VANCOUVER - As stock markets around the world continue to plummet, gold continues to gain strength. That is prompting more and more people to trade their unwanted jewelry for cash. But before you make that move, the Better Business Bureau is warning you about unscrupulous dealers and a large variation in the prices being paid.
The price of gold was hovering around the $1790 an ounce mark today after seeing its record-breaking rally pick up last week. Some traders think gold could reach $2,500 an ounce by the end of the year.
In the past year, cashforgold.ca launched in Vancouver, and already the Better Business Bureau has fielded 19 complaints about the company.
“Emotion comes out pretty quickly, so people are making decisions that are not so good,” says Lynda Pasacreta with the Better Business Bureau. “They are shipping their gold in envelopes, without really documenting what they’ve shipped off. Then, the trouble starts between the time they’ve shipped it off and maybe they’ve gotten a much smaller cheque than they thought.”
That's why the Better Business Bureau is advising people to shop around locally, so that's what Global BC did.
Global TV researcher Michael Popove took this 14-carat gold necklace to three Vancouver shops, looking for the best price.
Our first stop was Vancouver Gold on Broadway, which has the highest price guarantee on its website. They offered Michael $444.65.
Next, Global went up the road to J&M Coin and Jeweller, which has been in business for 40 years. They quoted the price of $484.50, $40 above the price quoted by Vancouver Gold.
Then, we visited Western Loans and Jewellery on Granville Street, where we got the lowest quote of all -- $342.00. But when the owner came out, he didn't want to explain his profit margin to us.
With our necklace, there was a $142 dollar difference between the highest and lowest price, so there is a lot of money to be made, but it you don't shop around, it won't be made by you.
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