So you've probably seen many of the cash for gold commercials on T.V. If you haven't, let me break down how this money making opportunity works.
1. Visit Cash4Gold.com (Or insert any of the money for gold websites here)
2. Request their free “Refiner's Pak” to be mailed to you. (Pre-paid envelope)
3. Drop in your unwanted gold, silver or platinum jewelry.
4. Head to a mailbox or post office and Mail the package – free of charge.
5. Earn easy big bucks! You'll get an estimate for the value of the melted items, and can have the cash deposited directly to your bank account or check sent to you.
Sounds easy enough right? Not quite grasshopper.
The Truth
Yes it's true that gold has gone up in value with the economy being the way it is. However most of these money for gold sites aren't really giving you the real market value of your gold or even close to it in most cases.
I've been reading countless horror stories on various sites where people sent in hundreds or thousands dollars worth of gold and received a fraction of that back. And this is assuming if they haven't allegedly lost your gold. Furthermore it's also been said that it can take weeks to hear back from these guys.
My Recommendation
Based on the countless complaints I've read about these Money for gold sites, I would avoid ALL of them like a nasty std. Sorry for the visual but I think its necessary to bring home the point.
How To Really Make Money With Gold
Try selling your unwanted gold on craigslist, ebay or a trusted jeweler in your area. You're guaranteed to get more than what these shady websites are claiming they will give you.
Warning About TV Money Opportunities
In general most of these so called easy money making opportunities on TV or Radio should be avoided. I've been in this industry for years and I know it takes way more work than these TV commercials will admit to make money at home. Just because something is on TV doesn't mean it's legitimate. So do your research!
You've been warned. We've covered money making infomercials in another article you may find interesting. Click here to read it. I also encourage you to visit our scam section by clicking here, where we've covered some other scams that you should avoid.
If you want legitimate ways of making money and don't mind putting in the work and time you might want to click on the following links:
Work At Home Companies
My Work At Home Recommendations
WorkAtHomeCareers.com
Work At Home Jobs
Good luck. By the way if you've been a victim of these cash for gold opportunities, please feel free to share your experiences below.
I just recently came across this site and I think it’s very informative.
There’s no way I’d send in something I KNOW is valuable, expecting a lot of money in return but instead get almost nothing for it.
I don’t understand why are these cash for gold guys around when you can just as easily go to any pawn shop or a jeweler. They are definitely a scam. Even Steve Wilko has gotten in on the act. The guy from Jerry Springer that has his own talk show.
I saw something on tv a while ago about one of these so called companies. It was very interesting. It showed the workers sorting and weighing the jewelry.Some may claim they aren’t the best ones to go to, but that’s just a way of covering their ass.
There are so many crooked individuals and companies these days it’s so hard to know who to trust.
I totally agree with you Ashlyn!
Thanks for chiming in.
Me and my boy were making fun about this cash4gold commercial we’ve been seeing. How many of us really have a bunch of gold just laying around the house LOL! And even if so, why the hell would anyone put their valuable jewels in a sack and mail it off to someone hoping to get money for it.
There was a news report about these guys about 2 months back. They said that you’re better off going to your local jeweler, and you’ll get more money from them rather than cash4gold. They showed us the quotes that cash4gold gave them compared to some of the local jewelry shops. All the shops offered $1000 or more. When they sent their items to cash4gold, the news team was only offered $300 for the gold they sent. Like you said, you’re probably better off selling stuff on craigslist, ebay, or better than that taking it to a jeweler. and they did mention that you shouldn’t take the 1st offer that a jeweler gives you. They had a camera follow them around to each shop. And every time they turned down the 1st offer, the jeweler offered more money.
Hey Sarah,
Welcome!
Very wise choice to “keep visiting this blog very often.” Great information! 😉
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know
what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Sarah
http://www.craigslisttool.info
@Eddy Salomon:
Hey Eddie,
Just found your site,really like it.
I wanted to post a reply about the cash for gold scam.
Since the spot price for gold is based on pure 24k gold you will not get full price for what you send in.Almost all gold jewlery,with the exception of the VERY high dollar stuff is mixed.
Why,because pure gold will not hold up to everyday wear.
The 14k white gold that one reader sent in is considered low grade.Hope you took the stones out because those will bring you more money than the metal itself.
I would like to tell people that if you are considering sending in your jewlery to check with a jewler first,he may give you alot more for it than the metals worth.Hell you may be able to get a hock shop to give you more than $7.00 for it.
Also of note;when you do send it in,you will only get about 1/3 dealers cost,either way still not enough to part with something of sentiment.
And no I don’t work for these companies.
I’m now just too skeptical to trust much of anything, but even before I got burned so many times with other various scams, I’d never ever trust sending gold through the mail to anyone to evaluate and at their discretion pay what they say is the worth of the merchandise. Too many things could go wrong even if the “opportunity” were legitimate. Misdirection of the envelope containing the gold with the package ending up in the hands of someone else (I get other people’s mail and packages delivered to my home and to my post office box almost every day). There could be loss of the package, theft between the originating point of mailing and the final destination, unfair appraisal of the gold causing a pay out of far less than the real value…there’re just too many ways for the deal to turn sour.
There was an expose of postal employees–a hidden camera sting set up during a Christmas season–showing postal workers opening packages, removing the contents, opening greeting cards, removing the money inside–an investigative news team busted a mail carrier who, instead of delivering the mail, had stuck numerous packages and envelopes in the trunk of his car.
No! I would have to have a face to face encounter. I have a lot of pieces that I will eventually take in to have appraised. The ladies here will appreciate this: How many times have you ladies lost just ONE earring and put the other one aside, broken clasps that never get fixed, bracelets that have broken so are then put aside in that same container with the other mismatches and broken pieces with the promise of “one day” getting around to either having some fixed, the ones that can be fixed, and the odd earring or other mis-matched pieces sold, but they just keep accumulating.
I have a plastic bag of just that kind of good gold jewelry, but I will not be sending these pieces in anybody’s pre-paid envelope going out of town to a complete stranger. Every time the economy gets bad and unemployment rises, the scam artists accelerate or start up their various old schemes along with the invention of new schemes.
I’m done. Good night all
I have had very little problem with any of them. When i knew i was getting laid off from my job, i took
all the scrap “silver waste ” that our machines produced, and sent some of it into them.
I began by sending 6 oz of silver to each place. Cash 4gold and dollars for gold.They both sent me money. One a check for $18 and the other in my paypal for $17.
For me it was free silver that i was getting money for. Made $200. So i didnt care what they do with it.
And i think there in lies the secret. Get money for crap you don’t care for.
Michael,
I guess in your case since it was “free” silver you were sending in, any money you got was a profit. So I can understand where you’re coming from. But for people that paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for jewelry that expect to get a decent amount of that money back when selling the jewelry, these sites are not an option. But it’s good to hear from different people with different experiences. So thanks for sharing.
Hi Eddy,
Haha! Yes I have a sense of humor times are hard now but, I don’t let that get me down.
Regards to what you have mentioned I wouldn’t even dare to judge people on their passed mistakes. Hey you live and learn I always say.
Hi Callie,
Yup I hold on to every ounce I got in gold. lol
Thanks for sharing the links every information is helpful.
Knowledge is power!
Veronica N.
Veronica,
I’m like you girl … the gold that I have I’m holding on to! lol
Besides, certain pieces of my gold that are considered “outdated” will more than likely become trendy again at some point in time. Then, I would definitely want to wear it to accessorize. You know how we women are. 🙂
With the current economic situation, scammers & opportunists are on the prowl now more than ever. We all have to be even more careful.
A few good consumer protection agencies to report scam/fraud to are:
1. http://scamxposer.com/
2. [removed]
3. http://netcheck.com/
In some cases, reporting a scam can and will assist with financial recovery.
I sold my 14k white gold wedding band and two 1/8 carat diamond white gold earrings to Cash4Gold for $7.00 total. If this doesn’t sound like something you want to do, then listen to Eddy and stay far, far away.
Hi Ellavemia,
Oh my goodness, thanks for chiming in. I can’t believe that. I don’t understand how these companies are still in business. Hopefully the more people vent, eventually there will be enough bad publicity to shut this scam
down. This is ridiculous. This stuff needs to be on some TV expose! In any event, thanks for sharing. I really appreciate it. That was very brave of you.
Eddy
Morning Eddy,
Hope all is good with you, I must say pple are so desperate that they don’t think anymore, I mean come on now I am keeping the bit of gold that I have in hand…gosh I might again express I might me desperate but, not stupid…just my opinion. LOL
Have a great day! 🙂
P.S. Don’t believe in the phony bolony folks they are out there to get your money!!!
Ok I saidt my peace haha!!
Veronica N.
Hey Veronica!
All is well with me, thanks for asking! Seems like you still have a sense humor. lol
The thing about desperation is that it just makes you lose your judgment because you’re just trying to keep your head above water. So I understand how people can fall for these things. I’m sure we’ve all done foolish things in the past. So I’m not going to judge folks that fall into this stuff. Times are hard out there.
I’m just glad we can all be here sharing advice to bring people back to reality if they happen to slip.
But thanks for sharing Veronica, it’s always welcomed and appreciated!
There was an article on the MSN Red Tape Chronicles not too long ago on those cash for gold type web ‘deals’. Seems like one of them tried to bribe a blogger to take down a critical article like this one.
I’d agree here. Sell it yourself to someone face to face. I sure as hell wouldn’t trust anything as valuable as gold to anyone I couldn’t speak to face to face.
I rest my case. Thanks for chiming in.