Funds Blog

Selling Scrap Gold Safely

Since gold is near record highs once again, it might be time for you to think about selling some of that scrap gold you have laying around the house. I’m sure you would love to make some extra cash in this trying economic time and be able to pay off your debts. If you want to learn how you can do this safely without getting ripped off by middlemen or not-so-honest gold refiners continue reading.

Before you do anything you need to understand a few key points that will allow you to sell your gold without getting ripped off. Some of the best advice that I can give to you is to make sure that you research the companies that you will be dealing with. You have to do this if you want any chance at working with a legitimate refiner that will actually give you top dollar for your gold.

One of the first things that you should check is to see how long the have been in the gold buying business. Anything under 5 years should be reason to check deeper. Check Google or some other search engine for information about the company and see if they have any complaints built about against them. A good place to check also is the Better Business Bureau’s website where you can see their accreditation rating.

Next you want to see what their policy on selling and buying gold is. The best place to find this out on is their own website. While you’re on there find out their physical address (make sure it’s not just some P.O. box, if it is just forget them). If they are close to home go visit them in person.

Look for a telephone number for the company and call them with any questions you might have. Check their customer service and how they treat you but make sure not to give into any pre-sale pressure they might put on you. This is the perfect time to see what they might offer you for your gold.

One of the most important things you have to know is what your gold is actually worth. The price changes every day so you will have to find a financial site that lists the current spot price of gold like CNN money. The formula for figuring out how much different karat’s of gold is worth can be found all over the internet and there are even some calculator’s available.

One you have your company that you want to sell to and the price of your gold, you need to understand that you don’t have to take the refiner’s first offer. In fact many times you can get a better price by declining and contacting them. Just make sure that you do contact them though if you don’t like their offer because some will smelt down your items after a certain time period.

Ninety percent of the actual value is a good selling price for you if you can manage to find a refiner that offers a price as good as that. Really anything above eighty percent is a decent offer and you should take it if you don’t find any higher than that.

A good tip for avoiding con artists is making a point of avoiding gold refiners that don’t own their own refinery. Not only is it a good way to avoid scammers, but you can also get a lot more cash for you gold this way. The alternative is selling to gold dealers which in turn sell to gold refiners but they have to turn a profit so you make less on your sale.

Finally, make sure your gold is insured while in transit to the company and that they return it insured, if their quote is not accepted by you. If you do not buy insurance you can lose everything either by accident or by purposeful fraud. It’s worth it to spend the extra couple bucks to make sure that everything goes as planned rather than be out hundreds if your gold scrap goes missing.

Follow this advice and you will be well on your way to selling scrap gold safely and easily. Just make sure that you do your due diligence and research thoroughly and you can avoid getting ripped off by one of the many con artists out there.