Special Gold Report: Continued

5. Make sure you can see the scale & check for sticker

Certification sticker from Florida Dept of Agriculture

When an item is being weighed, you should be able to see the results on the digital scale for yourself.  Also, look to see if the scale has had its annual certification by the Department of Agriculture. (In Florida, presently this sticker is orange). The D.O.A. checks jeweler scales to make sure they are accurate. Unless the scale is brand new, it should have a sticker on it indicating that it has been checked. 

If the merchant you are trying to sell to is using an obviously "used" scale which has no D.O.A. sticker on it, you would be wise to go somewhere else to sell.

6. Be conscious of every item that you are selling.

Just because a particular merchant claims to pay you the most for say, "double eagles" (a collectible gold coin), don't assume that this same merchant will pay you the highest price for other items you may be selling (sterling silver, diamonds, Rolex, estate jewelry, etc.).

Some dealers specialize in certain types of coins, jewelry, etc. and are willing to pay more because they know where to resell it quickly.  Basically, wholesale your stuff off to another dealer for a marginal profit.

Dealer without wholesale connections won't want to hold on to "dead inventory" (things they can't sell for whatever reason). Bottom line: They won't want to pay you much for it.

Yet other dealers will lure you in with a loss leader (an item a merchant buys or sells at a loss to get people in the door).  However, they are in business to turn a profit, just like anyone else, and will undoubtedly make up this loss by paying you less for something else you are selling (ex: a diamond).

7. Check over your receipt/ticket to make sure everything looks right.

8. Pitfalls you could possibly run into if you're not careful:

The bad guy

Merchant A offers to pay above market price for your gold coins. You assume that they are obviously very honest and drop your guard. Afterall, you are happy to have found an honest face. You also brought with you some gold jewelry and diamonds you wish to sell. You sell everything to merchant A and walk away happy.

What really happened: Merchant A ( in reality a crook) tricked you into thinking that he was extremely honest and fair, since he paid you more than anyone else in town for gold bullion.

 The good girl

In reality, merchant A hosed you on your diamonds and used jewelry while you were delirious with glee. In essence, merchant A lured you in and ripped you off. You never even saw it coming.

Lesson: Unless you have done business with a particular merchant in the past, and feel confident that they are honest, make sure that you check prices on each piece of jewelry, gold, coins, sterling silver or whatever before you sell it. Make sure that you get a fair price for everything.

9. Things that will be required for you to sell.

  1. You must provide a valid drivers license/photo ID.
  2. You will need to be fingerprinted (the law)
  3. Depending on the merchant, you must be at least 18-21 years old +

10. In the end, it's all about trust

In the end it all boils down to finding a company that both your brain and heart can agree on; someone you feel that you can trust. The items most people are selling out there: diamonds, scrap gold, etc. are "blind items". We mean that most people don't have a clue about what their items are worth.

In addition, there are many ways that an unscrupulous buyer can cheat you when selling these types of items. After all, he probably buys the things your selling every day. You may do it just once in a lifetime. You are definitely at a disadvantage.

The only gold buyer in Tampa Bay that SellGold could recommend is Arnold Jewelers in Largo, Florida. They are a family owned jewelry store in business since 1985. They have an excellent reputation, featured on both Fox 13 and Channel 10 News in 2009.

In addition, they are the only company that I know of that is honest and open enough to display both their live gold and silver prices online. They have a live chart that tells what they are paying right now per ounce, per pennyweight and per gram. In my opinion, that says a lot about the integrity of Arnold Jewelers.

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