I-Team: Who offers the most cash for gold?

By Leisa Zigman, I-Team Reporter

KSDK -- Do you have a few broken pieces of jewelry collecting dust in a drawer? Maybe you have a rope chain left over from the 1980s? This holiday season, a lot of people are hoping to turn unwanted old treasures into cold hard cash.

With the price of gold at an all-time high, NewsChannel 5 set out to conduct a little experiment. We wanted to know who would offer us the most cash for our gold.

NewsChannel 5 went to 10 stores in the bi-state area, visiting all types of dealers, from high end to pawn shops. First, we took our gold to Curt Parker Jewelers in Frontenac and had certified gemologist appraiser Anne Howitt tell us what we should be offered.

One item, an 18 karat gold wedding band, cost $200. However, its melt down value is between $25 and $45.

"There was a lot that went into making the wedding band. A wax cast was made, refinishing the gold, the overhead of the business. Now it's just taking the melt down value," Howitt said.

Howitt estimates the total value for our five pieces of gold ranges from $872 on the low end to $1,523 on the high end.

Why would there be a $600 difference? Howitt said a lot has to do with overhead and profit margins. That is why shopping around is so important. As we found out, it does not always pay to go to the closest store or the one with the biggest advertising budget.

NewsChannel 5 received the lowest offer at AJ&R Pawn Shop on South Grand and Easton Loan Company on St. Charles Rock Road. Both stores offered $450, well below our expert's value.

In Belleville, things started to look up. We were offered $1,250 at Blanquart Jewelers and $1,430 at CeCena's. Our estimate was even better at Lindstrom & McKenney in Town and Country. The appraiser offered us $1,500 for our pieces.

At Scotsman Coin in Creve Coeur, we were offered more than what our expert said was fair: $1,767. And the news kept getting better. Vincent's in Creve Coeur offered $1,884. Midwest Money Company on Hampton wanted to pay us $1,939.

The first business to offer us $2,000 was Metro Pawn Shop in Overland.

But the winner of our unscientific cash for gold test was Missouri Gold Buyers and Jewelry, located in a small brick store front, on South Kingshighway.

"My overhead is very, very low. So I can pay the customer high. That was the whole concept of this place," said store owner Mike Duke.

Duke offered $2,035 for the jewelry, $1,500 higher than our first offer.

His pay out is good news to customers like Ashley Reeves, who we watched sell her earrings.

"I sold them because I have the flu and I needed to buy my flu medicine," Reeves said.

Odessa Ammons recently lost her job and needed to pawn the jewelry for monthly expenses.

"I was hoping I would get enough for my bill, and I did," she said.

Duke told us about the big mistake we repeatedly made by letting appraisers take our gold out of our sight.

"Never, never let them go to the back room with your jewelry," Duke said. "I test everything right here. I do it right in front of you."

Duke, who was in the restaurant business, started this enterprise six months ago. He now has plans to open a second store.

NewsChannel 5 shot this story 13 days earlier. In that time, gold has gone up another $50 and is selling for $1,150 as of November 23.

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What I learned about selling gold (By Leisa Zigman)

--Find out if you have 10k, 14k, 18k or 24k gold before you go to sell.

--Find out what the price of gold is that day.

--Watch the scale when your items are weighed.

--Don't let your jewelry out of your sight. Make sure it's tested for purity in front of you.

--Precious stones do not make a difference. Value is based on the weight and purity of gold and not its sentimental value. Some shops may offer to buy the stones as well. You may want the buyer to pop it out so you can use it on another piece at a later time.

--The price of gold changes all the time. The value you expect now could change by the time you go into a store. Keep an eye on the market.

--Shop around. Don't accept the first offer. After all, we had a $1,500 difference from our first offer to our best offer.