CALL ME….NOTHING…….I WROTE A CERT. LETTER…..SENT PHOTOS OF MY ITEMS…..NOTHING…….FINALLY ONE REP ON FRIDAY OFFERED ME $232.00 TO DROP THE WHOLE THING…..I SAID NO……..SHE SAID THE GOLD WOULD BE RETURNED TO ME…..HEY…..I WAS TOLD IT WAS SENT OVER 40 DAYS AGO…….NOPE…..SHE HAD IT RIGHT THERE AND WAS ABLE TO DESCRIBE EACH ITEM IN DETAIL…..CLEARLY IT’S A SCAM WHERE THEY HOLD YOUR GOLD TO BREAK YOU DOWN INTO ACCEPTING SOME OFFER FOR IT. I KNOW SUSPECT MY ITEMS ARE WORTH A GREAT DEAL MORE THAT I EVEN THOUGHT. I had hoped for about $700-900 as a pawn shop offered me $560.

I HAVE NOTHING. NO MONEY. NO GOLD.

MY GOLD ENVELOPE ARE LIARS AND THIEVES AND CHEATS!

Category : Press Release

Nice try !!!!

To add my 2 cents though, I too write about good experiences online, not just negative ones.

I sent Dollars 4 Gold one of the items in my collection. It was a solid gold sarcophagus that once contained the body of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. I wanted the money fast, so I opted for the quick deposit offer. After checking my bank account deposits, I noticed a deposit from Dollars 4 Gold for the sum of $379.75.

I was very upset and called to speak to a rep. At first they offered me $800, to which I said I was hoping for a bit more. The rep offered me $1200 and said that was the best they could do. $1200 for a solid gold sarcophagus? Are these people crazy? I told them I wanted my item to be returned, but the manager told me that there is currently a curse on the sarcophagus and no courier or shipping company will agree to ship it.

What can I do now?

Pick someone who comes to the house, who sorts out your gold in front of you into the various carats. and who weighs it so you can see the weight. Don’t go for the old rogues.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/cash4gold-provides-cash-for-the,948814.shtml

In todays market the only value that is correct is what someone is willing to pay you for a particular item. However, keep in mind that a quick sale (i.e. cash in hand) will invariably lead to a lower sale price than if you have the time to properly shop/research the item.

And as I mentioned, there are certainly appraisers out there that I wouldn’t trust to place a value on a ball point pen. However there are also those who are fair, impartial, and professional, and until the average consumer insists on an appraiser who will properly value an item, nothing will change. After all, the insurance companies encourage the absurd values you mentioned. They charge higher premiums and they ALL have a clause which states that they can replace the item with an identical piece in lieu of a cash payment. With the insurance industry’s buying power this is almost always the cheaper option for them while they collect the premium on an inflated value on the piece being insured. Borderline criminal but then… look at what AIG did of the course of the past year.

Anyway, the formulas I gave are for use on gold only (no stone) pieces, and are intended to help people determine what their gold is worth at close to melt value.

I maintain that appraisal values are pure garbage. And yes, expenses and labor costs are real factors, but unless a stoneless piece is absolutely extraordinary or unusual, the fact that it is “used” wipes out any value beyond the metal, IMO.

At issue here is the fact that the diamond market has dropped considerably in the past year when dealing with smaller, lower quality stones. Anything under 2cts has taken a nose dive in value because SO MANY people are selling them to make mortgage/credit card payments/living expenses which has overloaded the market with diamonds. On the contrary, high quality, large stones are selling at an all time high as wealthy investors are losing everything in the markets. (these are 10ct+ top quality diamonds for the most part) So I don’t find it surprising at all that you would see such a drastic drop in diamond prices. After all, you can move the gold that you purchase within 30 days and make your money back that you shelled out. Diamonds on the other hand, may sit for a year or more which means that that money is tied up until you can sell the stone.

As far as the appraisal is concerned, it is an unfortunate truth that there are some people out there who will overinflate the value of an appraisal because they believe that it makes an item easier for them to sell. This occurs in nearly every industry but because jewelry is a bit of an enigma to most consumers, they are often stuck taking the appraisal at face value. Just as in any major purchase, be sure to do the proper amount of research, if you are getting an appraisal, ask what the appraisers qualifications are. An answer like “I’ve been doing this 20 years” does NOT make them qualified to do appraisals. Check out http://www.Appraisers.org for the American Society of Appraisers website to get an idea of what to look for in an appraiser.

Also, while your formulas are technically correct when it comes to the gold value of a piece, you are not factoring in at all the artistic value or the labor value. These can each be quite expensive depending on the type of piece you are looking at. Also, don’t forget that any jewelry store has its own overhead to consider when selling any piece. Unfortunately, the lights, water, and paychecks of a store’s employees don’t simply pay themselves.

Hope this helps

Case in point – a jeweler I know (who also buys gold and diamonds) appraised an engagement set with an extraordinary diamond for $15,500. The guy tried to sell it to me for $3,000. After talking to her and two other jewelers who buy gold, I was advised that no diamond buyer would even be interested in paying 3k BACK to me for the set, much less anything NEAR 15.5k.

Appraisal value is about the most over inflated figure you can ever find. For gold, this is a formula to help you find the “market” value of your gold, though again, no one (not even a refiner) can or will give 100% market value.

10k: (market price per ounce) x .417 / 31.1 x (your gold’s weight in grams)
14k: (market price per ounce) x .583 / 31.1 x (your gold’s weight in grams)
18k: (market price per ounce) x .750 / 31.1 x (your gold’s weight in grams)
22k: (market price per ounce) x .916 / 31.1 x (your gold’s weight in grams)
24k: (market price per ounce) x .999 / 31.1 x (your gold’s weight in grams)

*market price is for 24k, available for immediate delivery, gold bullion. 24k is 99.99% pure. 10k is 41.7% pure, 14k is 58.3-58.5% pure, just to give you an idea. So an ounce of 10k is not worth nearly as much as an ounce of “fine” or 24k gold.

Believe any appraisal value you get for a strictly gold item that is higher than that, and you’re fooling yourself.

1) In my state, we have to hold the gold 30 days before selling it. A LOT can happen to market value in 30 days.

2) No one – not even if you send gold to a refinery – gets 100% melt value. Especially on 10 or 14 karat, which is primarily what we buy.

3) If we pay $500 for gold that turns out to be stolen, the gold is taken by the police and we will most likely never see our $500 back either.

4) Underkarating is a BIG problem – Shawn hit it on the head. The worst example I’ve seen is a class ring made by Josten’s, the largest “class ring” manufacturer out there, that completely failed a 10K acid test. By failed, I mean the acid dissolved the sample almost instantly. Discoloration would’ve meant that the piece was probably 8K; what this ring did indicated that it had virtually NO gold in it – yet it was stamped and sold as 10K gold.

5) I have employees, rent, insurance, and yes – a profit margin. I don’t buy gold for fun. This is a business, not a charity. All of you work for or even own companies that generate profit by buying low and selling high. Our business is no different.

6) There is no end to the gold plated pieces people bring us. We rarely buy “fake gold”, but when we do, it’s straight loss.

For these reasons and more, I (and no one in their right mind) am interested in paying even 50% melt value for your gold, unless you have quite a bit or I know you. For the scrap stuff we buy, I am happy (and almost all our customers are happy) with 40%. Cash4Gold.com sounds like they are paying between 10-15%.