gold conversion

In March of 2008 I collected all the jewelry I never wore.  Old bangle style bracelets, gifts from boyfriends long gone, earrings with no mate, necklaces that had gone out of style, and things I just didn’t like anymore.  At the time, gold was at an all time high.  About $975 an ounce.  I went to the jewelry district, 47^th Street.  And there I transformed my gold into over $4,000 in cash.  And just as quickly, I bought a few new pieces I loved then, and still love now.

Today, I meet my friend Gail on 47^th Street to convert some of her gold to cash.  Currently gold is trading at almost $1,600 an ounce. It is a sweltering hot day.  There is a jeweler I know and trust, and he will likely be the one with whom we will negotiate.  But first we decide to shop around.

We walk into a place that not only advertises, WE BUY GOLD in big capital letters, but there is a carnival-like man outside beckoning us in.

The man who helps us is young, has a strong accent from some unidentified place, and is overly solicitous.  Gail hands over her goods.  She says of one necklace, “I’m not even sure if this is real.”  He looks through his loupe and surprises us, “No; this is 10 carat.”  How nice.  He weighs everything, tests it by using an acid, and looks through his jeweler’s loupe.  His conclusion: “I vill give you $3,000.  Vetty goot price.”

Gail has designated me as spokesperson.  Her experience is more in negotiating big multi-million dollar business deals.  I’m good at the small stuff.  I say, ”Thank you, but we want to check around.  If we get a higher price, we will let you know as you are the first person we saw.”

He becomes upset.  “But I spent all this time with you.”  And then he starts to offer more.

“Okay.  I give you $3500.  I only make $8 on that but this way you become customer.  I hope.”

When that doesn’t work, he says, “OK, I give you $4,000, cash, now.”

I thank him again but say no thanks.  “Okay, what number you want?”  I tell him I truly don’t know.  “That’s the point,” I say.  “We have no idea how much this is worth.”

As we are leaving the store, he says, “I give you $6,000 plus a $1,500 store credit.”  Yes, of course.  Why not $10,000?

The experience exhausts us and we go straight to the jeweler I know.  After some discussion and negotiation he offers $4,215.  That sounds like a fair deal.  We tell him of the other offer and he says, “Go back and try it.  You’ll never get it.  It’s not worth that much.”  We believe him and leave $4,215 richer.  Oh, and that necklace we were told was 10K?  It was 24.

We end our spree at Cafe Centro, where we feast on tuna tartare, salad, sorbet and cappuccino.