The Great Gold Rush of Today ?

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The Great Gold Rush of Today ? - 11/14/2009 3:20:08 PM

Aneirin

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From: Tamaris
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Given these financial times, we it seems are being plagued with the Cash for Gold advertisements, it seems everywhere. Big flashy advertisements suggesting people trade in their unwanted, mismatched or broken jewellery, offering what appeals to many, big cash in return. Now, personally I don't trust these outfits and would not use them, as I can see many opportunities for fraud there within, as it is not only the metal that is valuable, but gems if they are included, nothing is said about them and it is all too easy to replace stones with other stones, a simple claw setting, it takes seconds if people want their jewellery back before the time limit.

Not only have we got the mail order thing, but more shops are springing up in the high street, offering the same, and now they have moved onto mobile phones and electronic equipment, all of it wanted to extract the gold found on terminations and electrical contacts.

So, seeing as the modern day gold rush is happening, could it be said that prior to these desperate for some financial times, we were too wasteful in our resources, could , the gold rush be a sign that we are now going to discover the real financial cost of all those throw away electronics and learn garbage is not necessarily garbage, has the recession woken us up to the real cost of consumerism ?

( I just got to work out now how to effectively rescue the gold of the things I don't throw away, not for the cash, but because I need to use it in my metalwork )

< Message edited by Aneirin -- 11/14/2009 3:24:33 PM >

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RE: The Great Gold Rush of Today ? - 11/14/2009 3:25:43 PM

RCdc

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I don't believe so.
People sell their mobiles because they can, which is a bit fucked up because charieties deserve them more. Besides, you could trade in your old phone before and get money of your new mobile.

People have been using pawn shops and jewellers for years. Just because they are advertising it's not so much 'consumerism' but laziness. Why walk to the shops and get exercise when you can post your stuff away?

the.dark.

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RE: The Great Gold Rush of Today ? - 11/14/2009 3:44:56 PM

Fellow

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I see the new "gold rush" similar to Y2K conserved food. The traders are the ones getting rich. The problem they try to solve with jewelry is that the total gold in circulation is rather limiting and nonexistent gold they sell (also massively) do not satisfy many who want real physical gold. There are huge gold reserves governments own but they are not accessible.

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RE: The Great Gold Rush of Today ? - 11/14/2009 4:11:14 PM

Aneirin

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Darcyandthedark

I don't believe so.
People sell their mobiles because they can, which is a bit fucked up because charieties deserve them more. Besides, you could trade in your old phone before and get money of your new mobile.

People have been using pawn shops and jewellers for years. Just because they are advertising it's not so much 'consumerism' but laziness. Why walk to the shops and get exercise when you can post your stuff away?

the.dark.

So why the all of a sudden advertising of these outfits, why am I seeing two seperate companies taking on shops in my city asking for jewellery only, shops that have door staff. The latest TV advert, tell us your make and model of mobile phone and we will pay you upto 150 notes in cash for it when you send it us, are they worth that much ?
Not so long ago, old mobile phones were worth next to nothing, what are they after, if it is not the precious metals inside. If it is the metals inside, it like jewellery, is only worth it.when there are many of the things to scavenge, the processes involved cost money to operate.

It is, in my experience, not the thing of profit seeking companies to offer a service for nothing, they have got to be getting something out of what they seek, else it is not profit, and there loss given the overheads involved.

But part of my OP was about the real cost of consumerism, if gold has now monetarily gone through the roof, are we going to see new electronic products costing more, perhaps even their true value because of the parts inside that have become suddenly more expensive due to demand.

I know regarding my interests, the rings I make, the cost of the metal involved has quadrupled since I last made one, they are no longer a cheap for me to make kind of gift to give to people I value. It is for this reason I now craft in pure iron, and increasingly, aluminium, a much underrated material.

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RE: The Great Gold Rush of Today ? - 11/14/2009 4:21:52 PM

RCdc

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Aneirin
So why the all of a sudden advertising of these outfits, why am I seeing two seperate companies taking on shops in my city asking for jewellery only, shops that have door staff. The latest TV advert, tell us your make and model of mobile phone and we will pay you upto 150 notes in cash for it when you send it us, are they worth that much ?

Because of the gold rush. It's not got really anything to do more than that. People have lost faith in money and so gold is playing up to that. It's knee jerk. Nothing more. Stocks and shares look unsafe - with all the bank problems and media hype. Even though shares are rising - gold seems more approachable.

quote:

It is, in my experience, not the thing of profit seeking companies to offer a service for nothing, they have got to be getting something out of what they seek, else it is not profit, and there loss given the overheads involved.

They see a niche and they go for it. If people are dumb enough, then thats up to them. It's not new. It's target audience. Lazy, scared people wanting to make easy money.

quote:

But part of my OP was about the real cost of consumerism, if gold has now monetarily gone through the roof, are we going to see new electronic products costing more, perhaps even their true value because of the parts inside that have become suddenly more expensive due to demand.

It's up, but it's not a great option. It's people believing hype is all.

quote:

I know regarding my interests, the rings I make, the cost of the metal involved has quadrupled since I last made one, they are no longer a cheap for me to make kind of gift to give to people I value. It is for this reason I now craft in pure iron, and increasingly, aluminium, a much underrated material.

Everythings gone up. Its not just metal.

the.dark.

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RE: The Great Gold Rush of Today ? - 11/14/2009 4:35:37 PM

Wolf2Bear

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What I find distasteful about these companies who are willing to buy your unwanted and/or broken gold jewelry is they fail to disclose that the actual gold monetary value in a few broken gold rings and chains isn't as great as what they let on it is. Granted gold is trading at a high price though that is for gold which is 99.999% pure, whereas the gold content in a 10K ring is much less. I really have to wonder how many people send in a few necklaces with a broken clasp thinking they'll get hundreds of dollars when they'd be able to keep their jewelry by spending a few dollars for repairs. I have a few rings where the band has split and held on to them as I plan to have them recast into a custom made ring for myself.

Here in Canada, many cellphone companies will accept donated old cell phones and for every phone donated, they will donate a few dollars from each to a national charity to feed the starving. The used phones are then either refurbished and reused or recycled for any usable parts.

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RE: The Great Gold Rush of Today ? - 11/14/2009 5:54:08 PM

servantforuse

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Most of these companies are paying 1/10 of what your stuff is worth. They are scam artists preying on people who need money in a bad economy. There is a sucker born every minute, and two more to take his money...

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RE: The Great Gold Rush of Today ? - 11/14/2009 6:25:01 PM

pahunkboy

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Dont sell your gold.

A major scandal is coming.

Paper gold vs physical gold.     Guess which will win out?

In light of the massive derivatives there is a rumor that one of these companies is selling to a large institutional buyer at 40% higher then spot.   Meaning there is big money.   full page ads are not cheap.

Hoard gold.   Silver - more rational- as it is cheaper.     Both are in a major bull market- and no amount of paper is worth it for the real thing.

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