Gold and precious metals have always been sought after for security, luxury, investment and stability. However, one of the functions of gold is to also provide value. In that regard, when it’s time to sell gold and similar, folks won’t find a shortage of demand and buyers. That said, not everyone is the best party to be working with.
Every month a story shows up about how someone was cheated out of a fair price or ended up getting involved with unscrupulous characters with criminal interests. A lot of these mistakes come from the fact that the gold market is full of players who are not interested in being fair and transparent in their business approach, and there are lots of folks who occasionally sell gold without a good understanding of how to find the best gold buyer in Auckland versus just any buyer available.
With the instability going on this year due to pandemic concerns, government problems overseas, and lots of disruption in economies, precious metals have become even more popular as a hedge against currency weaknesses and inflation. As a result, there’s a lot of demand for gold and silver now, in some cases more than before.
That said, there are also lots of characters who are looking to dupe people out of their holdings as well, and many who get caught are folks who have been in finance investing for a long time, so nobody is immune. We provide below five key factors you should look for with any precious metal resale buyer before working with them with your gold or silver. These include:
- Trust
- Authority
- Reviews
- Location
- Prices
Trust
A key element in any financial transaction dating back centuries has always been trust. The parties involved have to believe, accept, and want each other to cooperate as expected and can be relied on. While it’s a simple enough thing to hope for, trust can be very challenging to find in the gold market at times, especially for individuals with occasional sales.
In fact, just finding a trustworthy buyer can seem like a lot of work. As noted earlier, there are lots of characters who are willing to buy precious metals and related products like jewellery, but that doesn’t mean you want to work with them. Trust is a bond that has to be developed between you and a buyer who deserves your attention. When starting out, there are some key signals to look for that improve that likelihood:
- a solid business reputation
- a competitive offering versus others in the market
- and a well-established business operation
A reputation is built up over time. This is one of the key evaluation factors of a good or bad business that can’t be directly controlled by the company. It comes from how the business treats its customers again and again. And with today’s Internet commentary, reputation can grow or falter much faster as well. So, it’s in a gold buyer’s interest to operate fairly and reliably with any customers. All it takes is one bad story to go viral, and the business could find itself spending years doing damage control trying to recover lost future business.
You can find out a buyer’s reputation both through their references, former customers will speak about them, or through independent commentary. With a bit of sleuthing and research, a good picture will emerge about a buyer’s reputation pretty quick, giving you enough to make an evaluation of whether to engage further. At Gold Smart, we take our reputation very seriously with every account, which is why we see a lot of return customers as well as new ones by reference. Many of our customers have shared extensive thoughts about their positive experiences with Gold Smart, which you can read on our website as well.
A competitive position happens when a buyer is not pricing resale gold at too low a level nor too high as making its business crash. Too low a level means the business is essentially trying to cheat the customer. Too high, and the buyer is practically being a charity. A fair price point can be compared to the rest of the market and positions at about the lower-middle to the middle of the range for a gold value offering. Businesses that try to remain competitive are still looking to make a profit to stay in business, but they are not trying to cheat their customers. That’s a great signal for someone to consider more seriously.
A well-established business operation is the third reputation flag to look for. Gold buyers who have been in business for a long time with an established license and location do so because they maintain professional standards of operations. If they were busy cheating people, they would be shut down or end up losing a license to operate eventually. A long-standing business like Gold Smart achieves this status by consistently serving its Auckland community, which is returned with more customer demand in turn. Gold Smart is so proud of its level of service quality, we guarantee our delivery and customer satisfaction.
Authority
The mark of a professional gold buyer is in their ability to be recognized as an authority on the market, not just for their business, but as an objective resource as well. This doesn’t happen overnight. A sense of authority is provided to a gold buyer when that entity has consistently provided the community a go-to resources for fair pricing and purchase offers for resale gold. Authority is developed based on reputation, discussed above, and is very much hinged to a gold buyer’s track record dealing with customers.
The other aspect of authority comes from experience. Buyers who make a lot of mistakes or communicate complete falsehoods end up being exposed and found out pretty quickly, much of which comes from having no idea what they are doing. Experienced buyers have worked in the gold resale markets for years, they have a very solid understanding of all the variations of gold from consumers and how to price those categories, and they are relied upon for expert opinion as well.
Any pure gold buyer who has just opened up a shop for the first time in the Auckland gold market or anywhere else can never be taken seriously as an authority on the gold market locally or elsewhere. This is an aspect of business where the gold buyer in question has to earn their stripes over time.
Gold Smart has spent many years working to become one of Auckland’s top authorities in gold and gold resale. Both operating as a well-established business with a long-standing history of serving customers far and wide as well as a long track record of correctly evaluating gold lots, Gold Smart has been repeatedly looked to for market expertise, opinion, and research on related economic trends. In this regard, Gold Smart stands out as one of the most established gold buyers to work within Auckland in any comparison.
Reviews
In the hyper-commentary of the modern Internet, business reviews have now become a very powerful tool for finding out about how a business and gold buyer works with its customers on a regular basis. After all, while marketing and business reports can provide a general perspective, personal reviews posted on social media really appeal far more to individual customers who find similarities with the experiences customers before them have had.
When it comes to resale gold, lots of folks have experience needing to liquidate old jewellery, estate gold, old coins, and similar. These aren’t things that one can just distribute and let go of at a garage sale or with private parties on a regular basis. Working with a gold buyer like Gold Smart many customers have found that having a reliable buyer that can be trusted and provides a professional experience with every visit makes the entire liquidation process far more enjoyable and problem-free.
So Gold Smart makes a point to really take care of its folks, which in turn comes back in the form of positive reviews online. Anyone looking for a reliable Auckland gold buyer to work with for the first time should absolutely take into consideration reviews and how they can compare to a personal situation. Meet with us in person too! There’s nothing more satisfying than to work face-to-face on a successful sale.
Location
Not every gold bullion buyer can work with the entirety of New Zealand or their market. Some just try to keep their services limited to a particular area or those channels that require very little investment to achieve a sale with. A professional gold and silver buyer will be able to address all Kiwi customers regardless of location through multiple channels of services.
Gold Smart, for example, works with customers both in-person in Auckland as well as online. The same level of professionalism, service quality, information, transparency, and pricing are provided. Because of this fact, even working with Gold Smart online can be extremely safe and convenient regardless of whether the seller is in the farthest southern tip of the country or right in the middle of downtown.
Because Gold Smart also functions as a professional silver buyer, the convenience of being able to deal with both unwanted gold jewellery, gold coin offerings, and silverware can all be combined into one business operation. Not every buyer available in New Zealand offers the same expansive approach to buying resale gold and silver. Many just want to limit their interests to bullion coins and similar versus the far more plentiful form of personal gold and silver in non-currency form.
As a result, Gold Smart’s downtown Auckland location, as well as its online platform, really make Gold Smart one of the best buyers to work with going forward in 2020.
Prices
The first thing folks usually learn about the resale of gold, silver, and other precious metals is that the value paid starts with reference to the weight and purity of the metal being sold, and this is guided by international market prices. Oftentimes rated in pure ounces, or Troy ounces, the market price becomes the general barometer from which gold and silver pricing is then established. However, buyers are not locked into the market price for a Troy ounce as their final figure to an individual seller, which is something consumers often get frustrated with.
In any market, a business buyer of gold or silver looks to obtain the metal at a lower price than the market so it can then sell the metal in bulk to make a profit. That’s what keeps a business operating and pay its bills. So, it’s simply not reasonable for a customer to expect to be paid full market price value for a package of resale gold on the spot. What is reasonable, however, is to expect that the buyer gives a fair value for the resale lot and doesn’t try to shortchange the customer.
Pricing happens in two forms: standard sovereign values and then testing. Sovereign value is what is attributed to well-known standardized gold such as those government coins to sell. These coins, or sovereigns, are produced and manufactured with a government guarantee of weight and purity, so the contents are well-known. They tend to run the closest to the market value for a Troy ounce, assuming the coin is the same measurement. If it is a portion, like a half-ounce, the price is adjusted down accordingly by weight and stamp. Pricing is then marked at what a buyer needs for margin of profit for later resale of the same coin to someone else.
Example of pricing variation starting points can include:
- British Sovereigns – Manufactured with 22 karats, these coins weigh in at 7.3 grams of gold after 1817. Because of these facts confirmed with testing, they will value significantly lower than the spot market price for gold, which assumes 1 ounce of 24 karat gold and weighs 31.1 grams. That’s a huge difference between the two forms of gold.
- South African Krugerrands – Very popular from 1970 to the 1990s, these coins are far closer to the gold spot price because they were manufactured to include 1 troy ounce of gold. However, they are 22 karat gold quality, being 91% of purity. So, there is some slight variation in pricing still even with a coin so close to the market ideal.
- The American Gold Buffalo – Produced by the U.S. Mint starting in 2006, these coins are in fact 24 karat gold purity (99.9%) and come in 1 troy ounce weight forms ringing in at 31.1 grams of gold. These coins are as close to the spot market value as a sovereign can get.
Then there is the impact of collectibility where condition and rarity matter a lot. A man finds an Australian gold half-sovereign in the dirt out in the wild minted in 1865. A perfect condition version would be worth $10,000 plus the bullion value, but being exposed and beat up the found coin is more likely worth $500 to $1,000.
And again, all of the above is before the buyer needs to adjust for business margins.
For other gold that is not certified by government issues, testing is necessary to confirm the purity of the gold involved and how much comes with the lot. Clearly, gold that is a lower purity will be worth less than that with higher purity. So, a 24-karat necklace will be worth more in pricing than the same necklace made from 14-karat gold instead. Gold Smart utilizes advanced testing tools and methods on all gold resale pieces, confirm the gold quality as well as the most competitive value for resale.
In both processes customers are treated fairly, professionally, and with no pressure. If one decides not to sell at that point, there is no issue. Gold Smart staff know very well that gold and silver resale transactions are oftentimes very personal with attached memories behind them. And for those who need transaction support for distance, Gold Smart has secure courier service resources available, ensuring a seller’s gold and silver are transported safely to trained staff and returned accordingly as well without issue.
We have lots of resources online to help new sellers with understanding how to liquidate personal gold, silver, and similar precious metal items with our Auckland buying services. Check out our Gold Smart website for in-depth information and guides that can save you time and answer questions you might before getting started.