I've always wanted to test these folks

[Allen in MT 101]

The Treasure Hunters Road Show http://www.treasurehuntersroadshow.tv/tv_home has been in Missoula for the past 2 weeks. I have heard about these types and have seen undercover stories on 60 minutes and dateline.

Well I was in Missoula today but forgot to bring my 39.5 gram 14kt chain. I did have my custom made 25.7 gram 14kt ring with 3 diamonds, now the 3 diamonds aren't big and probably weigh less than a gram total. Well I went to the treasure hunters road show and asked what I could get for it. They checked the diamonds and then weighed it. I was told it had a melt value of $58.10 but it was a nice ring and they could probably resale it instead of melting it so they upped the anti to $225.00, I acted like I might be interested and then declined their offer. I then stopped by Treasure Coins in Missoula and asked Bruce what he would give me if I scrapped it. I think he works somewhere around the 80% range. He told me he would pay $464.00 for it. I told him about the other place and he was dumb founded to say the least. Just goes to show you you have to know what you have before you sell it and these people have been in town for 2 weeks buying. what a rip.

Allen in MT

[ron l. 0]

allen, thanks for the goods tips and something good to know.

take care. ron

[frank c 968]

Their always a rip off, Antiques Roadshow has legitimate appraisers, but ALL of these people are looking for a score its their business and they have the knowledge over most people. Glad you didnt sell your ring for dirt Al.

[El Dorado 964]

A

The way I see this is you have 39.5 grams of 14K which (at .58) is actually 22.91 grams of .999 fine gold. Gold at 1220/OZ is $39.23/gram and at 80% that is $31.38/gram times 22.91 grams comes out to $710 Your other good guy is paying way less than 80%. Actually he is paying a little over 50%..........

NOt many scrap jewelry buyers really go very high, but your guy is higher than most!

[HighPlainsSifter 1]

Now you see that term always gets me "scrap Gold"....its like they are talking about scrap steel or scrap iron....ever see a junk yard full of scrap Gold????

All of those companies buying Gold are rip offs. It would be better to melt your own "scrap Gold" down and then sell it to the highest bidder on ebay or craigs....anything but those shysters....... :*&$*(:

[Allen in MT 101]

A

The way I see this is you have 39.5 grams of 14K which (at .58) is actually 22.91 grams of .999 fine gold. Gold at 1220/OZ is $39.23/gram and at 80% that is $31.38/gram times 22.91 grams comes out to $710 Your other good guy is paying way less than 80%. Actually he is paying a little over 50%..........

NOt many scrap jewelry buyers really go very high, but your guy is higher than most!

It was the 25.7 gram ring that he offered not the 39.5 necklace. I usually use this site for calculations.

http://www.silverrecyclers.com/Calculators/goldB_calculator.aspx

I need to get alhold of you Steve, thinking about replacing the nuggets on my ring, how do I contact you

Allen

[John Hoser Oates 1]

A n Mt-Steves quality of work is righteous John

[Goldfinger 43]

Their always a rip off, Antiques Roadshow has legitimate appraisers,

This is mostly true but they had some civil war appraisers that were really screwing the sellers.

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/northamerica/us/militaria/militaria.htm

Steve

[El Dorado 964]

Allen... pm sent

[frank c 968]

Goldfinger, wow I didnt know about the FBI sting, but like I said ALL these people are in the racket to turn over goods for a profit.

[Sean.C 1]

A n Mt-Steves quality of work is righteous John

Having seen several of Steve's pieces first hand, I can attest to the outstanding quality of his work.

[Goldfinger 43]

Goldfinger, wow I didnt know about the FBI sting, but like I said ALL these people are in the racket to turn over goods for a profit.

That's probably true but the sellers know that honest appraisers have to make a profit and that's why they do not get the appraisal estimate if and when they sell. They could probably get closer to the appraisal if they were to sell directly to the collector. These three guys that got caught were downright thieves.

Steve

[oldau 0]

I may be a newbie here but I've been around more than most.

Not so long ago I did work for Butterfields, Christies, Sothebys and many of the smaller auction houses. I got to know most of the appraisers on both sides of the pond. Most of them are crooks. A lot of them I wouldn't trust to guard my used underwear. There are a few good ones but not many. The FBI busted all the big ones but Butterfields about 10 years ago. If you want a good deal find a local dealer you can trust and stick with them. It's a lot like finding a good mechanic, when you find a good one stick with him and pay him what he's worth. Any traveling "appraiser" is going to take more than their fair share out of the deal.

[homefire 2,579]

There Shysters! Every place they go they leave a trail of Bouncing Checks and more.

They did the same thing here in Deming New Mexico.

Unpaid Bills, Bounced Checks, Low payments on Gold and More.

The Plague I say, Stay Away!

[Relichunter2 129]

The term scrap gold is used because most large gold buyers sell it to a refiner and get anywhere from 92 - 98 %return on refined gold. . So if you had a 27.5 gram 14 kt ring with 3 diamonds in it. The diamonds would be returned to you because when refining the 14 kt jewelery, the diamonds have no value to the refiner, they simple charge you a small fee to take the stones out and process the gold. So at 1200.oo per ounce divided by 27.5 gives you 43.63 dollars for the 14 kt. Multifply that with .58, drops it down to 25.30. The 25.30 is based on total gold in the ring. Multiply the 25.30 by 27.5 and total gold value in ring is 696.00 dollars. The buyer has to make a profit and remember he has to worry about the fluctuating spot price and pay income tax. So most reputable gold buyers pay in the 50% range. Now those buyers under investigation were misrepresenting themselves, and the payouts were a mere 15- 25 %. Now that's a rip off. I don't blame a business for making a profit, but when you misrepresent yoursel and say you pay more than anyone, that's a lie. So your buddy payed you around 65 % range.