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Everyone will have a story about being scammed one way or another. Therefore you have to be careful when trying to sell items to dealers. Don’t be scammed the next time you sell something. Read the following information to avoid being scammed when selling your gold jewellery.

1. It is important to know what you have. Do not simply lump everything together as this is asking for trouble. Look at the karat mark of each item. Most items should be marked.

2. Sort your items by karat and keep each groups of karats separated.  Failing to do this allows unscrupulous gold and diamond exchange dealers to lower the prices of higher karat pieces. Most gold and diamond exchange dealers will insist on testing every single piece of jewellery. If your item is marked 14k and your dealer tests reveal only 10k, take your business elsewhere.

3. Before the weighing begins, insist that the scale be tarred with a standardised weight supplied by the scale manufacturer. Check the scale to make sure that it zeros out correctly. It is easy to rig a scale, so check to make sure it is working properly. Some gold and diamond exchange dealers will offer impossibly high prices but use a rigged scale, leaving you with less money.

4. Scales weigh in various modes, but the most common for gold is grams and pennyweights. Pennyweights are heavier than grams. One pennyweight = 1.55 grams. Make sure that if your jewellery is weighed in pennyweights, you are paid the pennyweight rate and not the gram rate.

5. Before selling your gold, call the gold and diamond exchange company you are interested in doing business with and ask about their experience and industry affiliations.  Reputable companies will not hesitate to rant and rave about their industry-wide associations.

Extra tips

• Items marked RGP (rolled gold plated), HGE (heavy gold electroplated) or GF (gold filled) will not attract gold buyers.
• Experienced gold and diamond exchange dealers will be able to tell the karat of the jewellery by the colour.
• Approach buyers who have an established business and have been in this business for a good period of time. Stay away from fly-by-night establishments.
• Remember that gold buyers are also looking to make money and to turn a fair profit – you will not get the full value of your gold.

Author bio

This article was written for The Gold Company and offers tips to avoid gold and diamond exchange scams.

Selling gold is on the rise, with many people realising the money they can make from selling their used gold items. If you are thinking about selling your gold coins to gold buyers in Australia, you need to know some facts before jumping onto the gold selling bandwagon. Before you sell those mints, you need to consider some things – how much profit you are expecting, what you plan to do with the profits, and whether or not you want to offer your coins up for sale long-term.

Facts about gold coins

Gold coins, also called mints, are made up of one troy ounce weight.  This means that no matter where you go or when you sell your gold coins, gold buyers in Australia will be able to determine its value. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, there are rare mints that are hundreds of years old, which can result in them having higher values than the ‘younger’ coins.

When investing in gold coins, you should be aware that there are various kinds of coins. Popular gold coins include Australian Kangaroos, the South African Krugerrand, or the Canadian Maple Leaf. It is quite easy to find out what these coins are worth by visiting sites that are involved in buying and selling of gold coins.

When selling your gold coins to gold buyers in Australia, how much you will earn depends on several factors:

• The coin’s actual condition

If the coin you are offering is in mint condition, you can expect a good offer from your gold buyer in Australia. If your gold coin has some damage, however, you should not expect getting paid that much for it.

• Your mint’s authenticity

If you looking to sell your gold coins, keep in mind that your pieces should have proof of authenticity. This means that your coins should come with authentication paperwork as most gold buyers will not buy your coins without the relevant paperwork.

• The complete packaging of your coins

Many gold buyers in Australia look for the presentation boxes that come with the gold coins. More often than not, gold buyers value coins that come with presentation boxes higher than coins without those boxes. This may only be true for brick-and-mortar gold buyers, as online buyers may make you a good offer with out without the presentation boxes.

Author bio

This article was written by The Gold Company and offers tips on selling your gold coins to gold buyers in Australia.

There are plenty of myths in our everyday lives. We tell each other these falsehoods because we like a good story or because we really believe that they are true. This can be because someone – whom we respect, fear or work for – believes it is true or because our textbooks say it is true.

This scenario is true also for the world of gold, and even more so when someone wants to buy or sell gold. There are many things that circulate as truth, when in reality these things are terribly unreliable and should be taken with a rather large bag of salt.

One of these many sayings is that gold is the only ‘real’ currency and it does not make sense to sell gold because of this. There are people who spout quotations and citations by authority figures who claim gold is the ultimate inherently valuable commodity and it has always kept its value, even since biblical times.

There are at least three things wrong with that type of claim: we do not have any reliable data that reaches back to biblical times; appeals to authority are unreliable when deciding whether to buy or sell gold; and nothing has inherent value, not even a commodity that we like as much as gold.

The rich have always – as far back as we have data, that is – valued gold for its worth. This means that it makes sense to sell gold when you need a bit of extra money or when the gold items you own no longer appeal that much to your sensibilities: outdated styles or there are just too many of them around the house.

It makes no sense to hold onto gold items that you will never again use. It makes far more sense to repurpose the gold into something that you and your children (future or current ones) will treasure and enjoy over the long term. This can be through smelting it down or by selling the gold to a company that specialises in this industry.

Author bio:

The Gold Company wrote this article about the things to consider when someone wants to sell gold.

When designing your bedroom, you need to turn it into a personal and relaxing retreat. Your bedroom is the place you go to relax, unwind, and forget about your troubles. Therefore, the way you decorate your room bears testimony to this.

One of the most important aspects of designing a room is bedding. A bed is the focal point of a room, so care should be taken in decorating it. When purchasing bed linen, you need to consider your personal style. Bed furnishings should fulfill a number of specific functions. Your luxury bed linen should first and foremost provide warmth and comfort. Secondly, it should match the colour scheme of the room, or at least compliment it.

The great part about decorating your bed with luxury bed linen is that you have several layers and components to work with. These components include sheets, blankets, comforters, duvets, dust ruffles, and decorative pillows.

When choosing luxury bed linen, think of the look you are going for – tailored, exotic, whimsical, masculine, feminine, or luxurious. These themes can be embellished with borders, ruffles, and contrasting fabrics.

When selecting sheets, select those that share the same background colour as your luxury bed linen. For added comfort, sheets with a high thread count (300 or higher) are ideal. Remember that it is the sheets that sleep next to your skin, so do not skim when buying sheets. Just because no one really sees it when the bed is made, does not mean they do not serve a valuable purpose.

Bed ruffles, while useful, is also decorative. This just adds to the chance of further decorating your room. Your choice in dust ruffles can range from understated inverted pleated bed skirts, to a complimentary ruffled skirt.

Warmth is probably the most important factor to take into account when choosing luxury bed linen. The type of bedding you buy is determined by a few factors. The time of year, how hot or cold your body temperature rides and the room temperature. The weight of your luxury bed linen can vary, as do the fibers from which they are made. Bed linen made from synthetic fibers retains heat without having to be bulky or heavy. More natural fibers, however, breathe easier but do not retain heat as well. Therefore, this linen may be heavier and bulkier.

When selecting the colour of your luxury bed linen, you can choose any colour you like, in keeping with the colour scheme of the room of course. Like with the sheets, go for something with a common background.

Once you have chosen the colour, its time to pick out a comforter. The comforter is like the showstopper. Your comforter allows you to be as daring or conservative as you like – whether you are opting for a more traditional look, a feminine look or a contemporary look. And do not forget about the pillows. Piled high or scattered about, pillows always brightens up a bed and can transform an ordinary bed into an opulent one.

Author bio

This article was written for The White Company, and offers tips on how to buy bedding. Visit The White Company for luxury bed linen.