Gold is exorbitant but no jackpot if you sell an alliance

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Gold shines most brilliantly when economic clouds tarnish and transform into this dull color of terror.

This summer, gold prices have skyrocketed amid fears the coronavirus pandemic will continue to cast a dark shadow on jobs and economic growth. As the dollar fell on these fears, gold prices soared.

Gold broke new records in late July and quickly surpassed $ 2,000 an ounce after a nearly two-year bull run. Gold hit a record high of around $ 2,070 an ounce on August 6.

The price of gold has since retreated slightly, but it remains incredibly high, trading at around $ 1,945 on Friday.

When the price of gold – and the economic woes – heat up, more and more consumers start to look double when they drive past signs that say, “We buy your gold. Some might even think that maybe I should unload my husband’s wedding ring.

Over the years I have written articles on “sell your gold” frenzy. Each time, I evaluated the price of my husband’s wedding ring to use as a standard measure to compare prices.

So last week I turned to my husband again and said, “I’m going to need your wedding ring.” (We’ll be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in a few months, so I wasn’t planning on really selling her ring.)

Each time, the exercise proved the same point. You don’t always get the same quote on the same day if you take the time to visit a few stores.

Another key constant: you are not going to make a lot of money by unloading a wedding ring or a few earrings that have lost their partner. Remember, you are going to get the closest thing to a “scrap” price for gold, which is nowhere near $ 1,900 or $ 2,000 an ounce. This large number applies to pure gold, and the 14 karat is 58.5% pure.

What you need to know about selling gold

In their lifetime, more people will sell a few used cars than unload gold jewelry. It is therefore essential that you take the time to understand the process to get your best price as you learn more about record gold prices.

Here are a few tips :

  • Know the current market price. Call stores for quotes. See www.goldprice.org for a guide.
  • The higher the karat, the higher the gold content. Different karats – say 14 karats and 10 karats – must be weighed separately and priced accordingly.
  • Find a trustworthy appraiser for special jewelry.
  • Ask if there is a charge for removing diamonds or stones.
  • Be careful when someone is promoting the “best price” for gold. You may still need to negotiate.
  • The Michigan Precious Metal and Gem Dealer Act requires that precious metal dealers register with the local government or local law enforcement agency where they intend to do business. Precious metals dealers must maintain a permanent recording of each transaction, and must keep all valuables received for nine calendar days. The idea is to make sure that the object is not stolen. A driver’s license or ID is required to sell gold.

How much can you get for an alliance?

In 2008, I wrote that we could have raised around $ 73 to sell my husband’s 14k gold wedding ring. Just three years later, the value of the alliance has jumped, according to one quote, to around $ 207 in 2011.

Gold was trading at around $ 925 a troy ounce in August 2008 when I wrote a column about the rush to sell all of these class rings; it jumped to around $ 1,700 an ounce when I wrote another column in August 2011.

What about last Friday when gold was around $ 1,950?

I was quoted $ 105 to sell my husband’s wedding ring at the American Jewelry and Loan Store on John R near Eight Mile Road in Hazel Park. The very kind clerk asked me how much money I needed when I looked disappointed and suggested that she could value the ring at $ 150 if I wanted to pawn it instead. She added that she thought I shouldn’t sell the ring because gold is the only asset we have and you never know when you’ll need a loan if you blow a tire.

I was quoted $ 155 at Tapper’s Diamonds and Fine Jewelry on the second level of the Somerset collection in Troy. (There I had to remove my COVID-19 protective mask on entering the store so the security camera could see my face.)

And I was quoted around $ 230 for the ring at Astrein’s Creative Jewelers on Maple in Birmingham city center when I requested a quote from one of the owners.

Why do some sell gold?

At Astrein, I met 21-year-old Sean LePine from Beverly Hills, who was selling his grandfather’s 10k gold pinky ring with diamond chips for $ 157.

“I just had it in my drawer,” LePine said.

LePine’s mother had received an email from Astrein’s about how the store was buying gold. LePine’s grandfather, who died in 2008, had collected jewelry. The family had no emotional attachment to the ring the grandfather wore in the 1990s.

The grandson, who works at family-owned Guido’s Premium Pizza franchise in Auburn Hills, thought he might spend the money on things like gas and food.

“Anyone can use a little extra cash right now,” said Gary Astrein, one of the owners of Astrein’s Creative Jewelers.

“A lot of it is broken jewelry,” Astrein said. Or tired coins, old gold chains, old gold rings.

Many times, he said, sellers are older customers who have worn something for a long time and now realize that it is okay to sell it.

“Their kids don’t want it. They’re not going to wear it.”

“We write a check on the spot,” Astrein said.

Some people sell a lot more than an old ring, like Astrein says he wrote checks for $ 4,000 or $ 5,000.

He showed me a 1962 Wayne State University class ring that he paid $ 306 for the other day. It is a 10 carat men’s ring, which is quite heavy.

He showed me what I thought was an attractive gold bracelet that a seller recently got around $ 1,000 for.

“It doesn’t attract anyone under 40,” he said, “and anyone over 40 is trying to sell it.”

A heavy gold necklace, a trendy piece of jewelry for well-dressed ’90s women, recently fetched $ 2,200 at a seller.

Following: Some people are still waiting for a stimulus check to arrive. What is the hold-up?

Following: She had a plan to pay off a $ 23,000 debt – then the pandemic hit

Gold prices fluctuate daily based on the price that gold is trading on that day. So what seems like a good deal one day could get better or worse the next.

Astrein told me on Friday that he was buying 14k gold at around $ 29 to $ 30 a gram. There are 31.1 grams in a troy ounce of gold. You would have more silver for 18k gold, less for 10k gold.

What’s the story on 8 Mile Road in Detroit?

Yet even at these higher prices, gold fever does not spread throughout the city. You will see some local TV commercials for Tapper’s Gold Exchange. You will notice a few signs when you are driving. But something looks a little different from the past as the COVID-19 recession unfolds.

Heard of someone lately hosted a “gold party” where you can visit a friend’s house to sell gold? It’s not exactly something that many want to try in a virus-afraid world of physical distancing.

American Jewelry and Loan of Detroit, where hardcore offerings on 8 Mile Road turned into reality TV, isn’t seeing a gold-selling frenzy close to what the store saw in 2011.

Instead, the stimulus checks sent out this spring and summer proved to be a lifeline at the onset of the recession and reduced the pawn trade in Detroit and across the country, said Les Gold, owner of American Jewelry and Loan, which also has stores in Pontiac. and Hazel Park.

The first round of economic stimulus payments covered a lot of bills, then some. Still, more people could end up starving for money if a second round of stimulus is not underway.

People with their stimulus money – up to $ 2,400 for a married couple and $ 500 for each eligible child – went into pawn shops to remove their televisions, jewelry and other pawn shops. And they were buying items that the store offers for sale, as retailers also see the checks spent.

Gold said stimulus checks have created the type of retail sales that we often see when it comes to tax refunds in February or March.

“It was on steroids again this time,” Gold said.

Many people, he said, generally didn’t pledge more items or try to sell their gold jewelry in the spring or early summer once the checks were in place.

“People really didn’t need the money,” Gold said.

Lately, he said, the pawn trade has picked up after much of that stimulus money was spent. If another stimulus package is not approved by Congress, Gold said, he would expect the pledge market to pick up in the coming months.

The pawn trade had edged up in March, shortly after many restaurants and other businesses were shut down in the fight against the virus, according to American Jewelry and Loan. But that was before the stimulus checks were in the hands of consumers.

“We are street economists,” concluded Gold, the cable television’s “Hardcore Pawn” star.

Even so, Gold said he didn’t expect to see many of his clients selling their precious metal. Too many low- and middle-income families sold their gold in 2011, he said, so they don’t have much jewelry to sell now.

And someone who has bought a gold ring or necklace in recent years might not want to get rid of it just yet, Gold said, because it would cost a lot more to buy another gold piece of jewelry for the replace, given the 30% increase. of the price of gold over the past year.

A man who bought a gold chain for $ 1,000 five years ago, he said, could pay $ 1,800 for that same chain.

Gold argues that it is better to pawn it. The 90 day loan rate is 3% per month, plus a storage fee of $ 3 per month. If the loan is not repaid, it does not go against your credit score because it is considered a non-recourse loan.

“Why lose this song they love?” Gold asked.

Contact Susan Tompoor: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @tompeur. To subscribe, go to freep.com/specialoffers. Rfind out more about Business and subscribe to our company newsletter.


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