Traveling Gold Buyers

This last Sunday I went to a gold buying event that was at the Shilo Inn in Salem, OR. I wanted to see hows these individuals run these "massive gold parties" for lack of a better term and to see what percentage they would pay. 

This group had rented the entire second floor of this hotel for the week.  When you arrive they ask you what you are there to sell and then assign you to your own private room.  They say this is to protect you so that others do not know what you have but can also be used to keep people from making a scene in front of others and telling an entire crowd what percentage they are paying.  I waited in this hotel room for almost 10 minutes before someone came to help me.  When the gentleman walked in he was very friendly and was trying to build trust by telling me about the pieces of jewelry I had brought.  He then weighed each piece individually and told me what he could pay.  I had already figured out how much gold was in each piece and here is what they offered.

Lindy Star Sapphire Ring made of 14KY:  Gold value $226, offered $110
18KY Chain: Gold value $182, offered $70

Diamond Pave ring with 1ct. of G+, SI2 diamonds in 14KW: Gold Value $178
Semi-Mount in 14KW with 4 - 0.07ct Princess cut diamonds: Gold Value $219
I was offered $180 for both rings

I was offered a grand total of $360 for four items that had a gold value of $805.  On average this is approximately 45% and they said they were paying me for the diamonds, which means the average is actually less than this amount.  Some of you might think this is horribly low and I would agree it is low but I have heard of much worse.  These traveling gold buyers cannot pay you the same amount as a jeweler of independent gold buyer, think about it.  These companies have to rent an entire floor of a hotel for a week, they had paid for three full pages in local newspapers for multiple days, and advertised they had 85 employees at the event.  That is a TON of overhead!  A jeweler also has a lot of overhead but they make most their money for selling jewelry and buying gold is an added bonus to them and is why many will pay 60-80% for your gold.  I even know some jewelers who will give you 150% of the gold value if you use it towards the purchase of something in the store.  With gold over $1400 a deal like that can go a long ways!

A local gold buyer in your area is also a great option, I pay people 75-85% for their gold since I have very little overhead I do not need that outrageous margin.

Before you sell your gold stop and think about it for a minute.  Do you want to sell to a traveling company who has paid a tons of money in advertising and staffing and therefore is going to pay you less; or sell it to a local jeweler who will pay you more and be there tomorrow if you need them. 

Matt Wallace