For Sale For sale - Gold rings

[ColtSAA]

Posting is on hold

Hi,
I am looking to sell some gold rings. I brought these to a local store that tested them for purity but made what I felt was a very poor offer so I did some research and found this forum.

The photos show the rings on a Chargemaster scale. It was calibrated right before I weighed these. This is a very high quality scale used in ammunition reloading where lack of precision can mean getting catastrophic results.

Given I am new I am happy to share both my Ebay and Gunbroker handles so you can see my ratings and reviews there. I don't know exactly what constitutes a fair price in this area so I am listing these for prices that I would feel good about. If I am too high the market will speak, or not speak as it were.
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Ring #1: This ring tested at 14k. It is white gold if that is not clear. It was purchased from a high-end store here (for me by my ex wife if that matters.).

EDITED ask values
14k . Ring weight: 10.74 grams: ~6.25 grams pure gold. I am asking 90% of melt. I will pay for shipping to CONUS via USPS priority mail. Insurance is responsibility of buyer, if desired.
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Ring #2: This ring tested at 10k. I believe it has a plastic gem in it

10k. Ring weight: 8.11 grams. ~3.38 grams pure gold. I am asking 89% of melt. I will pay for shipping to CONUS via USPS priority mail. Insurance is responsibility of buyer, if desired.
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Ring #3: This ring tested at 10k. It has a blue gem in it with some gold leaf writing on it

10k. Ring weight: 22.61 grams. ~9.43 grams pure gold. I am asking 89% of melt. I will pay for shipping to CONUS via USPS priority mail. Insurance is responsibility of buyer, if desired.
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Edited info to remove old spot price
If you want to buy something the value would be today's spot prices on google. I used karats % gold purity from the web where 10k = 41.7% and 14k = 58.3%


If you want to buy all 3 I will cover the insurance from Denver, CO to your USPS address.

Thanks.

 

[kurtak]

I am looking to sell some gold rings. I brought these to a local store that tested them for purity but made what I felt was a very poor offer

Hi ColtSAA - I am just curious as to what percent of spot the "we buy gold" store offered you for your rings

I ask because most (but not all) "we buy gold" shops want to make between 8% - 10% on the gold they buy so they (generally speaking) pay between 88% - 90% spot

That is because when they send it into the refinery at best the refinery they send it to pays them 98.5% - & that is if the batch they send to the refinery is between 50 - 100 troy ounces (actual gold "content")

I just posted about this the other day in this thread ----------

https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/karat-vs-pure-gold.34241/#post-368938

If the batch size sent to the refinery is less the 50 ozt. (actual gold content) the percent spot the refinery pays goes down & that is because refiners have a sliding scale for payout based on batch size

Here is the sliding scale most refineries pay based on the batch size they receive

These "payout rates" are based on the actual gold "content" of the batch sent in

50 ozt or more = payout 98.5% spot

25 - 49.99 ozt = 98.25% spot

10 - 24.99 ozt = 98% spot

5 - 9.99 ozt = 97.5% spot

less then 5 ozt = 96% spot plus a $35 assay fee

So as you can see "we buy gold" stores - in order to make there 8% - 10% on the gold they buy have to pay (plus/minus) 88% - 90% under spot - & - keep in mind that the 8% - 10% margin they work on is not pure profit - they have a cost to opening the doors & running that store

If I am too high the market will speak, or not speak as it were.

So - now that you have a better idea of how the buy/sell gold market works IMO what you are asking is a "bit" high

In other words - If I bought your rings at your asking price - & then refined those rings myself - my cost of refining would wipe out any profit I could make when I go to sell it to the refinery I send my gold to

Even if I just bought it & then sent it as is to the refinery I deal with - my "profit" margin would be small because I still have a cost of sending it to the refinery - & on 20 grams gold I would only get 96% spot minus $35 assay fee AND as much as price of gold MAY go up it may also go down between the time I receive it from you & then send it to my refiner

I am not saying that you can't/wont get what you are asking - just that you are not leaving a lot of room for potential buyers at your asking price

One more question - the store you took the rings to - did they test them with an XRF - or some other method

Kurt

 

[ColtSAA]

Hi ColtSAA - I am just curious as to what percent of spot the "we buy gold" store offered you for your rings



One more question - the store you took the rings to - did they test them with an XRF - or some other method

Kurt

Hi Kurt,
I appreciate your informative response. The store would not tell me the percentage as I asked up front. After testing and weighing them they offered me a dollar amount and then told me the percentage - 70% of spot. However, I politely declined, went home and crunched the numbers and the offer was a little below 70%, maybe 68% but I don't know if they have a calculation to deduct the weight of the stone in which case maybe it was about 70%.

I don't know the terms but they tested them using a bar to scratch them then use a series of reagents. I asked about a Sigma machine and they said they had one that it wasn't a good test with rings.

Thanks again for the info.

I am revising the for sale ask.

 

[ColtSAA]

Kurt,
One other question - is it possible for someone to setup an account with a refiner and skip the middle man so to speak? I have some other gold but it's more complicated, mostly pins and brooches and stuff that has colored inlay and other bits in it.

 

[kurtak]

One other question - is it possible for someone to setup an account with a refiner and skip the middle man so to speak?

Yes - but it depends on the refinery - some refineries will deal directly with the public - other refineries require that you have a business license to deal with them

I have some other gold but it's more complicated, mostly pins and brooches and stuff that has colored inlay and other bits in it.

How much other gold - pictures would be good

You should maybe put this for sale posting on hold until we know how much gold you actually have & the figure out best way to sell - just post a post saying this sale is on hold

I have to head out the door for work right now but will post a link to the refinery I send my metal to tomorrow

Kurt

 

[ColtSAA]

Thanks Kurt.

Posting is on hold.

 

[KAK]

I am sorry but I am unable to post a link to the refinery that I send my metal to today - my home Internet is not working so am posting from my phone so need to contact my Internet provider to find out what the problem is so it may take a day or two before I get back on line at home - will get back to this ASAP - Kurt

 

[nickvc]

One point Kurt left out is that most US marked jewellery will be 1/2 karat below assay as that’s what the law allows so you have to factor that in to the gold content and hence the price.

 

[TBoom27]

ColtSAA,

I see you are in Denver, I would agree, the we buy gold places here are no better than the pawn shops, 70% on a good day. One option to look at is Dave’s Gold and Silver Exchange on Broadway. He’s much better than the normal We Buy Gold places, I haven’t been there in a few years, but when I had used them, payout was around 85% of melt and very low pressure. It’s an option to check out that may be easier than shipping and refiners for a relatively small amount.

 

[ColtSAA]

Thanks for the info. What is funny is this place was very highly rated. My guess is uninformed people go in with some old junk gold jewelry, the store flashes a big cash total and the customer leaves happy. The place was pleasant but the model seems a bit predatory.

I haven't put the other pieces on the scale but they are all small , probably all together an ounce and a half total material, not adjusted for purity. I'm not in a rush for this and don't mind shipping so I'll see if there is a refiner I can work with.

I do want to own some gold. Just not odd jewelry pieces. I'd rather have some high content coins or the like.

 

[kurtak]

One point Kurt left out is that most US marked jewellery will be 1/2 karat below assay as that’s what the law allows so you have to factor that in to the gold content and hence the price.

This is correct & the refineries here in the U. S. take advantage of that - meaning that if you send in a batch stamped as 14K they are likely to claim that the batch only assayed at 13.5K - 13.75K --- then they are also going to claim a small "melt loss" - so both of those things will be deductions on top of the "under spot" payout rate

The smaller the batch size sent in the more they will take advantage of the "under karat" assay & the melt loss

Example; - the last time I sent a batch of gold to the refiner I deal with - it was under 5 ozt gold content so was a batch in their 96% below spot payout rate

But between the under karat assay & the melt loss claim the check I received was actually about for about 94.85% spot

Edit to add; - & to the best of my knowledge - I do not know of a refinery here in the U. S. that doesn't play the under karat assay & melt loss game on their payouts

Kurt

 

[kurtak]

Ok - here is a link to the refiner I send my metals to

https://dhfco.com/

I haven't put the other pieces on the scale but they are all small , probably all together an ounce and a half total material

Is that the total of just the "other gold" - or the total of the other gold plus the rings

Either way - your batch size is under 5 ozt gold content - so David H. Fell is going to hit you with a under karat assay & melt loss deduction on your batch

I do want to own some gold. Just not odd jewelry pieces. I'd rather have some high content coins or the like.

Then - if you want them to return pure gold to you instead of being paid out in cash they are going to return the gold at a premium "over" spot

In other words - lets say you go to David H fell & you want to "buy" one of their 999 gold bullion rounds or bars from them

They sell those rounds/bars for something over spot - I don't know what that is but lets say it's $100 over spot

So - if you want 999 returned - instead of being paid cash - based on the 96% payout rate - the deductions they are going to hit you with are as follows

First is their $35 assay "fee" - then they will likely claim your batch assays at a 1/2 karat under the karat marking on the items sent in - then they will claim a small melt loss then - then they will deduct another $100 (plus/minus depending on batch size) as their "over spot" premium charge on "returned" 999 gold

One option to look at is Dave’s Gold and Silver Exchange on Broadway. He’s much better than the normal We Buy Gold places, I haven’t been there in a few years, but when I had used them, payout was around 85% of melt and very low pressure.

In other words - with the small batch you have - you may be better served to check out the above option & walk out with the cash (&/or make a trade for a 999 bullion round - if they make such trades)

Edit to add; - this is likely your "least hassle" option - walk in - walk out - done

Or - open your offer to sell here again & see if you get any takers

Or - list it on Ebay - & for what it is worth you can find buyers on Ebay willing to pay spot "or more"

Kurt

 

[ColtSAA]

Thank you for the link. The 'other' gold is an additional ounce or more of material, but yes under 5oz total. 94.85% of spot beats the hell out of 70%.

Even with the assay fee and shipping the refinery is going to beat the local place. Getting a little gold nugget back sounds neat too even with the additional costs. Need to think on that.

 

[ColtSAA]

It looks like that site requires you to be a business. Edit - that's incorrect, they answered my email and got me the forms. Looks like a little paperwork and I can get the ball rolling.