Selling Your Old Gold?

With the price of gold currently at $1680 (USD) some sources say it is a bargain, down from the early September highs around $1900 (USD) per ounce.  Others are selling their old, unused, or broken gold items.  The old caveat "buyer beware" should be your mantra if you venture out to sell your gold.

I took several items, some with stones, some 14K (carat), 18K, and 10K, and some with mixed metals.  I priced the items at two jewelers that were in business for many years and advertised on radio.  I also priced one of the items that had a stone, and both 14K and 18K components at an additional third source that sells both jewelry and coins.  All three sources quoted a different price!  I had 9 items priced by the two jewelers.  All items were priced differently at the two different shops.  One shop was not higher across the board.  Both were higher on some items, and lower on others.  Interestingly, one paid three dollars more per gram of 14K gold, yet still priced some of the items over 10% lower than the other shop!  This means that either the scale was wrong or the jeweler was doing some questionable weighing if you know what I mean.

None of the three shops had the scale located so that I could see the weight.  I assume all these scales are digital.  Interestingly, even though the price of some items varied as much as $50, the total price of all the items at either jeweler was very close, so I elected to sell all to one jeweler.  This was, in retrospective, a poor decision.  I could have made much more had I sold only the higher priced items to the jeweler who offered more.  Lessons:  1.  Do not do this if your are tired or in a hurry.  2.  Do not be afraid to walk away and think it through.  3.  Get the offers in writing.

The jeweler I sold to said he would pay the 14K gold price for watch fob pieces.  He said they weighed a total of 5.3 grams.  I accepted.  This would have been $129.00.  However, he only added $50 to the total of the other items sold, not the $129 he led me to believe he would pay.  The itemized list with prices and weight was not given to me with the check.  The check total seemed a bit low.  This bothered me.  After I returned home, I phoned the jeweler and requested the adding machine tape he had used to calculate the prices.  I was told it was in the waste paper basket, but again requested it.  I drove 30 miles to get it. 

The adding machine tape proved I had been shorted!  When I phoned the jeweler to explain this, he offered me $50!  When I persisted, explaining I was due the full $79,  the jeweler accused me of harassing and said I would get nothing.  This did not set well with me.  After sleeping on it and losing sleep on it for the better part of a week, I phoned the police, the county, the state, and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). 

The BBB has a local website.  There is a simple BBB online complaint process or you can mail in your complaint.  The complaint must contain certain information, so if you go this route, please contact your BBB to be sure you have all the information required.  It is a simple process and the folks at the BBB are very helpful.  In fact everyone I spoke to in the various government offices was helpful.  No one wants to see bad business practices in the community.  None of the folks I spoke to wanted to see the jeweler get away with it.  And neither do I.

The BBB also recommended I file a complaint with the State Attorney General -- the top cop in the state.  This is easy to do if you have already completed a complaint with the BBB.  I was also referred to the Department of Weights and Measures.  They are very interested in checking the jeweler's scales.  However, even if the scales are accurate, I believe that the jeweler used what I will politely call "discretionary weight."  Clearly, if he is paying nearly 20% more than the other jewelry store per gram of 14K gold, yet after weighing an object, offers 10% less, there is something questionable going on.

So, I feel better and sleep better knowing I have taken action.  Hopefully, you will be more careful than I was.  Hopefully, I will get the $79 that is owed.  Hopefully, the jeweler will not try to short customers in the future.  I have gone on record, and should another complaint be filed against jeweler in the future, there is a pattern for authorities to take into consideration.  We have to take a stand against flimflam.

Ironically, when I took my complaint to the BBB, I was in the neighborhood of one of the most ethical businessmen I know.  I told him the story of jeweler, adding that I don't usually drop names, but the behavior of jeweler was so unacceptable to me that I mentioned his name and the name of his shop.  The ethical businessman said that he and jeweler belong to the same exclusive golf club.  He told me how jeweler cleverly cheats at golf.  Another lesson:  Don't do business with folks who cheat at golf.

May your business dealings be righteous,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2011