UPDATE 3: We did a feature investigative article on Cash4Gold, entitled, “The Article Cash4Gold Doesn’t Want You To Read.”
UPDATE 2: Cash4Gold (Green Bullion Financial Services, LLC) sent us a copy of a judgement they obtained on default, granting a “temporary injunction” against the ex-employee to prevent them from “publishing any more confidential, proprietary information, and any defamatory information on the internet.”
We continue to look into the ex-employee’s statements and will keep you apprised. (7/02/09)
UPDATE 1: Cash4Gold has filed a defamation suit (right-click here and save to your harddrive to view the PDF) against the ex-employee who posted the below allegations against the company on ComplaintsBoard. The company asserts that the employee’s statements were entirely false, and claims that she said she was going to “make Cash4Gold be sorry for firing her.” They have also asked us to remove this story. We’ll be looking into this and will keep you posted on further developments. (4/3/09)
From the acid-cloud haze of the Cash4Gold processing center steps forth a shadowy figure, fingers stained with orange testing fluid. It’s an ex-Cash4Gold employee and in-between tuberculosic wheezes he manages to pass you a yellow legal paid with 10 confessions about how his former employer taught him to rip people off. Then he evaporates leaving behind a pile of gold dust. You dip your finger in it and touch it to your tongue. Just as you thought: fool’s gold.
If you decide to investigate the creaky clock tower, turn to page 4.
If you decide to read the confessions, to the post inside.
Spotted on ComplaintsBoard: “I would like an article to be posted pertaining to the refinery Cash 4 Gold, located in Pompano Beach, Fl. I am a former employee, who would like to alert/warn the public on the scamming process involved with this company. There are many of us who would like to vouch on behalf of this fast growing scam. We would like to get the word out to everyone on this step by step scam which involves so many people in this country and their valuables.
Below I have attached the full details on the scam involving this company. We know this first hand, because this is how we were trained. Please take note of this information and do what you can to get the word out there, especially in a time when the economy has truly affected everyone for the worst. Thank you!
I am a former employee of Cash 4 Gold. I did not know much about the company before being hired. On my first day of being hired, I was taught the “Cash 4 Gold Scam” from beginning to end.
1. The “refiner’s pack” that is used for you to put your jewelry is “insured for UP TO 100 dollars, ” according to how much they determine from a description from you, the worth of your items to be, NOT an actual fully researched appraisal.
2. We receive your “Refiner’s Pack” within 3-4 days, BUT we are instructed to tell you that it takes “7-10 business days, for us to receive your pack, ALTHOUGH many times, your package has already arrived.
(All cash4gold customers who have called customer service to track a package can vouch for this)
3. Your jewelry gets appraised by hand, a magnifying glass, a plastic container, a small weight pad, and a bottle of ORANGISH fluid, which your items are then determined a value for. Not million dollar equipment or specially trained jewelry experts. The company was temporarily closed recently due to health and code violations. I have witness testers being transported to Medical Centers, due to the testing department environment. There is literally a cloud of smoke in the air from acid and other testing material. If you were thinking it was some state-of-the-art testing facility, you thought WRONG.
4. Although the payment (check) for your item is dated within 24 hrs of testing your jewelry, we SOMETIMES DO NOT actually send out the check until up to 3-4 days later. (if you are a customer check the date the check was issued against the stamped date on the envelope.)
5. We do offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee or your jewelry returned, BUT THE CATCH IS, that the guarantee is to contact us within 10 DAYS from when your check is DATED. (This begins with the time it took for the accounts payables dept. to ISSUE the check and also including the TRANSIT TIME for you to receive your check in the mail. **** NOTATE THE COMMERCIALS THAT INSINUATE THAT YOU GET YOUR CASH IN 24 HRS.*** If you request (sign) for FAST CASH (direct deposit) you automatically WAIVE your rights to have your items returned, EVEN if you are not satisfied with amount of your deposit.
6. You generally receive your check around the “7th-10th” business day, AND majority of the time Customers are outraged when they lay eyes on the amount of their check. Some Customer’s even receive a check for 0.01 cents.
7. There have been times when we have received your package and MISPLACED or LOST it at the facility. We CLAIM to not have received the items and even try to convince you that it was lost in the hands of USPS. At which point we begin an insurance claim process on your package. We ask you to send us an itemized list of the content of the package, trying to be as descriptive as you possible can (if you can remember everything in full detail) and a copy of your state issud ID. We then issue an INSURANCE CLAIM for UP TO 100 dollars. GOD FORBID your items are worth more then a 100 dollars. If you call customer service to check on the status of your shipment, and we actually have not received your package, we inform you of the insurance claim process. For those who know that their items are worth more than a hundred dollars, they become very upset and threaten to take action against the company, at that point we inform the customer that if they knew their items were worth more they should have added additional insurance at the Post Office. BUT unless you are paying to ship your items in a completely different package other then the refiner’s kit, you are unable to add insurance to the package.
8. For those who do get in touch with us within the allotted time frame, we already know what you are calling about. Customers want their items returned, because there check amount is so insultingly LOW. The first thing a Rep will ask you is “HOW MUCH WERE YOU EXPECTING TO GET BACK?” This way we can know how much to “BONUS” you.
*Definition of a BONUS: We issue low checks just to have you call us back if you are smart enough to realize that you just got scammed. For the smart one’s we are paid to offer u a bonus up to 3x the original amount of your check and you accept. For ex: Sally Smith receives a check for $27.86 for a Rolex watch(which we don’t issue value for), a class ring, a ring with diamond chips, a pair of earrings with emeralds, as well as a few sterling silver pieces, and maybe a few items that were really of no value. Now Sally Smith calls the cust srvc dept, where she speaks to a rep who seems so concerned and will see if she can do better with the amount by speaking to a “SUPERVISOR”. We then place the caller on Mute, and speak to our neighbors or doodle on a sheet, or twiddle with our hair for about 45 seconds, while we are supposedly speaking to our supervisor about Ms. Smith’s complaint. We then come back with an offer to “BUMP UP YOUR MELT DATE or any other lies the cust srvc reps can think of, and offer you a total amount of $53.20 which is a little under double the amount of your original check; in which case if you accept, the cust srvc rep makes a 15.00 bonus off of your transaction. If the customer service rep offers you under triple the amount of your orig check, he/she makes 10.oo in bonuses.
9. If you accept the offer, the deal is done, and you are told that the call is recorded (which most of the time, the record button does not work, or the box if full.)It’s just a way to make your feel binded by a verbal contract. IF you do not accept the deal, you have to return your check, and it takes sometimes up to a month to receive your items back after we receive the check.
10. If you only want the items that we do not find of any value back, you have to pay 10.00 shipping and handling fee to have your own items returned, which varies. Although it is listed under the terms and conditions, this charge varies from a 10.00-15.00 charge to NO charge, reason being, UNSURE.
Cash 4 Gold is definitely not a trustworthy or credible company to do business with. You are almost better off taking your items to a local pawn shop or shopping around for other companies. With the economy the way it is, Cash 4 Gold seems to be a way out of financial stress for some, but in actuality becomes a stress of its own. I would advise you to think twice before sending in valuables or items inherited and of sentimental value, its not worth it.”
PREVIOUSLY:
Cash4Gold Offers Blogger $3,000 To Remove Negative Post
How To Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Cash4Gold
Why would people use this? Really, it’a a genuine question – seems selling stuff on ebay or a pawn shop would be just as easy and get more cash
@masonreloaded:Simple human nature. You can’t really fix it. You can only hope that God and/or Darwinian Selection weeds out the really dumb ones. Sadly, both appear to be on vacation.
@masonreloaded: B/c there’s only one emotion/drive that will supersede self preservation. Greed.
@PunchesSmallAnimals_GitEmSteveDave: If greed supersedes all else, they wouldn’t go to this company to sell their gold. It seems to me like it’s more like laziness that will supersede all else.
@johnva: Well, they see it as the most value for the least work.
@RaptorsAhead_GitEmSteveDave: I would say laziness
@masonreloaded: I wonder the same thing. I’ve never been to a pawn shop but I still know how they work ….
@masonreloaded: You would use this company if: A) you are completely bed ridden and unable to step foot outside your home to go to an actual jewelry store or pawn shop or B) You’ve stolen all of this gold and are looking for a quick way to fence your goods and destroy the evidence.
Actually I’m guessing (totally unsubstantiated) 8 out of 10 people who use the service have stolen the gold.
@DeanOfAllTrades: That’s a really good point which you made. Using services like these to fence stolen goods. If I had stolen some jewelery from a B&E I wouldn’t want to take it to the local pawn shops because the owners/police may have a description out for the items. But if I sent it to some place where other people sent gold items it would just get lost in the crowd, there’s obviously no national clearing house for lost goods.
@DeanOfAllTrades: You missed one:
c) People trust things they see on TV and in ADs. People think that pawn shops are sleazy and will rip you off. Stuff on tv always seems more reputable to some people. The people that send in cash for gold are probably the same people that order the sham-WOW and the Ronco food dehydrator. Advertising works.
@DeanOfAllTrades:
Cash4Gold is to gold as Gamestop is to video games….
@masonreloaded: Cause Ed McMahon recommends it.
@masonreloaded: Just another example of advertising making you think you need something when you don’t. In this case, you “need” cash4gold to get rid of your gold.
@masonreloaded: The only reason I’ve *considered* using it is for my broken pieces of gold or for single earrings when I’ve lost the match. I never strongly considered using them because it always seemed like a scam. There is no way to tell if you are getting a good deal since they are the sole valuators.
@OwenKlient: Not only is there no way to tell, but the fact that they are the sole valuators guarantees that you are not.
@OwenKlient: Assuming it’s in good quality, you could try selling this at a jewelery store. Not all buy loose jewelery like that, especially not the big guys, but if you have a local store they may. There was a place in my home town that did that, little family owned shop would pay decently for broken jewelery or just stuff you didn’t want anymore. They’re more likely to give you a fair deal, and they definitely a more reputable company.
@OwenKlient:
Actually Owen, I would go to a jewerly store and get a ball park valuation figure and… What am I talking about? No way I’ll do business with them. Since the first time I saw the commercial something smelled funny to me, and is not my dog!
@masonreloaded:
I’m betting that a lot of people who sell their jewelry out of desperation like the idea of a relatively anonymous transaction.
@masonreloaded: People who know that other buyers report ‘suspicious’ transactions to the cops and keep records on everyone that brings in stuff would love to use a resource like cash4gold to dump a lot of gold they have gotten their hands on.
I’m looking forward to Cash4Electronics, Cash4Babies and Cash4KidnappedPeople in the near future
@harlock_JDS: Someone should register the domain name: Cash4Crap.com
@Ingram81: I was registered 2/10/2008
@Ingram81:
I’m going for Cash4Cash. Send me your cash. I’ll appraise it and give you fair market value (in cash) in 7 to 10 days.
At our rate, your $100 will be worth aprox $30 next week! Now, to find a way to cleverly phrase that so it sounds like a good thing…
@masonreloaded: One would think that just the fact that this company that has only been advertising for a short amount of time is already able to afford a Super Bowl ad would be evidence enough that they are ripping you off big time when they buy your gold.
@masonreloaded: These are the same schmoes who were keeping the Home Shopping Network in business all these years. Many of them have been collecting gold crap for years. Now they’re broke, and the only thing they have to show for it is a pile of gold crap they never wear.
Seriously, would you be caught dead wearing something you bought from HSN? Yuck!
@masonreloaded: Well, let’s apply some Consumerist logic here: it’s a scam, therefore anyone victimized by this scam must be stupid, lazy and probably has an ingrown toenail on top of all their other personal failings. Therefore, people must use Cash4Gold only because they are inferior examples of the human race!
In real life, there are a lot of people who think you can’t out-and-out lie in commercials because, you know, the government won’t let them or something. If it were a scam the government would stop them, wouldn’t it? Therefore it must be OK.
@mythago: “In real life, there are a lot of people who think you can’t out-and-out lie in commercials because, you know, the government won’t let them or something. If it were a scam the government would stop them, wouldn’t it? Therefore it must be OK.”
that still doesnt move them from the “inferior example of human race” section in my book.
@masonreloaded:
Joking aside, I think maybe there’s a reason HONEST people think Cash4Gold is a good idea. Craigslist/ebay is full of people pulling scams (Western Union checks and whatnot). I assume these people rationalize, “This company must be legitimate, since they have commercials and all. I won’t run the risk of being scammed with them!”
This is obviously not the case, but that’s probably what they’re thinking.
@masonreloaded: Brainwashing.
On the Howard Stern Show, they advertise constantly. Anyone who listens to the show probably hears a million Cash4Gold advertisements, and after awhile, I think you feel almost obligated to sell “your unwanted jewelry”. You feel almost guilty about it.
Wow, 0.01 cents is really low.
@EBounding: Yeah, Verizon math sure has become popular…
You mean my gold toilet (as seen on the Super Bowl) has to be additionally insured at the post office if I think it is worth over 100 dollars? SHould I clean out the trap of the toilet before sending?
Ed McMahon
@akronharry: Don’t see why. He hasn’t pooped in years.
@econobiker: I seem to recall that among the various odds and ends were some grape stems painted gold. That was my favorite part.
But The Hammer says it’s awesome! Why would he lie to me? : /
@Kimaroo:
Please, Hammer…. don’t hurt him!
(Sorry, I know, bad Mame…)
@MameDennis: Heheheh…
That ad was totally playing into my nostalgic love for the Hammer.. Which I’m sure was the whole idea in the first place.
“This medalian of me wearing a medalian!”
I admit though I was suprised that he took part in it.. I knew he was hurtin (heh.) for money a few years ago.. but then he became a minister on TV.. so I thought he’d be above this..
I guess not…
@Kimaroo: He’s still having trouble. I think he went into something like 90 million dollars of debt.
@TVarmy: I guess that’s why he’s gotta pray just to make it today. Heh.
@MameDennis: He’s too legit. Too legit to quit.
@Kimaroo: Fred Williamson endorsed Cash4Gold? That’s disappointing.
$0.01/FOR GOLD!
Thanks for the tip
For those who didn’t already know what a sham (wow!) this was, this is the deal breaker.
@verucalise: Hi this is Vince for Cash4Gold! Now I can only offer this “bonus” to you for the next 20 minutes. I can’t do this all day. Now were’re gonna do this in real time, you following me camera guy? OK, We get your envelope, rip it open, there’s your jewelery, there’s your gold. Now we take your jewelery and stick it in our pockets, look half the money’s gone already. We move around some dates, and wow, all the money’s gone…..for you.
@PunchesSmallAnimals_GitEmSteveDave: You forgot “This process was invented in Germany, so you can be sure that they know what they’re doing.”
@SabreDC:
I don’t know if this was your intent or not, but Bravo, sir:
[en.wikipedia.org]
@PunchesSmallAnimals_GitEmSteveDave: Perfect. I can’t tell you how many times my wife and I have said this right along with him every time the infomercial is on.
Now that I think about it, that is really sad that we know it that well.
@verucalise: It’s not 0.01 dollars, it’s 0.01 cents! What, do you work for Verizon? Sheesh!
@cecilpl: How exactly do you cash a check for 1/100th of a cent? Do you have to turn it in with 99 coupons to get a penny?
@cecilpl: Oh Wow! I’d forgotten about that.
A+
On one hand, the whole idea of this service is incredibly offensive, and it sounds as though its being done in as shady a mannner as possible.
On the other hand, anyone stupid enough to get involved with them gets what they deserve.
I’m deeply conflicted.
@TurboWagon00: The problem is, they are preying on people who are very desperate, ignorant, or otherwise impaired.
Yeah, if my coworkers or friends did it, I’d laugh, but if my elderly grandfather thought he might be able to get some real money from it, I’d be furious.
@TurboWagon00: I’m conflicted too because it’s obviously a way to scam gold out of people… but on the other hand, I’m pissed that I didn’t think of it first.
@TurboWagon00: Thats usually my issue. I’m conflicted between a company, that I considered to be, scamming people and the fact that it is so obviously a scam people should know better. I have no sympathy for people who fall for this (maybe for the senile elderly) but I don’t think it’s right.
The reason why companies like this exist is because there are people out there that are unwilling to educate themselves on these types of practices. You have a plethora of knowledge available to you.
I also wonder how people who fall for this have gold in the first place.
The business involves quick cash for gold, has Ed McMahon and MC Hammer in the commercials, and is located in South Florida. How can it *not* be on the up and up?
@rpm773: Geography definitely plays into it–funny you should mention that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go order some DSLR cameras and home theatre electronics from Brooklyn.
@Ash78: Heh. I’m sure the reason both examples involves proximity to international waters.
I wonder how much they are going to offer you to remove this post.
@Plates: Consumerist4Gold!
@Plates: I more wonder when one of their stooges is going to lay some astroturf here.
Any bets?
@Plates: .1 cent?
@Courteous_Gentleman: Ahem, I do believe it was “.01 cent.” But I raise you .01 cent!
Question,
I remember reading about a guy who would send credit card companies old tires and things of that nature back with the buisness reply envelope included in the credit card offer.
What if everyone were to request the “refiners” pack and the just send in a bunch of junk, (like old tires and bricks) wouldn’t cash4gold have to then pay the shipping costs? A little payback from the consumer..
@Jon Mills: I like it. Probably amounts to some sort of mail fraud but I’m all for it.
@Jon Mills:
That is what I was thinking… just spray a bunch of rocks with gold paint and put them in the mailer… wouldn’t cash4gold have to eat the postage bill?
@cc82: I seem to remember someone doing something like that with one of these outfits and they actually got sent money.
@Plates: Yep, I remember someone did it with nuts and bolts and other assorted metal (and even plastic) spray-painted gold. I want to say it was over on Zug or something.
@edicius: Rob from Cockeyed.com did that with a bag of bolts etc spray painted gold…
He was recently offered $3000 by c4g.com to remove his website posting since it shows so high on the search engine…
@Jon Mills: Mostly stuff like that just gets “misplaced” by the post office anyway. They don’t actually deliver business reply bricks.
Well, if you send things like bricks or things that are obviously not valuable, they can just toss it. I say, get some cheap silverware from Target, spray paint it gold and make them at least open it and process it.
@SabreDC: There’s cheap stuff at target?
I’d just send them stuff from Goodwill.
@Jon Mills: I’m sure to request a refiner’s pack you need to give your name and address. Knowing these guys I wouldn’t put it past them to send you happy excrement filled refiner’s packs after you requested your fifth one that they estimate you’ll just fill with sand like the last four.
@Jon Mills: One of my friends was upset at getting a bunch of junkmail from some magazine asking for a resubscription, so he threw some pennies in the reply envelope. They called him to complain, and then he got mad and said it was a mistake, and that he wanted his money back. They sent him a check for 38 cents.
@TVarmy: @johnva: That’s why they have those little disclaimers at the beginning of programs…
@Jon Mills: Sending back bricks or tires seems like more of a pain for the mail carrier than the scammer…
@Jon Mills:
Business reply mail that looks odd is discarded (this is agreed upon between those using the service and the postal service), or, if possible, tracked to the sender to give them hell. The discarding costs the Post Office money. They don’t directly charge the business reply mail scheme that money, it raises costs on everything.
So, basically, doing that means you give the post office one more excuse to raise the cost of your stamps.
If you really feel the need to do this, you are better off filling (NOT stuffing, since those would look odd and be discarded) the business reply envelopes with the shredded remains, or confetti, from business reply postcards. Those will actually make it to the business in question. But it’s still not nice, since now you’ve made a mess of the desk of someone who hates their job and gets about $7 an hour to do slave-labour style work.
Especially if you live in a state (like MI) where the amount a pawn shop or dealer pays you for precious metals is regulated, you’re *definitely* better off pawning the stuff.
@Mary Marsala with Fries:
Yes, but if you just stole a bag full of gold jewelry on your recent crime spree then you can’t exactly take that to a local pawn shop. This is a service for people who don’t want the items to be found in the local market. Get rid of it, melt it down, and make sure it never points back to me. This company is little more than a chop shop for jewelry.
@ocdetails: Isn’t fencing stolen goods illegal in most places? I wonder if these guys are actually following all the required laws as far as proving that the people selling them stuff have proper ownership of it.
@johnva:
I can’t imagine anyone going to the trouble to steal gold jewelry using this as a fence. Unless they were incredibly stupid.
“Burglar Sues Cash4Gold; Claims His Check Was Too Small”
@johnva:
How would you prove that your gold belongs to you? When you inheirit a ring that has been passed down for three or four generations, do you really think it comes with ownership papers? All they ask you at a pawn shop is if the object belongs to you. That’s really all they can do. They cover themselves by asking the question and theives cover themselves by answering ‘YES’.
@Mary Marsala with Fries: @HogwartsAlum:
How much trouble could it really be? Do you have any idea how many muggings there are every single day? How many home break ins there are? It wouldn’t be hard to obtain if you were less than principled. And as far as verifying that you are the owner… How do you think they would do that? Do you have ownership papers to your gold earings or wedding band? I’ve been married for so long that even if I had kept the receipt for my wedding ring it wouldn’t be legible. They aren’t going to be able to prove ownership to anybody. They might have you declare that you own it, but a theif wouldn’t have a problem lying if they had already stolen a bag of gold.
I don’t get why anyone would use this either. It just screams “scam.” Take your gold to a legitimate appraiser. How hard is that? I don’t understand. Seems easier that shipping things back and forth.
Another thing: Running a commercial in the Superbowl isn’t exactly like running one on late-night TV and/or running one on some backwater cable channel. I wonder if these guys are going to attract a little extra scrutiny by the authorities now, perhaps enough to shut them down if they’re doing anything illegal. That would be kind of ironic.
@rpm773: I’m beginning to think that the broadcasters who accept this sort of advertising should maybe be held legally accountable for anything illegal about the advertised products or services. I mean, how are you not part of the scam if you’re taking money to promote it on television for some one? Would it be okay for a TV station or cable company to accept money from a company selling crystal meth by mail? If that’s not legal, why are other scam infomercials ok?
@rpm773: I think the problem is this set up fulfills the letter of the law so unlike a ponzi scheme it isn’t illegal unless they make some new laws about it. It’s simply low balling pawn service. The Authorities might want to add restrictions but their business model is not illegal just unethical. There is a significant difference between illegal and unethical.
In their effort to suppress the issue they ended blowing it up 10X.
I have a hard time considering this to be a scam. You send them items, they offer to buy them for a certain price. You accept or decline. There isn’t any law saying someone has to offer you full market price for what you’re selling. It’s basically a garage sale by mail.
The real story here is the working conditions and issues OSHA might have questions about.
@Canino: If nothing else, review points 4, 5, and 6.
@Canino: Yeah, this isn’t a scam…it’s just a really bad deal.
@GuJiaXian: Yeah, no real deception, aside from a price way below market value, but which seems to be par for the course for a lot of places. The thing that’s bad is this is nationwide and tries to push the idea to the limit, offering really terrible estimates.
@Canino: I’d say it’s a thinly veiled scam. It *should* be pretty obvious to everyone that you’re not going to get full value for your jewelry. The problem is that they don’t give you that impression in the commercials and the majority of the population has at least one of these three traits that simple scams like this prey upon: Greedy, Stupid, Desperate.
Also this company fails 2 of my criteria for me to consider it a reputable buisness: it contains the word “cash” in the business name and it needlessly replaces a word with a number.
Canino, Did you not read the story????? The scam is that when you decline the offer it usually to late because they sat on the check for a few days and they are deceptive about the shipping insurance. Next time read the story before you make dumb comments and defend this corrupt company.
honestly I’ve always looked at those commercials and thought, “SCAM!!” None of this shocks me at all…I only wish more people who watch those commercials had the savvy and common sense to realize.
@polyeaster: But then who would answer spam, or try to collect 26$ million form some prince in some place they never heard of?
Wouldn’t it make more sense for the government to get in on this? It would be like a tax on stupidity. They could use the money to pay off the debt from giving money to bankers who can’t figure out how to invest in something stable.
*crosses fingers for a $3,000 check*
Spend it wisely Ben!
The problem is they are taking advantage of ignorant people. It is unethical at the very least.
@savdavid:
To my 79 year old mom, somewhat impared but not enough for us to take away her ability to manage her own funds, this looks great. No driving or negotiating, she thinks. For old jewelery, some extra money. Shame on them. Terrible karma. It breaks my heart.
I also thought this might encourage more theft; it seems a pretty easy way to get $ for stolen jewelery without having to go to a pawn shop locally and open goods up to possible police scrutiny.
I just think it is a terrible thing to advertise. “Give us gold and we’ll give you money! Beg, borrow, or steal it! We don’t care where it came from, just as long as it is GOLD! Your mother’s rings, that stranger’s watch, a jewlery store display… It doesn’t matter! Send us gold and we’ll send you money!!”
Yeah, that sounds like a really ethical and reasonable company. They are no better than the check cashing places that take advantage of people who are already in financial trouble or else why would they be there? They know people desperate enough to send them gold in exchange for far less than it is worth aren’t in any position to take action against the compnay when they get screwed. It is a sad commentary of our time when companies like this grow to the size that they can afford to advertise on the superbowl.
I would guess that the people who use Title Loan places – and other “fast cash” places, Cash4Gold would be perfect for them.
Too bad they are advertising to others who will be taken in on the scam…… and I just wonder how many senior citizens who are low on cash are shipping off their gold for 1/10th the value…. and are happy because they just don’t know any better.
Sad.
Just the fact that cash4gold was able to afford a 3 million dollar super bowl spot should let the extra dumb people know that its a scam from beginning to end. If you’re still too dumb to figure it out, then by all means, send em your gold.
How many people actually have a significant amount of gold jewelry just laying around their house? I have my wedding rings and a few necklaces, but the people on these commercials act like we are all walking around blinged out from head to toe.
Someone needs to start a campaign where a bunch of people fill cash4gold mailers with (heavy) junk and send them in, thus forcing cash4gold to eat a lot in postage costs…
Our local news did a story on this company. They sent in a 14k wedding band that they’d had valued by a local jeweler. The offer from Cash4Gold came in and was 10% of what the jeweler’s appraisal was. The reporter was offered $16 and change when the ring was worth $95. So she called their lawyer to talk about their promise that “they take out the middleman.” His response still makes me laugh because he’s so adamant that people are just misunderstanding what Cash4Gold is saying.
[www.wptz.com]
@vermontwriter: Typoed the 10%, should be been 17
I feel sorry for Ed McMahon. He has essentially sold his soul to the devil to do that ad…
@sleze69: A smart celebrity journalist could do a great gotcha story on this, and get McMahon to go on record about the company.
I don’t feel bad for him because there have to be more legitimate ways that he, a fairly well-known personality, could raise money and live a comfortable lifestyle.
$27.86. For a ROLEX. Where the hell can I get a deal like that?
@chenry: Start an infomercial business called Cash4Rolexes.
@chenry:
When I was in the bahamas, there was a market that you could get a deal like that…
HAMMER IS A SCAMMER!!! HAMMER IS A SCAMMER!!
The first time we saw these commercials we both started laughing at the premise of just mailing off valuables to some obviously sketchy dude on late night TV.
It seems like a large percentage of the commercial on TV right now are some form of scam or sketchy business practice. Cash4gold, DirectBuy, Freecreditreport.com, Extenz, Lipozene, and whatever Billy Mays is shilling.
Someone needs to start an internet effort to get people to request cash4gold envelopes and fill them with gumball machine “gold” jewelry before sending back.
@bohemian: “Cash4Gold – a safe, reliable transaction!”
It’s like somebody who has to tell you how smart they are…if they had to tell you, it’s not really true!
@bohemian: Or bricks. $100 or less in value, of course.
If Florida and Texas were to get sucked into a black hole, the US fraud rate would drop by half.
@Trai_Dep: Maybe we can reprogram the Large Hadron Collider to suck in Nigeria, Florida, and Texas. And California, too, for good measure.
@Trai_Dep: And don’t forget the District of Columbia and environs.
I don’t know who would fall for this….Sending gold in the mail to some unknown company raises a huge red flag immediately. Why not take it to a local gold shop (which will probably still rip you off, but you are in possession of YOUR gold the whole time)
Is there a possibility you can use their system to scam the scammers by claiming the “gold” you sent in was “lost” and get $100 from their insurers? I mean, if they’re THAT lax that they lose people’s gold in-house…
Pawn shop anyone.
Just out of curiosity, my fiance has some jewelery with nice stones that she wants to get rid. What’s the best method for getting close to what was paid for the items?
@Ingram81: From what I understand nothing will get you even close to what you paid. Jewelry depreciates as fast as a car. Once you leave the store, it has lost a lot of value, unless it is some rare tiffany piece.
@teknowaffle: So if the piece was appraised at say $10K and it was given to her as a gift, there is no way to get that $10K value? I mean is jewelery essentially worthless than? I can understand a car being a depreciating asset, it gets used, worn down, mechanical failures etc. But how does this translate into jewelery?
@Ingram81: The metal is not worthless. But it’s hard to get the full retail “value” out of jewelry or stones like diamonds. The industry is a huge racket based on large markups, and as far as I can tell the “appraisals” mean almost nothing. They certainly don’t represent what you’ll get if you sell it or have to have insurance pay for it (unless you have specialized insurance).
@Ingram81: Cash4Gold.com! A safe, reliable transaction!
They couldn’t put it on TV if it wasn’t true!
@Ingram81:
Take it to a reputable local jeweler. Most will buy gold, especially since the price is going up. There’s a jeweler around here who has “open houses” where people literally line up around the block with Ziploc bags full of gold jewelry, and he sits you down right in front of him, examines and weighs the pieces, and gives you cash on the barrelhead for it. My wife and I got nearly $1000 for nine or ten items (one of which was a heavy 18-karat bracelet.
Just give some local jewelers a ring (ah-ah-ah) and ask them if they buy gold.
@ekthesy: Thanks for the info. We may just take the diamonds out and sell the metal at a local jewelers, after I find out the going rate for gold by the ounce. The stones are quite nice, and depending on what the offer we get, may trade them in or out right sell them.
@Ingram81:
You’re welcome. BTW, jewelry does NOT depreciate. Gold is gold is gold once it’s melted down, and an ounce of gold from 1920 is the same as an ounce of gold from 1980.
The one thing you do have to be aware of in terms of “aging” is that the quality of stones used in older jewelry tends to be far lower than stones in modern jewelry; it’s a function of improved and more widespread mining.
I think you have a good plan there, to remove the diamonds (may want to have a professional have at that) and deal with the gold first, then have the diamonds appraised separately.
An ounce of gold is $907 today per goldprice.org. It’s a traded commodity, so it’s subject to fluctuation, but IIRC gold is at something like a 25-year high.
@ekthesy:
That’s partially true. Used jewelry is largely only worth scrap value on the secondary market. So the gold that your ring is made of hasn’t really depreciated, but it really isn’t worth much AS A RING.
Now the place to really get screwed is on selling gemstones. If you can even find a buyer, the price you’ll be offered will be based on a fraction of the WHOLESALE price, which is significantly lower than the retail price.
@Powerlurker:
Well, of course the engagement ring you pay $6,000 for at a jewelry store isn’t going to be salable for $6,000 on the open market, but I wouldn’t call that “depreciation,” I would call it “the used goods market.” I would think that you would get $6,000 for it minus the original markup from the store (labor to produce the ring, etc.)
You’re right about the gemstone market. Gold is gold is gold, you know the karat weight based on whatever’s stamped on the inside of the ring, and anyone can weigh it and do some simple math to find the market value, and that’s what you’re going to get paid for it, same as you’d get paid for a lump of gold in any form.
Diamonds, obviously, come in a far more diverse array of qualities, and since they’ve already been cut specifically for a piece (which you sold for the gold) it’s not like you can melt them down and re-use them.
Let’s take all the warning labels off everything and let the idiot problem work itself out naturally!
@InfiniTrent: You mean fix the glitch?
most people who read this are already smart enough to know that is a giant scam. those that send the gold in are the same ones who think that some Nigerian guy is going to give them 100 grand if they send him 15 grand and Miss Cleo is going to help them in life.
Clueless people are a billion dollar business. Desperate clueless people are triple that.
@albokay: How do I get a piece of those businesses? “A fool and his money are soon parted.” Im ok with that as long as Im the one parting the money and the fool.
@Ingram81:
Alternative medicine. Think “detoxification therapy” and homeopathy.
I tried sending my stuff to Cash4Gold, but they wouldn’t give me money because my credit was bad. Now I live in the basement of a Renaissance Fair with your mom and dad.
@lalaland13: You should have gone to…
Free Credit…Report dot com.
You would’a seen it comin’ at you
Like an atom bomb.
@InfiniTrent: /Not really.
Crooks, I really feel for the people that are lured into these scams. It also really bothers me that so many “stars” are participating in advertising for these companies. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
THis was probably the most informative “10 confessions” you’ve ever done.
One of the main reasons that I think this scam works is that your average suburbanite with excess gold jewelry has NEVER been into a pawn shop. They are usually located in the bad part of town, have a horrible reputation, and are not a viable option for many people.
@TrilbyWabba: I think that’s true. At least for me. I’ve never been in a pawn shop, I barely know how they work, and should I ever end up with excess gold jewelry (not a problem in the foreseeable future, mind) it wouldn’t occur to me to take it to one.
I wouldn’t send it through the mail to a guy I saw on late-night television either, mind you.
You might as well tattoo “sucker” on your forehead if you actually believe that sending precious metals through the mail is going to result in gobs of cash and makes this top ten pretty much pointless.
If it’s stolen gold, wouldn’t that leave at least a bit of a paper trail? I mean, you need to send the gold over the mail, and then they send you a check which you need to either deposit in a bank or in a check cashing place.
I guess it would be too much to look into for a small amount of gold, but I imagine a person who got a good haul could find a better channel.
@TVarmy:
Selling it to a pawn shop would leave an even bigger trail. Pawnbrokers tend to be heavily regulated and need to take down identification. They are also frequently required to hold merchandise for a certain amount of time before they can sell or otherwise dispose of it. If you send your stuff to Cash4Gold, they most likely don’t keep extensive records of what they recieve and by the time any law enforcement agencies would stop by to investigate, they’d probably have melted the gold down already.
I idea that anyone would respond to the “send us your gold and we’ll pay you what we think it is worth” concept horrifies me. I’ve often wondered if someone sent them a piece that was worth much more than the value of the gold, whether they would sell the Rolex watch, ect, and pocket the profit.
if they send you a check, it’s not really cash is it.
Csh4gld s scm?
DH
@iameleveneight:
That’s unpossible!
I could tell it was a scam from the first commercial. [www.boingboing.net]
Fascinating–I always wondered how that company operated.
Well I signed myself up to receive the pack and I’m going to send something to waste their money. Is it against any laws to send cat poop? I’m curious about any laws I could be breaking. My friends are going to send in useless stuff, too.
They’re opening an actual storefront at the Mall of America. I’m curious how that is going to turn out, as opposed to the mail-order. I almost wish I owned something gold in order to test them out.
Or what if I sent in pubes? Are they worth anything if spray-painted gold?
Wow, that’s amazing. I hear them adverstising all the time on SirusXM and TV. That’s sad that the company has bad business ethics. I just feel bad for the people that they ripped off.
My grandmother tried them out. Luckily it wasn’t anything valuable. However, I have some interesting paperwork they sent her that could possibly prove it is a scam. Not sure why what seems to be like an appraisal, was in there, but I will try and scan it up and write a very detailed account of her interview. Maybe in an interview format, who knows.