Everyone will have a story about being scammed one way or another. Therefore you have to be careful when trying to sell items to dealers. Don’t be scammed the next time you sell something. Read the following information to avoid being scammed when selling your gold jewellery.
1. It is important to know what you have. Do not simply lump everything together as this is asking for trouble. Look at the karat mark of each item. Most items should be marked.
2. Sort your items by karat and keep each groups of karats separated. Failing to do this allows unscrupulous gold and diamond exchange dealers to lower the prices of higher karat pieces. Most gold and diamond exchange dealers will insist on testing every single piece of jewellery. If your item is marked 14k and your dealer tests reveal only 10k, take your business elsewhere.
3. Before the weighing begins, insist that the scale be tarred with a standardised weight supplied by the scale manufacturer. Check the scale to make sure that it zeros out correctly. It is easy to rig a scale, so check to make sure it is working properly. Some gold and diamond exchange dealers will offer impossibly high prices but use a rigged scale, leaving you with less money.
4. Scales weigh in various modes, but the most common for gold is grams and pennyweights. Pennyweights are heavier than grams. One pennyweight = 1.55 grams. Make sure that if your jewellery is weighed in pennyweights, you are paid the pennyweight rate and not the gram rate.
5. Before selling your gold, call the gold and diamond exchange company you are interested in doing business with and ask about their experience and industry affiliations. Reputable companies will not hesitate to rant and rave about their industry-wide associations.
Extra tips
- Items marked RGP (rolled gold plated), HGE (heavy gold electroplated) or GF (gold filled) will not attract gold buyers.
- Experienced gold and diamond exchange dealers will be able to tell the karat of the jewellery by the colour.
- Approach buyers who have an established business and have been in this business for a good period of time. Stay away from fly-by-night establishments.
- Remember that gold buyers are also looking to make money and to turn a fair profit – you will not get the full value of your gold.
Author bio
This article was written for The Gold Company and offers tips to avoid gold and diamond exchange scams.