Looking for a gold buyer/refiner in the UK

[d777]

Hello all, I am in the process of settting up an online (cash for) gold buying business in the UK. I am an expert in marketing/ecommerce and know how to get traffic, clients and build a brand, it will mainly be online where people post in the gold in pre paid envelopes etc, with a few different USPs to others on the market. I was going to use a 'refiner' (they weren't really a refiner tbf they would sell it on to a refiner) who would separate, test and sort the gold, film the process and pay us same day - but I am not sure they can do what we require afterall and it needs to be a trsutworthy company who are fast and have the infrastructure to handle volume. I was able to have the customers parcels sent directly to them and they would do the above, but I would also be able to keep back some resellable pieces, so it needs to be a bespoke/personable process rather than dealing with a large refiner like Pressmans etc who can cannot do the bespokeness of what we require. I have toyed with doing this part ourselves, testing, sorting, weighing, collating and then selling in bulk to a large refiner but it would be quote a process and require xrf gun, insurance etc and would also be cash flow intensive as we would have to pay out the customer same day. I am open to suggestions on how I go about doing this, either using someone as mentioned (who was paying 97-98%) or doing it ourselves if there is an easier way to do this, with volume.

Happy to hear thoughts and would appreciate any advice.

 

[nickvc]

I fear your search will be in vain , to sort ,test and pick out saleable items from each parcel and pay individual lots comes at some cost so I’d have parcels sent to you so you do that part.
I would suggest setting up a melting room to be able to ship known assayed bars, instead of an xrf gun a file and testing acids would be a lot cheaper to start , doing this will see a much better return and quote a 3 day return to customers to allow for the weekend.
What you are asking is for someone to do all the work for a small return while you just sit back with no expenses and little financial risk with a guaranteed percentage in your pocket, now that to me seems a one sided transaction and I wouldn’t do it.
I know you are going to have costs for marketing , postage and premises but this is a business that’s highly cash hungry so if your pockets are a little short of the necessary investment or the banks are been hesitant then think of another business or start small on your own in an office with scales , acids and a file and build from there .

 

[d777]

Good points. I have toyed with the idea of oing it myself but was concerned about insurance/timings to pay customer etc - but I can get it funded somehwat and could sort, weigh, test and then pay customer whilst not waiting for the cash from a refiner.

 

[4metals]

I was thinking we hashed this out rather thoroughly on this thread but in terms of doing this with the turn around you desire and the ease of testing you need, the only option involves an XRF device. Everyone you would consider the competition in business has realized this already.

 

[Platz]

Im sure someone would do it for a big enough piece of the pie; 97-98% sounds good for mixed scrap tbh

 

[4metals]

Im sure someone would do it for a big enough piece of the pie; 97-98% sounds good for mixed scrap tbh

2 1/2% gross profit. And paying that out for someone bringing in 2 rings and a 3 gram chain. Surely you jest!