Cash for gold is a bad deal, warns broker

DBP: Consumers are losing up to 80 per cent of their jewellery’s potential value by selling it for cash to gold firms, the broker and precious metals specialist Goldcore has warned.

A survey of cash for gold firms operating in Ireland, found that consumers are losing 15 per cent of the value of their gold when they sell their gold to get euros.

When the mark-up charged by jewellery retailers is also factored in, this figure rises to approximately 80 per cent.

Thus a ring originally bought for €1,000 will have a gold value of €250 but return only €212.50 for a seller.

The survey was carried out by Dublin-based Goldcore.

“Consumers need to be careful when selling their gold jewellery for euros,” says Mark O’Byrne, Research Director of Goldcore. “While it may seem an attractive proposition in the short-term due to the current economic environment, when you factor in the original purchase price, you can see that Irish consumers are getting a very bad deal overall."

O'Byrne also said the public was being misled that now is a good time to sell gold.

"At $1,300 and €1,000 today, gold is well below its record high of $2,400 per ounce in 1980 in real terms when adjusted for inflation over the last 30 years,” he said.