These reviews are based on our personal experiences with the individual cash for gold companies and our rating reflects our feelings regarding our transactions with them. Your experience with the gold refiner/dealer may fare better or worse. But we always try to give the most accurate representation of what you are likely to find.
It is always a good idea to do your own research and find the company that works for you. We do these reviews because it is important for anyone looking to sell their gold to understand that very few online gold buyers will actually give you what your gold is worth. You would be surprised how many cash for gold businesses payout less than half the current price of gold. And not everyone has the time to properly look through and research the hundreds of gold buyers that are out there today. We hope these reviews will give you an idea of what to expect and will help you to make a wise decision.
Midwest Refineries
Cash Payout: 
Customer Service: 
Turn Around Time: 
Shipping Insurance:
Overall: 
One of the first refiners that we ever used, Midwest Refineries is a well respected company. They have been around since 1939 and have been online since 1998 which makes them one of the oldest gold refiners still in business. And to top it all off they have an excellent rating with the Better Business Bureau (an A). As our former go to refiner we have almost nothing but good things to say about them.
What initially drew us to them was their payout for high volume customers. 95% is right around the best that you can get baring a few exceptions like Empire Gold Buyers. And from our small volume test their payout was within 3% of the top 5 refiner contenders. The great thing about Midwest Refineries is that they don’t charge refining fees, assay fees, treatment charges, brokering fees, inbound troy ounce weight fees, or handling fees like some other big name gold buyers.
But we did have one major complaint which is one of the reasons that we don’t use them anymore and that is that their turnaround time can be a bit slow. They say to expect a turnaround of 3-5 days but it almost always ends up being a full week or more. Also they don’t offer free insured shipping which is one of the reasons that they can pay more but is also a pain in the ass if you continually have to ship like we do.
We do feel though that overall Midwest Refineries is one of the better gold refineries out there today and that for the average person they will work alright if you are willing to deal with paying for shipping + insurance.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
RUDE RUDE RUDE RUDE…I called Midwest refineries about whether or not they bought a specific gold product. A deep voice (lady?) told me she is not going to look that up now because she is busy…….
Well…just lost a customer because of your “busy-ness”
I suspect that I spoke to the same lady that “letitbe” (above) spoke with and the concept of busy/not_have_time did come up in our brief conversation when I asked about email notification. But I have to say that she did not come across as rude at all, just business-like. I’ll bet they do HUGE business and they indeed are busy.
My experience was that I sent two coins of 1 troy ounce of gold each to Midwest Refineries by Express Mail (insured for ~ $3000). They got the coins the next day and I received 95% of the morning spot price for gold. In the afternoon the gold price went down. I call that quite upstanding because they could have given me the lower price.
The money was wired to my bank account that same day. They charged a $25 fee for the wire (normal practice). My bank also charged $15 to receive the wire. I wasn’t expecting that last charge.
Now, someone sending scrap gold (electronics/dental/etc.) or jewelry of unknown karat might have to wait longer than I did. All I can do is relate how my transaction was handled.
Good luck!
I sent in a few broken pieces…a bracelet, a pendant, a ring, and an earring which I had lost the other one. Not a lot of stuff, but certainly not doing me any good. I was SO surprised and happy that right away, I got a check for alot more than I thought I’d get and it was just like they said. 95%. This is the place to go to.