Let’s weigh your options: where to sell your scrap gold?

Alan, my name is Liam and I have a problem. I have scrap gold here. Some pieces made of 14K gold and other pieces made of 18K gold. Since some days I plan to sell this gold and I was in some stores too. A pawn shop offered me $1,233 and another $970, a jeweler $1,050 and a gold buyer in a mall merely $730. This are the final amounts they offered me because all of them increased the amounts a little bit after I have declined their offers. They wanted to get my gold, I know it for sure. But Alan why are there such big differences? And why did they tell my different facts about my gold? One gold buyer told me I have 10K gold and 14K gold, the jeweler told me to have 14K gold an 18K what I guess is correct and the pawn shop mentioned I have just 14K gold. Where to sell scrap gold, Alan?
Liam from Miami in Florida

Dear Liam, I love to answer such questions because it’s part of my consumer information-program to avoid gold selling fraud. Selling gold, jewelry and also other assets like watches or diamonds is a real challenge, especially for consumers without knowledge about gold. The department for consumer affairs in NY determined that 3 out of 5 gold buyers are in violence with local laws. They also determined that it’s very common to get told false facts about gold concerning the purity or the weight, for example. I can help you to understand the industry and the thinking of gold buyers. This knowledge can help you to make the right decisions.
reDollar appraiser, Alan Jensen

Liam wants to know, where to sell scrap gold

Liam: Alan, I’m very confused and worried about my plan to sell scrap gold. I was in some stores to ask for a price quote but by now I don’t know what to do. The offered prices varied strongly. And not only the prices cause me concern, the buyers also told me different facts about my gold. But by now I don’t know where to sell and what to think about the value. Alan, please tell me where to sell scrap gold? And also tell me more about the value.

Alan: I always say that a good selling experience mostly comes with knowledge. Knowledge is power and very often a higher price for the goods you plan to sell. But that doesn’t belong only to gold. Think about other assets you may have sold in the past. Your iPhone, your car or maybe your home! Have you sold such things without knowing an approximate value? Right, you didn’t, because you wanted to avoid to get paid less. Selling scrap gold works similar. Know what you have, find out the value and sell for an appropriate price. Today, I’m here for you to learn you more about the value of your scrap gold. I’m very happy about the communication we had and I guess we found out so much helpful information.

Liam: Yes, Alan. You helped me to learn that I have to understand the value before selling. It was very helpful to work on the evaluation with you. Fortunately, I had a digital scale at home.

Alan: Yes, because an evaluation from afar isn’t possible without a scale. First, I asked you to find all markings. Remember, the markings show us the purity of your scrap gold.

Liam: Let me summarize, Alan. I have 4 pieces marked as 14K gold and 6 pieces marked as 18K gold. And I understood that 14k gold means that my scrap gold is made of 55% pure gold and 18K gold is made of 75% of pure gold.

Alan: STOP! That’s not correct. 14K gold is made of 58.5% pure gold.

Liam: I’m sorry. You’re right. I weighed the items from apart. All my 14K marked items showed a total weight of 15.2 pennyweights and the 18K marked scrap gold showed me a weight of 41.7 pennyweights. I used your website’s gold calculator and I calculated $322 for the 14K scrap gold and $1,758 for the 18K pieces. Now I wonder why I should get paid $2,080 in total from your company when other companies offered me only $1,050, at max.

Alan: First, please remember that an evaluation from afar is not binding. I ‘m not be able to find out from afar if your gold is maybe marked wrongly. But you also told me that your jeweler didn’t find any false marked items and if I understood you correctly, he also made an acid test which should proof the gold’s purity.

Liam: Yes, he used a liquid to check the gold and it was fine to him.

Alan: Listen Liam, very often we hear stories like yours. I can’t guarantee from afar that your gold finally sells for $2,020 with our company. For honesty reasons only I have to refer to this point. But it wouldn’t be a big surprise to me if all your given details are correct, then my calculated price would apply. We know that our prices are extremely close to the stock value and we know that the prices from our competitors are very often not close. Maybe one gold buyer is right and there is some 10K scrap gold in your mixture, but we don’t know for the moment. But I’m very sure that we can beat the prices.

Liam: I know that Alan, thanks for your honest words. But can you tell me where I could sell my scrap gold in town for that price?

Alan: This can become a real challenge. The only thing you can do is to shop around and compare the offers carefully. Take your gold and call $2,000. But I really recommend you not to sell for less than $1,900. I can check your gold for free, even when you don’t finally sell your scrap gold with us. Then, you know for sure what you have. I use the newest technologies to determine the purity of your gold. But shop around first. There are many places where you can sell scrap gold. Pawn shops, gold buyers, jewelers, second hand dealers, antique stores and other buy-sell-trade locations. Auction houses are not recommendable for selling scrap gold because commissions up to 20% on the realized selling amount are standard. The same applies for selling on craigslist but not because of commissions. It’s more the demand. Generally a craigslist buyer is not interested in scrap gold, apart from dealers. I tell you, Liam. Try to sell your gold for $1,900. Visit 10 different places and compare the offers. There are also very reliable and honest buyers – not almost all buyers have bad intentions. And if you don’t find a proper offer in the amount of round about $1,900, sell with us.

Liam: I will ask some more buyers but I’m done with my comparing challenge – as you name it. Some buyers were really very unfriendly. I didn’t feel well treaded in most of the stores. I guess I will sell my scrap gold with your company. But Alan, just to let you know. The reason why I don’t sell my scrap gold to your company is my wish to get paid in cash. I don’t like to get paid into my bank or PayPal account.

Alan: I fully understand but do you know our “SELL WITHOUT USING A BANK ACCOUNT”- program? It was developed for customers like you. We just send you a personal money order, and a money order is like cash. You can turn it into cash at thousands of places like Walmart, Publix and countless other groceries, thousands of bank branches, Western Union locations or Currency Exchanges. I’m sure that there is a place within 3 miles of your home where you can get cash immediately for the money order which we provide you.

Liam: What an awesome service! I guess I start right now to bring it to an end. I’m not interested in more hassle.