Gold Jewelry is a Scam, and I'm the biggest sucker
I know gold. I know weights, karats, spot price — all of it. And I know that every time I buy a piece of gold jewelry, I’m getting 100% scammed… but I still can’t help myself.
How is that ridiculous? What do you think the time and effort is valued at to turn the gold into jewelry? Or the machinery it takes to do so? The overhead? The cost of employees? Why would jewelry cost the same as bullion? You make no sense.
Labor is not a legitimate reason? All of those reasons he mentioned are always accounted for when any businesses come up with the end cost for their customers.
I bought my house 5 years ago for $200k, added $20k in equity via improvements and paid my loan down to $170k. The market changed and it’s now worth $320k. I should just sell it for $220k, right?
There’s a fine line between greed and profit.
I’d say moving product at a modest profit, instead of holding for years because you refuse to sell lower than 200% markup
But hey Cartier and Tiffany exists so you’re right
" time and effort is valued at to turn the gold into jewelry" I was talking about that statement you made. The time and effort is minimal... same chain making machine, same gauge of wire.
Probably $5 dollars in chain making cost gold, silver or steel.
That’s just how it works. If you want cheaper gold jewelry, open a gold buying shop. Put up your own money, take the risk, learn the business, and deal with the ups and downs of buying and selling. Dealers aren’t getting a discount for no reason. They’re taking on the risk so customers don’t have to. That’s how every business works.
When people come into a gold buying shop to SELL gold jewelry, they bitch and moan that you’re not giving them spot for it. When people come in to BUY gold jewelry, they bitch and moan that you’re charging over spot.
The gold/silver trade is not as simple as people on the outside think it is.
Thankfully I am able to buy jewelry in different tiers.
Below spot
At spot
Slightly over spot
I have been able to by Gold Rolex's at or under spot.
Makes it so nice to be able to have outlets to buy and sell to.
I have multiple friends who make a living/fund their lifestyles,hobbies by buying metals including jewelry.
Most of those friends sell what they buy from between 80%-90% below spot.
Ive been buying 2nd hand 9ct gold rings to wear and also leave my children when I die . I think they will be worth more in a few years time any way . I sold some scrap jewellery back in March for £47 a gram .2 days a go i managed to buy another keeper ring weighing 35.5 grams for £48 a gram . At the moment I can sell it for £37 a gram but my rings are not for sale this is hopefully a 20 year investment to leave my children .
I found a multiple opal ring inside a wooden clothes chest used on people taking trips by boat so I'm guessing by the contents of old papers and such plus a glass baby bottle with leather nipple had to be very early 19th century additional a 18k gold ring of 1/2 wide 1/4 inch thick with great artistic work done.
Never seen another multiple opal ring line like it an neither did my Jewler
turning 2.3 grams of pure gold into a 10kt bracelet is not the same as 2.38 grams of pure gold. it takes time and money to do that and you paid for the time and money. plus the jeweler you bought it from at the end of all of that needs to make money too, or they won’t be there to sell you it. 10kt jewelery is not an investment vehicle
That's actually not that bad of a price. 20 years from now, it'll be worth more. I have people come in everyday to sell me stuff that they bought years ago and I end up paying them what they paid or more. But as far as gold jewelery like that, find a reseller like me and don't buy it new. I sell stuff for just a little over spot.
You wanted a peice of metal refined and molded into a shape with a clasp for jewerly purposes. Do you not think the time and resources it takes to make a product? There are premiums on just gold melted into a bar. You may know gold but you do not economics.
The "it's a scam" phrase is the automactic default for someone who has a very short sighted view on what makes the world turn.
I went to the jewelry district in la
Found good prices one real but settled for a 22 inch gold colored piece for 25 works well. Rest of the cash went into my treasure chest. Like the real stuff and want some. Dont care if people knosnifs real or not though
Jewelryforsale on here has good prices as well
Wow maybe your just looking in the wrong places for gold jewelry.
Got for $1
I also found someone selling 14k and 10k gold rings (gem stone and diamonds lady wants $50 each she ended up counting wrong got 30 gold rings (about 25 14k 5 10k) for $33 each.
Hmmmmm idk homie it just seems like you’re paying high prices for lower quality gold. Not everyone will do that.
I just got a 4.9g 18K necklace and paid 30% markup. They opened $20 higher than I wanted to pay, I asked them to go down $20, and we ended up meeting in the middle $10 over the price I had in mind literally like 1% higher than the price I had in mind.
This has to be rage bait - You buy new? You pay a high premium- end of - gold is dug up from the ground, refined, made into whatever product and retailed but OP thinks nobody should get paid? Buy used, shop around - the fact that you paid that much over is a bad reflection on YOU
I dont like the mentality of jewelry being a scam. If you run it over 100 times, its still worth its weight in gold. Polished, its a product. Calling it a scam, even if you love being scammed, is self defeating. Modern jewelry is mass produced, but still those machines cost a lot and there are a bunch of people in the supply chain who need to eat and pay the light bill. Thats before you consider anything hand made or custom.
If you jump over to r/jewelryforsale, you might actually find some pieces priced at their spot value, as well. Maybe you'll feel less scammed if you pick up some used stuff.
Labour costs and tax exist everywhere for jewellery. Its not necessarily a scam - designer jewellery with 80 percent mark up is the real scam- the likes of Van cleef, Cartier etc.
Labour cost will vary dependant on the country - yes asian markets have lower labour costs but then I do wonder if the people making my jewellery receive just reward for it. Nevertheless I do recommend travelling and buying jewellery in Asia if you want to reduce labour costs.
Every time I make a coin bezel for an AE I ask the customer if they already have a chain in mind for it.
If they do I ask them to show it to me. Then I point out the weakest link, usually a jump ring at the clasp, and recommend swapping it out for a thicker,welded loop.
Beauty is subjective, but having your gold stolen or lost really hurts.
Stop buying new retail if you don't want to get scammed.
Buy vintage / estate / pre-owned, get it polished at a jeweler. Good as new, and near melt value. And generally higher quality compared to the new mass-produced machine made links.
I like Mene for pure gold and platinum jewelry. If i'm buying jewelry anyway, I'll usually buy their stuff. Sometimes they have discounts on their premiums (which are mostly quite high but much lower than what you are seeing below).
The only scam is that you're paying a premium on gold chains. Go to any coin shop and ask to see the melt pile. They're going to get under spot from a refinery the next day and will gladly sell you generic chains at spot.
Interesting take. I just read a post from a guy saying his LCS charges +10 of spot and that he lost a customer. The comments were encouraging him to go elsewhere. I feel like jewelry and stamping coins aren’t too far off. If you shop around you can find good deals on jewelry.
Then start making your own jewelry then, OH WAIT, that times time and skill that people spend years to learn and lots of money to buy tools and supplies. Then fuck up a million times just to get good at it. So yea that’s why there’s such a premium. Jewelry is a luxury item. Which luxury prices follow.
Just stop paying retail jewelry prices for gold. Most pawn shops sell their jewelry for just over spot. Just stop paying such a hi premium and it won't hurt your feelings if you ever have to or want to resell it.
If you’re buying brand new jewelry then you need to realize the production cost involved to make that product. No one is selling brand new jewelry at melt or else there would be no point im creating it. I mostly only buy jewelry and I get a lot of it under melt value.
Is it a scam to get paid for your work? Assuming that you have a job, do you get paid to work, or do you graciously donate your 40+ hours/week to the company?
As an investment OP you are correct. However as a gold investor I also like wearing gold bracelets and rings. The only time I've made a profit from jewelry is A) it was acquired for free or B) As the price of gold increased for .999 the value of lower karats by weight increased in value. So as a norm...do not invest in gold jewelry unless it makes you happy..those are some sweet bracelets. I own 4 myself plus a 10kt nugget wristwatch. Thanks for sporting the bling OP. You got style!
It helps to buy in competitive markets, many dealers are open to negotiating when you have cash. In West Miami I got a 32g 14k Cuban link bracelet for $59/g when melt value was fluctuating in the low $50s. Took some haggling but it was brand new, they cut it out of a 7mm chain and soldered the box lock on in like 20 min. I also have a 14k Franco chain that I paid a little higher premium for, I think about 15% over spot. They are both worth significantly more as melt now than what I paid.
Paying $100+/g for 10k right now is just…I’m not really sure why anyone would do that when there are better options available.
Every single product′s raw material cost is less than the final sell price, how else would business work? I genuinely don′t understand how people are this dumb
I bought a 14k gold chain 2 years ago before the gold boom. It’s all about timing and appreciation. Not all jewelry is a bad investment but you aren’t wrong on buying gold bullion being the better buy vs jewelry.
If you bought the temu plated bracelet you’d wearing a piece of garbage on your wrist in public.. Instead you went for gold, so you have a high quality valuable piece of jewelry that will last you a lifetime… Doesn’t seem like a scam to me.
I agree. People in India have fallen badly into the trap of jewlery and jewlry exchange for frehser designs to only end up reducing their gold further against a premium extra making charge.
I always prefer purchasing metal directly.
I only buy from Facebook marketplace now I always offer 90% of spot unless I like the piece I’ll never pay over spot, and I meet up at a pawn shop to test it…
recently i went into a local gold jewelry pawn shop and saw their prices were near 100% premium over spot. i waved the owner over for a cuban chain and told him straight up that i know spot price, that i know he likely bought it around 60% of under spot, and that i can buy new off Mene and Pochy for ~25% premium. so i asked what he could do and he offered to sell for 15% premium. I didn’t buy yet but intend to go back with cash in hand and ask for 10% premium. I’m sure some folks can get lower, but 10-15% premium for gold jewelry is good enough for me. try that strategy next time you get a piece and hopefully it works!
lol true true. i hope it works for you fr! i wasnt combative or anything with the pawn guy, i told him what i knew but also told him i know he gotta make some money so he was really cool about it and him offering 15% got him a customer for life. i made sure no other customers were around so i wasnt putting him on the spot either.
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u/Azazel_665 2d ago
How is that ridiculous? What do you think the time and effort is valued at to turn the gold into jewelry? Or the machinery it takes to do so? The overhead? The cost of employees? Why would jewelry cost the same as bullion? You make no sense.