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Feb 6, 2008 11:00 pm US/Eastern
The Gold Rush Is On
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
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An ounce of gold for February 2008 delivery climbed as high as $879.40 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (File)
AP
Old gold chains, tangled trinkets, junk jewelry. It's doing you no good this way, so why not turn it into money!
On Jewelers' Row, business is booming. Jeweler Rob Weiner of Robert Lance Jewelers has been handing out cash to customers selling their jewelry.
"I've been like Santa Claus. This has been Christmas every day of the year," Weiner said.
This is the second time Jeanne Fischer is selling scrap gold, and the second time she's more than happy with what she's gotten in return.
"Another $800! So it's a lucky day!" Fischer said.
With a weak economy driving gold prices to an all-time high, experts say now is the time to cash in. But if you want to get the most green for your gold, you'll need to shop around.
In one day, CBS 3 took a hidden camera to ten stores that buy gold in South Jersey and Philadelphia. We took the same gold pieces to each and got nearly ten different offers, from $100 to $260.
On Jewelers' Row we got the widest range. FH GoldBuyers offered us double what the South Jersey jewelers offered, a whopping $260. But on the same street, another jeweler offered the lowest price, just $100.
When we went back and asked why, we got a very honest answer: "I try to buy it as cheap as I can. I try to sell it as much as I can. If I can't buy it at the price that I want, then I don't want to buy it," said Marvin Castle of Nathan Postiloff Inc.
It's his right to offer whatever price he wants, but it may be in your best interest to turn down that offer and go next door. That's what we did. But how does the jeweler who offered us $260 explain why he's willing to pay so much for our junk?
"We try to pay ninety-six percent of what the market is, so that's why a lot of people don't pay nearly that much," said Fidel Hernandez of FH GoldBuyers.
So just because you may now be in the business of selling gold instead of buying it, remember you're still the customer, so shop your gold around before you trade it for green.
RELATED LINKS:
Daily gold prices
Pennsylvania Attorney General on buying and selling gold.
FTC on buying gold
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