Sell Gold & Silver Read the Reviews

If you are looking to sell scrap gold, silver or platinum it is essential to read the reviews of the company you have in mind to sell to, but its also important to read between the lines

It is important to realize that many gold and silver buyers use a variety of companies to collate reviews for them. we recommend valuing Google reviews above all others

Google Reviews. When a gold buying company has Google reviews you be be ceratin that not only can these reviews NOT be faked nor purchased (Google has tried and tested means for catching out review spammers) but even more importantly negative reviews can NOT be hidden. What you read is the truth

Non Google Reviews
These reviews can be manipulated by the gold buyer hosting their reviews on these non-Google sites Often negative reviews can be removed or blocked and it is well known that companies can buy fake reviews to be shown on these sites

Read more at https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jan/26/fake-reviews-plague-consumer-websites
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-43907695

Gold prices w/e 25/05/2018

This week saw a rise in the Spot Gold Price by more than 3.5% and it would have risen more is the USD had not strengthened. Silver also rose by more or less the same amount.The reason? Gold tends to rise at this time of year and just possibly the latest fall in bitcoin and crypto  may be driving speculative investors back to the safe havens of Gold and Silver 

This is not only a good time to buy Gold and Silver Bullion for investment. it also seems to be a good time to clear ourt all your unwanted scrap gold and silver jewellery. In the UK we recommend for London  HGM and the Birmingham Gold Company outside of the capital

Gold & Silver On The Rise 10/05/2018 Time to sell Scrap?

Gold, Silver Platinum and palldium all rose sharply tyesterday and today on the back of Middle East woes.
its a good time to keep an eye on the gold price and consider selling your scrap gold and silver for at least 5% more than last week
We recommend The Birmingham Gold Co -Sell Gold in Birmingham and HGM in London as two places to sell your gold to
But before you rush to sell bear this in mind that prices could rise even higher. Keep an eye on the price of oil, the value of the USD and the conflict in the Middle East

Sell Gold by Post Don't End Up Over A Barrel

If you are looking to sell gold or silver by post, then make sure you do not bet put over a barrel, even if it is a gold one!

Of course you should sort out your gold and silver into carats/purity first, weigh them and record the details before sending your precious metals off and our earlier blogs tell you how to do this. if you are unsure then this is a good gold selling guide from a reputable dealer BUT  the most impotant thing is.....make sure that the company you have sent your items to will send them back to you free of charge and without obligation if you decide not to accept their offer

Otherwise they will have you ove a barrel and you could lose hundreds of £££s always check what the returns polict is before sending your items off ...

How to sell Gold - A Guide

There are many good UK and EU gold buyers out there, with websites containing useful information on how to sell gold. This guide is a particularly good one to read. We are not saying that the Birmingham Gold Company is THE best for you, but it should be on your list of companies to consider. Remember to avoid gold buyers that do not publish their prices or who do not hava a transparent buying process

This is an excerpt from their guide...

When you want to sell Gold to a Gold Buyer  you need to follow the 4 steps here ie 

IDENTIFY - WEIGH - CALCULATE - SELL 

  

1/ Identify each carat of gold you may have and wish to sell ,

2/ Weigh each carat of gold 

3/ Calculate the price we would pay for each  carat using our gold price calculator eg total value of your 9 carat gold  and get a total  and Finally

4/ Sell your gold to us We will buy any type of gold. Remember the price for gold our calculator shows is the price you will get providing your weights and carats are correct. Remember also weight can be deducted for stones, springs, and non-silver metals etc 

For more information go to https://www.birminghamgoldcompany.co.uk/selling-gold-4-step-guide

How To Sell Gold - Some Pointers Part 2

When trying to sell gold and silver etc it is vital that you know the weight of your items and also the carat/purity

Weighing Gold and Silver
Underweighing gold and silver items has been rife in the industry in recent years, though the larger gold buying companies in the UK, such as the Birmingham Gold Company, Hatton garden Metals Pressmans etc use Trading Standards calibrated scales . What should really set alarm bells ringing is when a gold buyer doesn't weigh your items in front of you ie in plain sight but rather scurries out the back with your gold and silver in their hands. it is vital that they weigh items right in front of you.

Identifying Carat and Purity. You must sort your items out into the various carats and purities before selling them as each carat/purity attracts a different selling price. Most gold and silver items are hallmarks so that shouldn't be too difficult (check the chart above)  18 carat can be worth twice what 9 carat is worth and 22 carat even more. Invest in a loupe or eyeglass to help you identify the marks.

Some items may not be hallmarked, but it important that you see the jeweller test the putity in front of you and explain the test.

How To Sell Gold - Some Pointers Part 1

Sell Gold

When you are looking for Gold and Silver Buyers to sell your gold and jewellery to,  you want to avoid those companies that are paying too little.Here are some pointers

1/ Avoid using gold and silver companies who do not publish their buying prices/ don't have a website calculator. Ask yourself, why are they NOt publishing their prices

2/ Avoid companies who publish "up to" or "guide"  prices on their gold calculators. you want to know what the actual price paid will be NOT what they might be

3/ Avoid companies that send out gold "packs" One way or another you will be paying for these packs from the sale of your gold and silver

4/ Avoid companies that use clebrity endorsements  or that advetise heavily. Again you will be paying for this from the proceeds of your precious metals sales.

5/  Look for reviews on the company concerned and give priority to Google reviews. These cannot be bought or faked by the company concerned and neither can negative reviews be hidden.

6/ Avoid local Jewellers and antique dealers. These often offer less than scrap . That way if they can't sell your items on they can still make money scrapping them in . its always worth getting a quote first from these as a starting point though.

7/ It pays to shop around, whether via a postal gold company or a visit in person

NB Want To sell your Gold and Silver? Estimate the value yourself first

1/ The first step is to get a price for your gold or silver. Use the hallmark chart below to identify the type of gold or silver you have...

 The Hallmark chart below will help you to determine the carat of your gold  and silver when you want to sell it, Nb you may not be able to see all hallmarks & some foreign hallmarks can be unreliable so keep these to one side to ask the gold buyer of your choice

. Remember also that UK hallmarks are scientifically tested and legally enforced. Gold and silver hallmarks from some other countries are not so strict so the purity can be less than the hallmarked stamp. this is particularly true for asian gold. Establishing the gold or silver hallmark is the first step to getting the right oprice for your gold and silver. The next steps will be to weigh your items in individual carat groups and then use the gold calculator of the company you have chosen. 

2/ Then weigh your items and use the on-site calculator for all gold and silver.  

Sell Gold Reviews

You've decided to use a specific gold buyer based on their reviews BUT did you know that a lot of sell gold reviews out there are fakes.They post them themselves or pay for them  Even as bad, some review companies allow for companies to remove or hide negative reviews
In our opinion Google reviews, which cannot be taken down or altered or removed are the truest reviews out there.

We are not saying that ALL gold review companies are fakes but the next time you like the look of a company's sell gold and silver reviews make sure they are from Google Reviews.. That way there is no room for error. 

Sell Gold 2018 Prices Q1

Sell Gold  prices in the first quarter of 2018 have been pretty steady, albeit slightly lower than the last quarter of 2017.  they are certainly lower than a couple of years ago and one reason for that may be the huge speculative investments being made in the cryptocurrency market. These investors have turned their back on speculating in gold opting rather for a far more speculative gamble in the likes of bitcoin, ethereum etc. 

Beware Bullion Companies That Sell Gold and Silver

Global Consumers paying Too Much For Gold Bullion and/or not having access to purchase it  at all

Are Gold and Silver bars and coins really a good investment? Well, yes providing you buy them right. Silver bars and coins are not such a good investment due to VAT being charged...

.

Consumers don’t just sell high value precious metal items, they also buy them, not only in the form of jewellery to wear but in precious metals bars & coins to invest in. The bullion market for gold coins and bars alone is worth many billions of dollars worldwide (no actual estimate available)

There is a very high demand all over the world to buy gold silver and platinum i.e. bullion. You can go to a wide variety of bullion dealers and buy physical gold or “storage” gold in a vault at a percentage over spot i.e. around 5-10% from a reputable dealer for a 100gram bar BUT this margin increases dramatically if you buy very small bars or coins e.g. 1 gram, 5 gram and 10 gram bars and the small purchaser can pay anything up to 75% over the spot price. This means they get penalized.  A quick check of this issue by examining various bullion dealers pricing structures will confirm this problem. In their defence it could be argued that efficiencies of scale come into play BUT nowhere near to the extent of a 70% + price hike

A bigger issue however is that many millions of dollars are invested in gold bars and bullion at far above the rate that could and should be paid due to lack of education and knowledge in the gold investment market. Over-charging by reputable-looking companies is a trap to snare unwary first time gold buyers. Mail-shots, websites and radio advertisements are now selling gold to US & UK purchasers at 15-40% above the true "spot market" value, aided by reports of a gold-coin shortage. Overpricing is also very common on auction sites. These dealers need to offset selling fees while still making enough of a profit to justify their business. As a result, the customer will not find any precious metals for spot price on eBay. If the customer does its only because some dealers try to lure in members with low priced bullion, only to charge extortionate shipping fees. This is a problem worldwide and not just on the Internet. Consider that standard bullion coins such as maples, eagles, Krugerrands and sovereigns are being offered for sale, in pawnbroking and jewellers shops and also online at up to twice the bullion price. The purchaser that stands the greatest chance of losing money is the smallest of purchasers.

Even the Coin Mints offer for sale gold & silver coins, often special edition coins, that are poor investments. These can cost two to three times the value of the actual gold and represent a poor investment as the Daily Telegraph reported in the UK

“The "2015 Royal Birth Celebration Sovereign Struck on Day" coin, priced at £500, contains 7.988g of 22 carat gold. At today's price of £784 per ounce (£25.21 per gram) that would put the value of the gold in the coin at £184.66. That calculation includes reducing the value of the gold by just under 10pc to account for the fact that it is 22 carat, and not the purer 24 carat, metal. In other words the gold value of the coin is 37pc of its price. …” Source Daily Telegraph

Also many consumers throughout the world who have no access to an online or physical bullion vault. The reasons for this can be

·         Insufficient funds to meet minimum purchase requirements

·         Insufficient funds to make it worthwhile purchasing due to storage/commission costs

·         Inability to meet rigorous ID requirements

This forces customers to try and buy bullion from other sources e.g.  jewellers and pawnbrokers where they pay a heavy premium.

Fake Gold bars, coins & Scams

The problem with fake gold bars and coins is a huge world-wide issue with millions every year being lost to either the purchase of fake gold bars and coins or in one of the many fake gold buying schemes that pervade the Internet. 

There are many other types of gold scams at the moment for example

Up Front Fees

A common fraud is to ask for a large up-front fee i.e. for shipping or for customs clearance or even to personally deliver the gold.  Any gold received if at all is worth far less than the up-front amount paid.

Proofs

A lot of the larger deals will ask the buyer to send proofs, to prove ability to complete on the deal. This is normally names of buyers, proof of funds, passport copies etc. These proofs are then used to run scams in the buyer’s name, especially passports with proof of funds and other legal documents these can be used for blackmail or scams & no gold will be received,

The Flip

More detailed scams will have enough proof within them to get past the preliminary checks but will ask for a buyer to create a payment / financial instrument. Some form of bank MT103, SBLC, BG or escrowed funds. These funds are not to be paid out until completion of the deal, giving the buyer security. Unfortunately, these can be monetised or used as proof of funds to then go out and purchase Gold to sell the buyer. A rapidly growing scam. This can even be done with an MT799 which is only a swift message of proof of funds between banks but can be used to flip a deal once the scammer has proof of a willing buyer with funds.

The inheritance scam

This seems to be becoming more popular. Example: My father, my uncle died and left me 40 kilos and I just need so many dollars to release it. These are often backed up by equally corrupt lawyers or advocates in Africa. A variation on this theme is the girlfriend or boyfriend befriending the customer and then promising to come visit / marry and just needs a few thousand dollars to release gold to sell to cover their trip. Then a bit more and a bit more, etc.

Fake Gold Scams: Overpricing

One of the most common fake gold scams is committed by high-street dealers looking to take advantage of customer naivety. They rely on the fact that the customer may not have access to up to the minute market information, that the customer may not understand spot price or the value of a particular metal. This is especially true with numismatics, when new purchasers may not have a firm grasp of the market and are more likely to be taken in by exaggerations on behalf of the dealer.

To convince the customer to pay these prices they may also tell them that there is a gold shortage. This is common during times of economic distress, when the demand does increase, but never enough to cause an actual “shortage”.

A good website for information on this issue is schiffgold.com

. 

We estimate over $1 billion is lost to purchasers this way, with the aforementioned detrimental effects to personal well-being and spending power. 

Sell Gold To The Right Buyer (Link In The Chain)

Global Consumers Sell their Gold too cheaply

90% of the recycled supply of gold comes from the consumer (not industrial scrap) i.e. when the consumer sells their jewellery/scrap. We have proof that from this $50 billion industry the consumer, through overlong supply chains filled with many rogue middlemen, gets short-changed to the tune of some $33 billion taking money from the pockets of those who need it and away from the local economy, having an impact on local revenue and employment

It is very apparent to those who operate in the high-value supply chain for precious metals that the said chain is simply too long. Middle-men buy gold and precious metals from consumers and jewellery makers and sell on to more middle-men who then sell on to yet more, each taking a profit from the transaction. As a result of this inefficient chain, the original recycler i.e. the consumer accepts, or is forced to accept, a poor price for their precious metals whilst the whole recycling process is slowed down and becomes inefficient.

Consumers around the world through lack of knowledge in the murky world of the precious metals recycling e.g. for gold and silver lose billions of dollars a year. 

Inexorably linked to the problem outlined above, every year, globally, millions of £/USD are scammed from consumers selling their precious metals. Market forces and even the accessibility of information regarding the trading (or spot) price of gold etc. have failed to deter the unscrupulous trader from buying gold, silver and platinum precious metals from the consumer at far below market price It’s not just consumers that are affected by this. Even the middlemen who buy from the consumer and sell on to other middlemen often receive prices far below spot price and it all gives the Industry a bad name

Examples of middlemen include jewelers, pawnbrokers, cash for gold pop-up shops, canvassers postal gold company’s, antique dealers, etc. and we have heard regularly of prices as low as 30% of the spot market price for gold, being offered to the consumer. For comparison the National gold-recycling/processing  companies out there for example Birmingham Gold Company or Hatton Garden Metals (tho they seem to retail the scrap gold they have bought) amongst several genuine businesses in the industry pay 94-6% of the spot price i.e. market price. So the thing to do is to cut out the middlemen.

This is an unacceptable situation. Consumers may have an urgent need for funds or may even be in financial straits. Of course, while market forces and the Internet mean that consumers should be able to shop around for better prices when they come to sell their gold or silver, often the choice in their local area is so limited that 30-50% of the spot or market price for gold is all they can realize.

To make matters worse within this corrupt chain there are rogues and cheats that will under-weigh gold items thus affecting value, or even undervalue the asset’s purity

This unfair system not only means consumers get less for their gold, they have less to spend and put back into their local economies. This can make a major difference to the success or otherwise certainly of a small local economy as gold and silver and platinum are basically as good as money. Shortly we will reveal that $billions of USD are lost in this way

More importantly many people only sell their valuables as a last resort and it is unethical and immoral to pay a pittance or a low percentage of the spot market value of their precious metals It happens even in countries like the USA and the difference in prices offered is striking (see fig 7 below)

NB It is important to note that some of the evidence below i.e. found in the public domain dates back over the past five years and there has been a marked decline in consumers posting their poor gold selling experiences online BUT to conclude that this means a fairer system would be incorrect. The slight decline in gold prices from the recent high in 2012 has simply meant that poor selling experiences are no longer newsworthy and have simply become the norm. Added to this the fact that there is little policing or regulation of gold-buying.  Complainants have realized over the past few years that there is little they can do to recover undersold assets. Whilst few people bother to complain online about these scams anymore that does not mean to say they no longer happen. They do… Gold scams are as old as the hills.

Never Sell Gold to a Gold Buyer that Doesn't Publish Transparent Prices

You want to get the best price when you sell Gold or silver, right? In that case always avoid any gold buying company that doesn't produce a gold price per gram, on their website. The above gold  and silver calculator belongs to The Birmingham Gold Company but there are other gold and silver buying companies out there who also offer a transparent gold price on their website

What we like about the above calculator is that it states very clearly on their website that the price shown on the calculator is the price actually that they pay. Some other companies offer an "up to" or "guide" price on their gold and silver calculators. That is not acceptable . It's just too vague. If you see a calculator that says "up to" or "guide price" then avoid using that company.