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Lowball Offer on 22K Jewelry?
pmh1nic
Posts: 3,166 ✭✭✭✭✭
I went into a local gold buyer to sell a necklace and bracelet. They do not retail jewelry so I'm expecting they sell to a refiner. Both are items are 22K and total weight was 65.5 grams. Factoring in 0.916 it's 60 grams of gold. Price per gram is about $75.50. The offer was $3,500. I didn't expect to get melt but $1,000 less? That seems like a pretty significant profit if you're just turning it over to be melted.
What are others experience on selling gold jewelry?
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I would recommend sending/taking it to a reputable refinery. As an example, look at Midwest Refineries LLC in MI. They advertise their buy prices on their website. I think it is 95% of spot. Then again, they claim to buy gold locally in several cities/metro areas. They don't discuss much about actual refining on their webpage, so I am not sure whether they actually do.
Years ago I sent 1-2 ounces of 14/18k necklaces off to an actual refinery in TX that dealt with the public. They paid right around 97% , pretty much as they advertised. I think it was called ARA gold or something like that, but they changed their biz model and no longer deal directly with the public .
Something I hadn't considered. It doesn't seem like there are actual refiners that deal with the public anymore. It looks like the Department of Homeland Security came up with regulations to stop refiners from dealing with the public in the 2000s.
Hey RobM, I did not know that.
I don't know what refiners will pay for 22K gold jewelry and realize the is some cost involved to refine it down to pure 24K. This dealer is the middleman and I don't mind them making some money but $1,000 seemed extreme to me but before jumping to a judgement want to see what others have experienced.
I pay 82% OTC , dealers I pay 88% , I have to ship it to the refinery, but more importantly hold for 7 days, take a day like today, any gold I bought before noon , got creamed on by close of business. The best pawn shops around here pay 75-78%, many pay 50-60. Gld buyers across town pay in the 70's unless you know em. I prefer not to buy it anyway, as I dont want thugs and hoodlums frequently coming in selling it. (and thats whats mostly around here) There are a couple of bigger vest pocket buyers that come thru buying from pawn shops and they pay 92-94%. My guy pays 94-95% but I dont buy that much so I could care less. Also, if you go to a refinery that actually buys from public, you will find that there price is less than a dealer that sells to them , but would still be in the lower to mid 90% best guess.
My local place pays -25% back of spot.
Sounds like your place was about -22% back of spot.
JDIMMICK looks like a good deal and you should be able to negotiate someplace in-between his OTC and dealer values.
If it's wearable 22k jewelry, maybe the classifieds here would be a good option.
You can negotiate prices with the information you already have.
Thanks for the info folks.
Based on what I paid for the items years ago I would have broken even at -20% but at the time I had no feel for where buyback on jewelry should be. It seems selling back jewelry is not the same as selling back bullion coins where the buyback is closer to spot.
I tried Midwest years ago... ended with being a bit of a gamble with what you end up with. They said about 3-5% is lost during refining (if my memory is correct) , then your gold might not be under karat (say 13.5k even though marked 14k), then they printed the slip and then hand wrote the next day on there, and by sheer coincidence I'm sure, gold was down on the date they hand wrote on the slip. So I'm guessing they were like, "well, it's already here, let's make an extra percent or two since we locked it the day prior and gold is down today."
What about just listing it on here? Especially if it’s wearable. I also have 2+ ounces of scrap and or some wearable old gold. I brought it to my LCS and was offered -30% and decided to just hold it. I think I might offer it here 1 day when I have time. Mike
MIKE B.
I would have broken even with what they offered so maybe I’m being greed. They are nice pieces of jewelry. I’m not a huge jewelry person but I’ve got more compliments on the bracelet than any other piece of jewelry I’ve owned. For now I’ll hold. I’ve made other arrangements to pay off the federal government extortion…lol.
The total weight of the bracelet is 40.45 grams.
The necklace is 25.07 grams
Interesting topic. Last week Friday I took about 100 grams of 14K gold to a buy/sell place. Spot for 14K was $1405 per oz and $45 per gram. I was offered $26 per gram. I walked out without selling.
Is that the normal discount to spot (about 40% back)?
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The purity may have an impact on what you get. The more melt they have to purge from the item may require more time and energy to get the gold out. On 22K 80% ~ 85% seems to be the norm.
I just called Midwest Refineries and talked to a lady.
They are still in business, still buy precious metals, and have never shut down.
https://www.midwestrefineries.com/
I have sold scrap silver to Midwest Refineries twice in the last 2 years with no problems and a fair settlement. For scrap gold, however, I have a long term relationship with a fellow board member that is very advantageous for both of us, definitely better numbers than what is being bandied about. I won't spill his name in public - I figure he will contact you if he is interested.
mbogoman
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I think what happened is the AML/KYC (anti-money laundering/know your customer) regs from the Patriot Act discouraged most refiners from dealing with the public. I think what we have left is a few actual PM refiners that still deal with the public (such as Midwest) and some others that position themselves as refiners to the public but are more likely just buying gold and sending into a refiner that doesn't deal directly with public.
Even with Midwest Refineries LLC you have to search their site a bit to find the details on their actual assay and refining. If a private citizen ships gold to them, I think they pretty much just test the purity and weight, and pay out based on that. The AML/KYC regs are probably going to require that you provide them with your SS# and bank account details. Not necessarily a big deal. I think if I had scrap gold I wanted to get rid of with hope of getting max payout, I would give them a try. Back in the day ARA (American recycling associates) in Dallas area was the way to go. Learned about them reading the metal detecting forums.
After reading all the replies I realized my expectations were too high with respect to selling the jewelry I had and getting just a few percentage points off spot. After reviewing some online buyers I contacted Express Gold Cash. They had very good reviews, have been in business for over ten years and would cover return shipping if I didn't accept their offer.
I received their shipping kit which included instructions, a prepaid FedEx label, bubble envelope to put the jewelry in, a blank packing slip.which I filled out with a description of the items and a large envelope to put everything in to be shipped.
The package was dropped of at a local.Federal Express facility. The next day I received an email letting me know the package had arrived and they would contact me within 24 hours with an offer.
The next day I received an offer via email that coincidentally was the same as the offer I received from the local buyer I had gotten a couple of days prior (80% of spot). I turned the offer down and expected the items would be returned.
About 30 minutes later I received another email expressing they were sorry that I wasn't satisfied with what they offer, asked what I was expecting and said they would consider it if it was responsible. I counter with what was 85% of spot and with a few minutes received a email saying my offer was excepted. The funds were transferred into my checking account the next day.
Given the increase in the price of gold I got a few hundred over what I paid for the jewelry and the company was very responsive in providing the shipping kit, confirming the receipt of the jewelry, making an offer, making a counter offer and transferring the funds.