As for #1, those terms and conditions are for people who chose to send their gold themselves via USPS or other services. The reason for this, sometimes people want to take advantage of the situation where they said they sent $10,000 of items in regular envelope with no tracking and call Empire Gold Buyers to tell them that the package was lost. However they do have regular jeweler’s insurance that covers the valuables inside their location.

#2. Empire Gold Buyers do have a chart with their payout listed and it is listed right in the review on this page as well. As for Sell Your Gold, you are right their payout chart is not listed on their site and this is something we would like to see them change. Those two examples you listed have the same charts that Empire does where they start at over an ounce and go up from there.

#3. Most of these companies have the same testing procedures as professional jewelers which involve a testing kit (electronic or chemical, or both) and a jewelers scale. I’m sure if you call up any of these companies they would be happy to explain their testing procedures in more detail.

#4. We have tested this service on a couple occasions and it is great if you have desired jewelry pieces. If you feel confident that your jewelry is worth more than it’s scrap value, I would definitely recommend this service. We have received all positive feedback from our readers so far.

However I’m still surprised they quoted you that low; it must have been a very small amount of gold. We like SellYourGold because they will work with you if you’re not happy with their offer and of course they will return your gold exactly as you sent it if you can’t work something out.

1. I found a very disturbing paragraph in Empire;s Terms and Conditions regarding their liability for what you send them. “Limitation of Liability:
The websites liability will be limited to one-third (1/3) of the value of the total content, or one hundred ($100.00) dollars, whichever is less. If there is no original sales receipt or appraisal, website’ liability will be limited to thirty-three ($33.00) dollars.” It appears that your gold is insured while shipping, but once it’s at their site, you have no protection !!!!!

2. As far as I can tell, neither of the top 2 companies (Empire, Sell Your gold) post their % payout on their site. Sell your Gold’s response to an FAQ on rates includes this: “When our Master Jewelers have the opportunity to see your items, they often find items which can be sold in the secondary market. Because of this, calculating your offer based soley on intrinsic melt value is not necessarily representative of the actual offer we will make after reviewing your items. Please call support toll-free any time at 888-465-3860 for current rates and estimates.” This makes me nervous because refiners that deal with professionals (dentists, jewelers, etc) have a fixed, published scheduled of % spot payout by karat and dwt. Examples of such companies I found include: midstatesrecycling.com; garfieldrefining.com

3. None of the companies describe how they determine the composition of your gold. I have some old jewelry the K mark isn’t legible, and which was never there on dental gold, gold nuggets, etc. Again, the professional refiners highlight their sophisticated assaying technique.

4. Sell your Gold offers what seems to be a useful service – finding a buyer for jewelry that is worth more than its scrap value. I have several pieces like that. Have you any experience with that option? Thanks!