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Health & Fitness

Seller Beware!

Selling gold is easy! or so the signs in many stores would have you believe.

Even if you didn't go to Catholic school and study Latin, you are probably familiar with the expression “Caveat Emptor” for buyer beware. Another phrase you should be equally familiar with is “Caveat Venditor”, or seller beware.

My husband had a birthday coming up, one of those big ones (I promised I wouldn't say which big one), and I wanted to get him an appropriately big gift. Like most married couples, all money is ‘our’ money and neither of us spends a significant amount without telling the other. Since we both know what is on the bank balance sheet, a large chunk missing would not go unnoticed.

Like more and more families, we do not use credit cards. If we want something that is a little more expensive, we save for it and purchase it with cash. Of course that means we occasionally have to wait to get what we want, but luckily neither of us want extravagant things in general. The upside of living debt free is well worth any temporary angst of wanting something and not being able to have it.

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I finally hit upon the perfect gift idea but the question of how to pay for it without him being aware of the expenditure posed a serious problem. The total cost was going to be upwards of $600.00, and I could not figure a way to explain that amount without raising his suspicions.

Driving down Route 59 one day, I noticed one of those “Cash For Gold” type places. This was my answer. I have old jewelry that I never wear and have no one to leave to anyway. So, I went home and did as everyone nowadays does when looking for information. I messaged my friends. 

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I asked if anyone had ever sold gold or jewelry for cash, what were the pitfalls and if they had a particularly good or bad experience to please let me know. But quietly, as this was for a surprise birthday gift for my husband.

Immediately, I heard from one friend whose daughter had an experience worth recounting.

The then twenty year old had some jewelry that had been gifted to her when she was young, and she decided to sell it to buy a present for her mom. It probably won’t come as a surprise, but she was badly ripped off by an unscrupulous gold buyer.

Since I have no desire to be sued, I will not name the place she went, or any of the places I visited. Let's just say that all of them were on or near the Route 59 corridor in Naperville, Plainfield, Shorewood and Joliet.

Karats and Carats

Gold buying and selling is determined by the purity and the weight. 24k means pure gold, and each lower number denotes how many parts of the 24 are other metals. How many grams something is combined with it’s level of purity determines it’s value. With rare exception, most gold items sold are melted down and recast. Even though you think that ring is very pretty, and they may even sell others like it, it nearly always will be melted and not resold as is.

Trying to be a smart seller, the first thing I did was select a few pieces of varying karats. I had some 22k, 18k, 14k and even a couple 10k pieces. I then pulled out the food scale to weigh each type of gold. Next stop was the internet, to find the price of gold, a number that fluctuates daily. On that day, gold was selling for over $1,600.00 per ounce. In other words, about $52.00 per gram. 

Of course, that is for pure 24k gold, but, I at least had a starting point. This also told me how many of these pieces I would need to sell to raise the amount of cash I wanted. I learned I could expect 30%-60% of the actual value.

My next step was to look up and then visit a few local places that buy gold. I picked one that is a nationally known chain, advertised by the former host with the annoying voice of a TV show about rich people. I also chose a traditional pawn shop and a place that buys and sells coins as their primary business. But my first stop was a local jeweler I know and trust, where my family has made a few purchases over the years.

This particular jeweler is very honest and told me immediately that they do not buy much gold, but would check, verify and weigh the pieces for me. Now, armed with the knowledge of what I had, I went to find out how much I could get.

The first stop, the gold coin place, tried to under weigh my pieces.  I told him his scale was off and needed calibrating. His response was to take the pieces off and weigh them again, showing me how the scale read ‘zero’ when empty. I explained I had the exact same model of scale at home and his was off by over 25%.

As I gathered up my pieces to leave, he informed me “we offer the best prices per Karat around”. I noticed the two other customers in the store were paying attention, so as I headed for the door I said over my shoulder “That may be, but when you under weigh the grams by 25%, the per Karat price doesn't really matter anymore, now does it?”

My next stop was the pawn shop on my list. There I was told that the three pieces I thought were 18k were actually only 14k, and two of the 14k pieces were actually 10k. Of the two 22k pieces, they said one was 18k, but they would give me the benefit of the doubt on the other. Yes, I did give him a funny look, but he didn't seem to notice. 

Each of the pieces he said were lower Karat had marks on them, but as they were of European origin they were marked “916”, “750” and “585” instead of 22k, 18k and 14k. When I asked what the marks meant, he said they stood for 18k, 14k and 10k.

I just smiled and said, “Oh! Okay” and quickly gathered my pieces. He replied, “I can’t give you a price until I weigh them”, to which I responded “No need.” I wanted to say, “One of us doesn't know what we are talking about so I don’t think we would agree on a price” but the guy was sketchy and creeped me out and I just wanted out of there.

My third stop was a jewelry store I had passed enroute to one of the other places. It was not on my original list, but since it is not a big chain, I hoped that there was honesty in the small, mom-and-pop style establishment. They correctly identified the Karats and the grams, but ultimately offered me less than half what my jeweler told me I could reasonably expect. 

In the end, they did prove to be honest in their response, “For long-standing customers and people making a purchase, we offer more”. 

My final stop was the nationally advertised chain. At that point, I didn't hold out much hope I would be able to get a fair price, or even enough to buy my husband’s present. I was tired, tired of being lied to and just all around irritated.

The woman there was very nice and friendly. She actually said “oh, and these pieces are European markings. See the 916? That means 22 Karat.” Her scale also accurately told the weights. Still, the offer was 25% less than I had been told I should get.

I mentioned the offer was low, and she told me they will match competitor’s offers. I quoted her the number I had been told, but quickly added that I didn't have it in writing. She picked up the phone and called someone, getting permission to offer me that amount. The only catch was, it was issued as a check, drawn on a bank that charged me $7.00 to cash because I don’t have an account there.

I know I could have deposited the check into my account without a fee, but that would have defeated the whole purpose of this very exhausting and frustrating exercise. My husband would see the deposit.

In the end, I got enough cash to purchase his gift. His thrill with the present was almost surpassed at his wonderment over how I had made this purchase without his knowledge. He is now the proud owner of a genuine Harley Davidson leather motorcycle jacket, gloves, reflective vest and Kevlar elbow pads. I’d much rather have him protected from the pavement than a few old pieces of gold.

If you decide to follow in my foot steps, do your homework. Know what you have, how much it weighs in grams, and be prepared to be lied to. A lot. Caveat venditor.

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