Traveling Gold Buyers: Can You Do Better?
You’ve seen the TV and print ads for months now: a traveling cash-for-gold buying company coming to Bend nearly every other weekend.
Secured Gold Buyers managers say that’s because in this economy, there’s still a demand of customers here looking to make a quick buck.
Go through your old jewelry box and you’ll probably find a lot of outdated, tangled or unwanted items.
At Mountain High Coin in southeast Bend, they showed us some ’70s-style, plain and possibly fake-looking gold-colored earrings.
But put them on the gold scale, and owner Dave McGrew says, “So they’re 8.2 grams of 14-karat gold. These are worth about $165.”
And hearing something like that is unbelievably good news to thousands of folks in this economy who need money fast.
You’ve no doubt seen the commercials and full-page print ads that have been running for months for traveling gold-buying events that promise instant cash.
McGrew says a lot of TV shows like “Pawn Stars”, “American Pickers” and “Antiques Roadshow” are giving people hope that they own hidden treasures.
“The attraction is, a lot of people go there to see what their stuff is worth,” says McGrew.
Secured Gold Buyers, who’s at the Bend Riverhouse again this weekend, is the second-largest gold refining company in the U.S..
They buy your stuff and melt it down.
And with gold at $1,600 an ounce, it’s a money-maker.
For security reasons, they would only talk to us off camera, but said they’re very competitive with the price they’ll pay you, matching or beating a competitor’s quote.
We met up with Nicole Oliver, who was leaving the gold-buying road show.
“I brought a bunch of junky jewelry that boyfriends gave me in high school,” she told us. “I sold 10 small things, probably 10, and I made $250.”
While these traveling conventions are totally legitimate, McGrew of Mountain High Coin says if you don’t do your homework, you could be out a lot of money.
“They’re typically 30-40 percent cheaper than what we pay,” he said. “And it’s simple economics of, they have a lot more overhead.”
Most jewelry stores now buy gold and silver, so McGrew says get a quote from the road show, then from several places in town, including pawn shops, and compare.
When we told Nicole Oliver that, she admitted, “If I had been selling something of real worth, really nice jewelry or something, I would have taken it somewhere else.
“But this was junk — real junk.”
One more tip: If you have diamonds or gems, you’re better off selling to a real jewelry store and not these traveling buyers, who are just interested in the meltable gold or silver.
Coming in May, watch for a more in-depth story on NewsChannel 21 about this trend of getting cash for your metals.
