With so many ways to buy and sell gold, it is hard to know how to get the best bang for your buck and it is especially hard to know if you’re working with someone who has your best interest in mind. The best way to arm yourself against any gold scam is to first find out how much your gold is worth. To do this, take it to a jewelry store and have it appraised. If your local jewelry store won’t appraise it for you, at least get it weighed so that you can figure out its value on your own. Keep in mind that you will have to sell your gold for less than it’s worth, so that the buyer will make a profit when they sell it, but knowing its value will at least give you a good benchmark to work from.

There are tons of gold scams out there, one news team in San Diego uncovered one by conducting a simple test: they bought four gold rings for $58 each and sent three of them to different “cash for gold” companies to see what they would offer. They took the fourth ring to a pawn shop who offered them $18.50. Goldkit.com sent back a check for $2.80, Cash4gold offered $7.91, and GetGoldCash sent $7.61. Surprisingly, the local buyer was fastest and easiest, with an offer that more than doubled the online buyer’s.

When you do decide to sell your gold, there are some scam warning signs that you should be aware of from the beginning. First, if the buyer is using high-pressure tactics to convince you to sell or send your gold in right away. Second, if the company charges extra fees or commissions in the fine print. Third, if the company contacts you through unsolicited phone calls or from another country – especially if their reading material is written in broken English. If you come across any of these things, you should take your gold and leave immediately.

In addition to these warning signs, you should also beware of companies who won’t tell you what they are currently paying for gold, but instead ask you to mail in your gold or bring it to them for the best price. In the end, they will try to give you an extremely low offer with the hope that you will accept it rather than go though the hassle of finding another buyer.

Finally, the worst kind of gold scammers aren’t the ones who don’t give you enough money for your gold; they are the ones who simply steal your gold outright. If anyone ever tries to separate you from your gold, even just to take it in the back room to weight it, you must insist that they examine and weigh it in front of you. Even if you take your eyes off your gold for a minute, you can’t be certain that it hasn’t been switched for fake gold.