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An independent news report gives advice about selling gold

A message from the owner

Hi Don.

It was a pleasure meeting and doing business with you.  In an industry that has its share of disreputable dealers it was a great relief dealing with someone honest and professional.  This was my first time selling gold and even though I had done quite a bit of research I still felt vulnerable.  You took the time to explain and demystify the whole process and within moments I realized I had chosen the right person to deal with.

Best regards, Frank K.

I recently received this customer review / testimonial and I was struck by how often I hear these sentiments. Thank you Frank for  your trust and helping me realize that we should take some time to help explain the process. Most customers, gold sellers, are going through the process for the first time. Making a decision as to who to deal with can be quite daunting. I hope that this blog entry will help people feel more comfortable.

The two characteristics that will influence the value of your gold, for most transactions, are Weight and Gold Content ( Karat ). During the consultation process the buyer is assessing the Karat content and the weight of the items. As the seller, it is in your best interest to know the weight and Karat going in. If you do then it is quite easy to estimate the value of your gold and, more importantly, it will be a lot more difficult for someone to lead you astray in the consultation process. Please refer to my blog entry ” How to value your Gold” to help you.

Assessing the gold content ( Karat )

The first step is looking for the hallmark. A hallmark is the jewelers stamp identifying the gold content.

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International jewelery may use 583 to denote 14K. The conversion can be calculated by dividing 14K by 24K to end up with .583, or 583 parts per thousand. If your item does not have a hallmark, don’t worry, the buyer will be able to test to confirm the gold content. The testing we use is very simple to understand and very repeatable. I encourage my customers to participate and question everything. After jointly testing a few items my customers are as adept at assessing gold as I am. The news video on my site shows how simple and easy the testing process is. The test consists of rubbing a small sample of gold on the stone and then applying the appropriate acid.

This photo shows two items tested. The one on the left is a gold filled item, which has a very low gold content, and the one on the right is a 14K ring. The 14 K acid used ate away the gold filled sample but did not degrade the ring sample. It is just that easy. When people use the phrase, ” does it pass the acid test” , this is what they are referring to.