Monthly Archives: December 2011

Cash for Gold Scam | False Acid Test

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Avoid getting scammed by a false gold acid test.

Cash for Gold is a big business, and getting bigger all of the time. Unfortunately , with the high price of gold, there is a huge draw for unscrupulous operators who are constantly coming up with new Cash for Gold scams. One of the current ways to scam clients is by incorrectly using an acid test on the scrap gold. Read on to see how you can avoid this scam.

How this Cash for Gold scam works.

Basically, scrap gold test acid is sold in small bottles that are marked corresponding to the karat value of the gold you want to test. If you believe you have 14kt gold, you use the 14kt acid, and so on. The acids are generally sold in test kits to test for 10kt, 14kt, 18kt and 22kt gold. If you use a higher valued acid, say 18kt acid on 14kt gold, the gold will dissolve. Lower valued acid will discolor the gold. If the acid and the gold match, there is no reaction.

In order to scam the gold seller, the buyer will use a stronger acid, either by using the wrong type or by putting stronger acid into a bottle marked with a lower value. So they will test your 14kt gold with 18kt acid. When it dissolves, they will tell you that your item is marked incorrectly or under-karated and that they will only pay the 10kt price for your scrap. This is usually accompanied by a practiced speech on the untrustworthiness of jewelry makers. An unsuspecting client will often believe that they were the victim of a scam when they bought the jewelry, not suspecting that they are in the middle of a gold buying scam.

How to avoid this Cash for Gold scam.

We sometimes find jewelry that is marked as 14kt that is a complete fake; in reality it is a copper and zinc mixture. However, it is extremely rare to find something made of a lower purity gold that is marked higher. If the jewelry maker is going to scam you, and risk prison, why would he use any gold at all? If any Cash for Gold buyer claims your gold is lower quality than what it’s marked, get a second opinion. Don’t take their word for it.

Also be aware that the acid test is an inexact science. It won’t accurately test other odd values. As an example, we recently met a lady from Great Britain, where 9kt and 15kt jewelry is common. The acid test kits don’t allow for those variations.

Bottom line: If something seems fishy, walk away.

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Buyer Beware! Avoid the hype when you sell gold.

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Don't get taken in by the hype when you sell gold

As we were driving through town today, we passed two billboards for a company that has opened three Cash for Gold locations here in Kansas City. What catches your attention is the statement that you can get “Get Up to 3X More!” when you sell your gold to them. So this begs the question: Three times more than what? Three times more than they want to pay you? Three times more than they used to pay, back when they were really fleecing people? Three times more than the scoundrel who is paying a price so low it’s criminal? There’s just no context for the statement.

This highlights one of the main problems with our industry: A tendency to try to confuse the client. Whatever you want to call it – sleight-of-hand, the old razzle-dazzle, the bait-and-switch, whatever – the purpose is to keep the mark confused and off guard, so that he walks away wondering what just happened. We consider that to be unethical, and we don’t do business that way.

When we meet with you, we want you to sell your scrap gold with confidence. That’s why we test and weigh everything in front of you. We have a gold price calculation program on our laptop that spells out how much scrap you have, the gold content of the various karat types and the exact amount and percentage of melt value we are offering. And since we start our offers at 60% and go up from there, there’s no way anyone is paying you three times more than we do.

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