You’ve probably seen the banner ads and late-night television commercials advertising that they’ll buy your cash for gold. Perhaps you have some broken jewelry lying around and are wondering if you should send it in. Should you send away for a gold kit and ship off the broken items in your junk drawer? Should you sell gold at all? That depends.
The Value of Gold
Gold has risen in value over the past several years. Although its value has gone up recently, historically, its value has not outperformed the stock market. As a result, many financial advisors would tell you that gold is a poor investment, even though the price has done well recently. While gold is often used as a hedge against inflation, it may not be a very good choice as a long-term investment in a healthy economy.
Investors are looking for a safe place to park their money. The stock market is not performing well. With billions of dollars of bailout money being given out by the American government, some people question the future viability of the dollar. Many people are looking to gold, which can hold its value in the case of inflation. According to The Times Online, the demand for gold “smashed the previous record in the three months between July and September”. The increased demand for gold correlates with the increase of commercials asking for people to sell their old gold jewelry for cash.
What You Get When You Sell Gold
Many companies that send you their free “gold kit” expect you to gather up all your unwanted gold jewelry, stuff them in an envelope, and accept whatever dollar value that they choose to give you. They don’t exactly tell you how much they will pay you up front, although they do often have a “money back guarantee” where you can send back the check within 10 days of the date of the check and get your jewelry back. A few web sites do publish their prices, but the prices offered doesn’t approach the cost that investors are paying.
As of this writing, an investor looking to buy gold on the American Precious Metals Exchange would need to pay about $850 for a troy ounce. On getgoldcash.com, you can sell 10 or more ounces of pure gold for $31.86 per pennyweight (dwt.). Since a pennyweight is 1/20th of a troy ounce (ozt.), you will receive $637.20 per ozt. Rapidcashforgold is willing to pay $31.60/dwt., or $632/ozt. for that same gold. If you go to sell-gold.com, you will get the worst price at all, at $380/ozt.
It is unknown how much per ounce you will receive at some of the late-night advertising sites, but it is important to note that there have been several complaints made to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) about some of them. Cash 4 Gold, a staple on late-night television, has a C+ rating. Goldkit.com has a satisfactory rating by the BBB, but they have had 46 complaints in the last 12 months. Broken Gold, also known as sellgold.com, is not BBB accredited at all.
Should You Sell Your Cash For Gold? Where?
If you’re having trouble paying for necessities, selling your gold might be a good choice, but shop around to ensure that you get the best price. You might want to find a local buyer, like a pawn shop, to avoid loss during shipment. If you’re planning to sell gold to buy something fun, maybe keeping the gold as an investment is a better choice.
Sources:
WSJ on the Old ‘Gold as Inflation Hedge’ Saw: http://seekingalpha.com/article/111926-wsj-on-the-old-gold-as-inflation-hedge-saw?source=article_lb_articles
Better Business Bureau: http://search.bbb.org
Gifted Gold Sellers Boost Their Holiday Budgets: But Not With the Bad Guys: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gifted-gold-sellers-boost-their/story.aspx?guid={03D0F8C5-2C2B-4542-A274-D8A041FEB16D}&gclid;=CI6m4_Dg1ZcCFRwwawodjE_RDQ
American Precious Metals Exchange: http://www.apmex.com/Category/502/Gold.aspx
Times Online: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5188684.ece
Rapid Cash For Gold: http://rapidcashforgold.com/whatwepay.html
Broken Gold.com: http://www.brokengold.com
Sell-Gold.com: http://www.sell-gold.com
Get Gold Cash.com: http://www.getgoldcash.com/prices_paid.html
