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An independent news report gives advice about selling gold

A message from the owner

We openly post our prices on our web site and they update automatically as the price of gold changes. You always get the latest price. Even our competitors use our site. Some sites post a high payouts and then claw that back with service charges. We do not have service charges.

We guarantee the highest payout. If someone offers you more, we will beat it.

The prices shown are the minimum we pay out. If you have a large sale we pay more. To us, and our customers, that makes sense.

Our customers tend to be knowledgeable on the value of their gold and appreciate the price we pay. We always recommend that our customers know the weight and karat of their items.  A knowledgeable consumer is our best customer.

We can beat our competitors because we control our overhead. We do not spend a lot on advertising. Our business model is based on web presence and word of mouth. Lower overhead means higher payouts.

I think our biggest indicator of customer satisfaction is our customer referral rate. We are very proud that our customers recommend us to their family and friends. To all my customers, thank you, I am deeply appreciative of your loyalty.

I think our customer loyalty stems from receiving value, service and a great customer experience.

The customer experience grows from being respected, involved in the process and a rock solid confidence that they have been treated well. I enjoy what I do and am happy to spend time with you at each step of the process.

Well here we go again. Another event is rolling into town this weekend and my radar is up.

I went to their web site,  www.globalgoldtrader.com, and there is no indication of what they pay out. Please do yourself a favor and review my pay out chart before you go to this event. Arm yourself with what your gold is worth before accepting what they offer. If it is better than what I am paying, then more power to you, take it. Please make sure you get a correct weight and assessment of the gold content. Knowledge is power.

Please note my prices are in dollars per gram and not pennyweights. Often these shows like to quote their prices in pennyweights. This method creates a false impression their pay outs are more competitive. If I remember correctly a pennyweight is approximately 1.6 grams.

As with my other posts,  if you go to this show, please let me know what you thought of it. If you run this show, please let us know what you are paying.

In my last post for the “ TreasureHuntersRoadShow.com review “ I had asked if any of my customers had any experience with these types of events. Well I heard back from one and, as I suspected, the review was not good.

My customer had been to my site and had armed herself with the knowledge of what her gold was worth. When she visited the event they told her her gold was only worth around $450.00. When she confronted them with what I was paying they told her that it was impossible. She decided to leave and come see me. Well for the exact same items I payed her $952.25, exactly what she expected based on what my site was posting as the payouts. That is more than twice the payout she would have received from this gold event. Thank goodness she did not let herself be bullied.

When she relayed her story to me I was very pleased that I could blog about it and maybe help someone else not get taken advantage of. Below are the testimonials she provided in English and French.

“It was a great pleasure meeting with you today. I visited allot of web site and places and you are the most honest buyer I’ve met. What we see on your site is what we get, no pressure and no surprise. I will definitely recommend you to my family and friends and I’m looking forward to make business with you again.  Thank you, M.L.”

“Je tenais à te remercier pour notre rencontre.  J’ai visité beaucoup de places et de sites internet pour vendre mon or et je peux confirmer que tu es le plus honnête des acheteurs d’or que j’ai rencontré.  Les montants annoncés sur ton site sont les montants que l’on reçoit, sans pression et surtout sans surprise.  Je te recommande sans hésitation à tout ceux qui ont de l’or à vendre car je sais qu’ils ne seront pas déçus.  Merci beaucoup et au plaisir de faire affaire ensemble dans le future.   M.L.”

Merci, I am very fortunate to have the very best customers.

To anyone reading this, I recommend you follow this womans lead, use my site to know the value of your gold before dealing with anyone.

Hi everyone,

Well another roadshow has come to town and from what I saw people are lined up to sell their items. Usually when I check out these types of shows I find that they are more about exploiting people than providing value.

As soon as I walked into the rental hall they assign you a number and ask you to fill out a form and tell you you will have to wait an hour or more. I am not sure why I would have to fill out a form to find out about some of the items I had brought in. My number if I choose to wait an hour or so was 137. Instead of waiting I had decided to ask what they are paying for gold. I spoke to three people who would not answer the question. I finally got to someone, supposedly a Manager, who was also very hesitant to answer the question and in the end never did. Now their ads say they buy scrap gold and silver but what they pay seems to be a secret. I checked out their web site and once again no mention of what they pay.

I found I could not trust what I was dealing with and gave them back their number and left. It is too bad because I had some antique watches I would have liked  to get some information on. Mind you, I don’t think giving information is what this show is about.

To all my customers, I suggest you do some homework to know what your items are worth before going to this type of show. If someone has been through their process, please let us know what you thought.

Customer Satisfaction

I think our biggest indicator of customer satisfaction is our customer referral rate. We are very proud that our customers recommend us to their family and friends. To all my customers, thank you, I am deeply appreciative of your loyalty.

I think our customer loyalty stems from receiving value, service and a great customer experience.

The customer experience grows from being respected, involved in the process and a rock solid confidence that they have been treated well. I enjoy what I do and am happy to spend time with you at each step of the process.

Price

We openly post our prices on our web site and they update automatically as the price of gold changes. You always get the latest price. Even our competitors use our site. Some sites post a high payouts and then claw that back with service charges. We do not have service charges.

We guarantee the highest payout. If someone offers you more, we will beat it.

The prices shown are the minimum we pay out. If you have a large sale we pay more. To us, and our customers, that makes sense.

Our customers tend to be knowledgeable on the value of their gold and appreciate the price we pay. We always recommend that our customers know the weight and karat of their items.  A knowledgeable consumer is our best customer.

We can beat our competitors because we control our overhead. We do not spend a lot on advertising. Our business model is based on web presence and word of mouth. Lower overhead means higher payouts.

Service

Along with scheduling appointments at our office I also spend a good portion of my week doing service calls. Yes, I come to see you at your convenience. This service call is free and there is no obligation on your part. You are important to us and deserve the very best we can offer.

Service is more than just offering a counter operation. Those customers that are selling a large amount of gold do not want to line up and wait at an event or scurry around town with their gold or a shopping bag of silver trays. For example, a professional appreciates us coming to their office at their convenience. All of our customers appreciate that level of service and convenience. This is one of the benefits of dealing with a registered business that does service calls.

My customers are telling me that some of my competitors, who do not offer service calls, are saying that service calls are not safe. I think this type of negativity tells you more about the organization spouting it.
An office or home service call from a registered professional is much safer than going to a seedy part of town or lining up at an arena for a gold event. Any unsavory character who sees you knows you have gold going in and either gold or money coming out.
In a service call the only people who know what is being transacted are you and me. As a registered business, with my picture and reputation on full display, you are in very safe hands. I have been in business for years and I have a vested interest in staying in business.

Location

We book office space at the World Exchange Plaza, 45 O’Connor Street Suite 1150 through a company called Intelligent Office. We offer a clean safe office environment with convenient underground parking. We are happy to pay the parking fees for our customers.

Direct Telephone Access

All inquires are answered by me, the owner. Get your questions answered on your first call.

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.

Lately I have been getting a lot of questions about “Mail In” gold buyers so I thought I would do a comparison for my customers. I have been seeing a lot of ads for dollars4gold and their GG guarantee caught my attention. I figure if my customers could get twice as much from them as they can get from me, well more power to them. Be aware, I suspect that there may be some fine print somewhere that negates the GG guarantee.

I was pleasantly surprised that my everyday upfront pricing beats their 3 oz. volume pricing by 16.6%. I could not find out what they pay for just a few items but I suspect I would beat that by even more. By the way, with an outfit this size, why is their pricing not more straight forward and current. It is not that hard to have up to the minute pricing like I have on my site. Why mail in your items for less when you can sell your items right here in Ottawa for more. Not only do we pay more, we also provide you a higher level of service.

In an earlier blog entry I suggested you check out any national mail-in outfit with the BBB but if you have access to the web it only takes a moment to google search ” any companies name + reviews”. For example I found the following reasonable review when I google searched “dollars4gold reviews”.

Click on this link for the review.penny for my thoughts review chattywomen.com

While I was doing this I came across these videos and I thought you might enjoy a smile.

The first video features Mr. Sullivan as a representative for a national mail-in gold buyer and the second video features him on his show “Pitchmen”.

On today’s front page of the business section, ” Cash In Gold” was featured. I have provided the link if you would like to read what the Citizen had to say.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Jewelry+owners+cash+gold+rush/2258539/story.html

It can be tricky trying to sell an item if the value cannot be readily established. Luckily, when it comes to selling gold, the value is easily calculated and should be your first step prior to selling your gold to anyone. For the typical client selling a handful of jewelery follow the steps below to help you get a better idea of the value of your gold. The following example is for a medium weight 18K necklace, three 14 K rings and assorted 10K ear rings and light necklaces. These items would fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Step 1- Know the karat, gold content, of your items.

If you can read the hallmarks sort your items into 10k, 14k, and 18k. If you can’t read the hallmarks don’t worry just skip to the next step.

Step 2- Weigh your items.

It helps to have a scale but if you don’t,  you can come close to establishing the weight by doing a hand comparison with coins. A  loonie, quarter and penny weigh 7, 5, and 2 grams.. For example if your 10k pile feels like two loonies and a quarter that would suggest you have about 19g of 10K. If you have the time, place your items in a baggy and confirm the weight at your local post office.
If you could not see the hallmarks, try to sense the weight of all the items combined.

Step 3 – Calculate the dollar value

For example, if you determined you had 19g of 10k, 12g of 14k and 21 g of 18k,  at the Nov. 16 2009 prices, that would add up as follows:

10K     19g x $11.01 = $209.19

14K     12g x $15.41 = $184.92

18K     21g x $19.81 = $416.01

________

Total             $810.12

If you could not read the hallmarks you can still estimate the range by applying the total weight of 52g to the 10K rate and the 18k rate. This would give you a ballpark range of $572.52 to $1,030.12. Not great but much better than not knowing at all.

Knowledge is power, know the value of your gold.

If you have an assortment of gold items that seems too daunting to evaluate, ask for a consultation. I will be happy to help you know the value of your items.