Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Three Biggest Mistakes People Make When Selling Gold Jewelry
I have been studying this market for several years, and my experience has been that people who sell gold jewelry for quick cash get ripped off over 90% of the time! They are usually in situations where they have to have the money so badly that they are more concerned about what's going to happen if they don't get their hands on some cash than they are about the fact that if they had taken a little time to research the market, they could have come out winners, like those other 10%!
The first big mistake people make in selling gold jewelry is that they take the first offer someone gives them. The first time a jewelry store or pawn shop opens their cash drawer and pulls out some cash, they are willing to take it, walk out, and count it later. Not good business. Moreover, it should be noted that pawn shops are not the only ones who rip people off- even jewelers who are supposed to be well-respected seem to evaluate the wit of the seller rather than the weight and purity of their scrap gold. These dealers will usually lead with questions like, "Well, what'd you think it's worth?" or "How much were you hoping to get for it?" An honest dealer would tell you up front what he pays, before he even sees the material. A person could save a lot of time by just calling around and asking store owners what they pay. If the answer is "Well, you'll just have to bring it in so we can take a look at it..." then you should look somewhere else.
The second mistake people make when selling gold is that they just don't do the due diligence when getting ready to sell it. They should go read some FAQ's about how gold is evaluated so they have a rough estimate of what their items are worth to begin with. Several sites like the link above will tell you EXACTLY how to evaluate your items, and you can usually get a pretty good idea by following the simple steps. This is really not hard, but it is almost always skipped by someone who needs money badly.
And the third mistake people make when they decide to sell gold jewelry or gold coins is that they either wait 'till the last minute, when they absolutely have to have the money, or they never even consider how fast they can get their money if they use an online broker such as Augustus Gold and Silver. Augustus can receive your package within 3 business days, process it within 24hrs, and have your payment on the way by the 4th or 5th day from the time you drop it off at FedEx with their pre-paid Express shipping service. Payments are issued via PayPal, Direct Deposit, or a mailed check.
The jury has reached it's verdict... don't be guilty of making these same mistakes. Check around, calculate the values, and compare Augustus Gold. Call now 866-531-4440, or visit their website at www.AugustusGold.com.
The first big mistake people make in selling gold jewelry is that they take the first offer someone gives them. The first time a jewelry store or pawn shop opens their cash drawer and pulls out some cash, they are willing to take it, walk out, and count it later. Not good business. Moreover, it should be noted that pawn shops are not the only ones who rip people off- even jewelers who are supposed to be well-respected seem to evaluate the wit of the seller rather than the weight and purity of their scrap gold. These dealers will usually lead with questions like, "Well, what'd you think it's worth?" or "How much were you hoping to get for it?" An honest dealer would tell you up front what he pays, before he even sees the material. A person could save a lot of time by just calling around and asking store owners what they pay. If the answer is "Well, you'll just have to bring it in so we can take a look at it..." then you should look somewhere else.
The second mistake people make when selling gold is that they just don't do the due diligence when getting ready to sell it. They should go read some FAQ's about how gold is evaluated so they have a rough estimate of what their items are worth to begin with. Several sites like the link above will tell you EXACTLY how to evaluate your items, and you can usually get a pretty good idea by following the simple steps. This is really not hard, but it is almost always skipped by someone who needs money badly.
And the third mistake people make when they decide to sell gold jewelry or gold coins is that they either wait 'till the last minute, when they absolutely have to have the money, or they never even consider how fast they can get their money if they use an online broker such as Augustus Gold and Silver. Augustus can receive your package within 3 business days, process it within 24hrs, and have your payment on the way by the 4th or 5th day from the time you drop it off at FedEx with their pre-paid Express shipping service. Payments are issued via PayPal, Direct Deposit, or a mailed check.
The jury has reached it's verdict... don't be guilty of making these same mistakes. Check around, calculate the values, and compare Augustus Gold. Call now 866-531-4440, or visit their website at www.AugustusGold.com.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Christmas Debt Blues? Sell Gold to get Those Debts Paid Now!
The average household in America spent $465 on Christmas presents in 2009. This wouldn't be nearly as alarming if it weren't for the fact that on average, that same household already had over $8,000 in short-term debt, such as credit cards and other revolving accounts. Most of these households feel pretty confident that they have their debt under control, because they are able to pay their bills and still make the monthly payments on their credit cards... But what they don't realize is that the flatscreen TV they bought at Best Buy a year ago for $1800 on a Gold store credit account still has a balance of $1720, and they've already paid $480 on the account! It's highway robbery, but it's so pervasive that almost everyone in the US has at least one account like this.
So what's the solution? Many financial analysts advocate taking a second mortgage or a line of credit such as a HELOC. But those kinds of solutions beget the same problems that you had to begin with. The fact is, sooner or later this is going to be uncomfortable, and the sooner you start to tackle it, the less uncomfortable it will be in the long run. Dave Ramsey advocates many of the things that will be mentioned here, so this is not typical crackpot advice.
The first thing Dave says you should do is evaluate your income and your bills. If you don't make enough to pay your monthly bills with the money you are currently making, you're in what he calls an 'income crisis.' In some cases this would mean you should get a second job. Next, you should go down your list of creditors and call them one by one to ask them for mercy... ask them to lower your interest rate because you've been such a good customer for so long, and you've got other credit companies offering you lower rates. Say you'd hate to have to cut their card up into itsy bitsy pieces, but you can do that if they won't play ball. Once you get that done, you start by paying off the smallest balances first. Pay the minimums on the others, but pay all you can on the smallest ones, and pay out the total of the same amount each month. This way you can snowball the payments into the larger accounts as they get paid off.
One of the most significant developments in this process was actually highlighted by Ramsey himself, when last year he publicly endorsed companies that Buy Gold Online. His reasoning makes perfect sense because getting a second job is not practical for many people, but having hardly-worn Scrap Gold Jewelry around is even less practical when it represents so much stored value today. Consider this: if you make $10/hr at your job and work 40hrs a week, after taxes you are bringing home about $270/week. If you sold just one ounce of 14k gold jewelry, you could basically take a week off from work! ...Or in this case, it's a week's pay you could put toward those credit card bills!!!
So what's the solution? Many financial analysts advocate taking a second mortgage or a line of credit such as a HELOC. But those kinds of solutions beget the same problems that you had to begin with. The fact is, sooner or later this is going to be uncomfortable, and the sooner you start to tackle it, the less uncomfortable it will be in the long run. Dave Ramsey advocates many of the things that will be mentioned here, so this is not typical crackpot advice.
The first thing Dave says you should do is evaluate your income and your bills. If you don't make enough to pay your monthly bills with the money you are currently making, you're in what he calls an 'income crisis.' In some cases this would mean you should get a second job. Next, you should go down your list of creditors and call them one by one to ask them for mercy... ask them to lower your interest rate because you've been such a good customer for so long, and you've got other credit companies offering you lower rates. Say you'd hate to have to cut their card up into itsy bitsy pieces, but you can do that if they won't play ball. Once you get that done, you start by paying off the smallest balances first. Pay the minimums on the others, but pay all you can on the smallest ones, and pay out the total of the same amount each month. This way you can snowball the payments into the larger accounts as they get paid off.
One of the most significant developments in this process was actually highlighted by Ramsey himself, when last year he publicly endorsed companies that Buy Gold Online. His reasoning makes perfect sense because getting a second job is not practical for many people, but having hardly-worn Scrap Gold Jewelry around is even less practical when it represents so much stored value today. Consider this: if you make $10/hr at your job and work 40hrs a week, after taxes you are bringing home about $270/week. If you sold just one ounce of 14k gold jewelry, you could basically take a week off from work! ...Or in this case, it's a week's pay you could put toward those credit card bills!!!
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