Syracuse, New York (WSYR-TV) - We've all seen the commercials -- send in your old gold, and get cash in return. It may sound enticing, especially around this time of year, since we could all use some extra cash.
But here’s The Real Deal on how much you can make if you go for the gold, and whether there's a better option.
We ordered a gold kit from "Cash 4 Gold" and gathered two gold necklaces, four bracelets, a pair of earrings, two rings and two charms, ranging from 10 karat to 24 karat.
They send you the postage paid envelope, tell you to just slip your gold inside and mail it.
Though a customer says on their commercial that she got a check within 24 hours, you won't actually get a check that quickly. It was two weeks before we heard back from the company. And for everything we sent, we got a check for $112.34.
That might not sound that bad, but what we didn't tell Cash 4 Gold was that we had taken the exact same pieces to a pawn shop the week before and they were going to give us $766.74 – a $650 difference.
When we emailed the company to let them know their check would be returned, and we wanted the gold back, things got even more interesting.
They returned my email the same day, asking me how much I was expecting. When I told them I had an offer for about $750, they said they couldn't give me that, but bumped their offer up to $302.
Here's The Real Deal on how you can make some cash on your old gold:
-Get more than one offer – obviously, they vary dramatically.
-Don't expect the money overnight; unless you pay to rush it, it'll take a few weeks.
-Keep in mind most of the mail-in companies only insure the gold you send for $100.
So if you think yours is worth more than that, you have to pick up the cost of any added insurance.
The CEO of Cash4Gold tells us, he never promises the best price for your jewelry. His company is only interested in the gold itself, they don't pay for gems. He says it doesn't matter what shape the gold is in, it just matters how much you have since they melt it all down. He fully admits you may be able to get a better price elsewhere but says his company caters to those who don't want the hassle of shopping around or who are comfortable going into a pawn shop.
The price of gold moved slightly in the few weeks it took us to gather the estimates, but it actually increased from when we brought it to the pawn shop to when we mailed it in.
