Trading In Your Gold For Cold Hard Cash Can Get Confusing
Posted: Tuesday, August 16, 2011
by Gerry Charbonneau
http://nibblednews.typepad.com
"I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok." --- Shaquille O'Neal (humorous quotes)
The price of gold has been skyrocketing almost daily soaring high into the uncertain financial stratophere. Television commercials constantly beg us to mail in our unwanted gold items to them in exchange for instant cash.
Well-known money lending outlets as well as gold exchange kiosks in many malls constantly bombard us with their own gold exchange mantras. Is the gold exchange process as easy and as painless as the ads suggest or is there more that the general public should be aware of before entering the gold exchange transaction?
I recently visited five individual outlets of national money lending , payday loan companies trying to separate the advertising hype from the reality of doing business with them. The site locations and the people running the outlet determined the ease or the overall difficulty with which any transacting could be accomplished.
It was mandatory that a potential customer be a registered member with the lending company. I told them I was not a member of their company but was merely seeking information about the process. That being said I entered the sites and inquired about their gold exchange policies, practices and overall waiting times.
The outlets I visited were staffed by young female customer service representatives (C.S.R.S). The women in four of the money stores were under 25 years of age. In one store the woman was closer to 40 years of age. She exhibited the more experienced and reserved attitude towards me and my inquiries.
They all appeared to be competent at performing their jobs. All were friendly and polite. A potential customer was immediately welcomed at the door. A warm, friendly smile greeted you at the service desk and good eye contact made you feel important as a potential client.
I asked them what I needed to do to exchange my gold for cash. I received brochures, verbal explanations and pamphlets explaining the process to me. It was a virtual smorgasbord of information for me to digest.
All but one outlet told me that the evaluation process would take a few hours to process. The CSR would have to evaluate the items brought in , assess their overall exchange value and then present me with a dollar amount based on their appraisals. This sounded reasonable to me and fell in line with the information extolled by the television commercials.
The older female C.S.R. informed me point blank that I would need the original receipts for any and all gold items I brought in for appraisal. I told her that many people want to exchange gold items for which they have no receipts. Items such as gold family heirlooms, a grandmother's wedding ring or other such items might not have the proper paper work of authenticity.
When I finished relaying this fact of life to her she told me matter of factly that at her store the no receipt - no sale policy was in effect. She added that even registered members were not exempt from this rule. To her this policy was a hard and fast rule of doing business.
The other stores I visited did not present such a tough as nails policy towards customers who brought in their gold for sale and exchange. They did not know they had to enforce such a policy. Their more flexible policy might entice more clients to their outlet than the other tough line policy store would.
If you are going to exchange your unwanted gold items for cash it is best if you shop around, make some telephone calls to a number of these outlets and let the overall personality of the onsite C.S.R. guide you and direct your eventual course of action.
Try to realize that the advertising hype may be radically different from the type of reception you will receive at these gold exchange outlets. Many enticing late night commercials seem to radically pale in the light of day when a person actually visits these stores and discovers that the hype and reality are worlds apart.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I would not sell off my gold or silver. With the price of gold and silver rising and the dollar steadily dropping, I would keep my precious metals for bartering.
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