This post might not have much to do with credit repair services, but I thought we’d cover an area of personal finance often left unchecked.

It seems like every other day that I come home from a long day at the office to find at least two cards that proclaim in huge, bold letters “WE PAY CASH FOR GOLD”, with a little note at the bottom letting me know they also habla español.

Now I’m seeing all of these commercials and billboards with bright, shiny faces giving these glowing testimonials, as if they just couldn’t wait to tell you about how much they loved selling away their gold.  The gold buyers will even send you a “secure” self addressed package at no cost to you for your gold shipping needs.  And I’ve never seen a single person in these ads smoking a cheap cigar.

But I wonder if the part where they rip you off has changed at all.

Gold Prices Increase

Over the past 10 years gold prices have almost quadrupled topping out above $1,200 an ounce in December of 2009.  All the commercials for gold buyers will tell you the same thing.  It gets consumer’s brains to thinking that they may have an ounce in jewelry that’s just collecting dust.  Why wouldn’t you want to turn that into $1,200?

We Could Use the Extra Money

With the economy still struggling to get back on track many Americans need extra money to make ends meet.  Selling some excess gold seems like a good way to get money for something that you’re probably not even using.  With gold prices up and Americans needing money you would think this was perfect timing for consumers to hop on board with one of gold buying companies that tries to make the process so convenient.

The Price is Wrong

When you’re selling your jewelry its cost is not calculated by the ounce, but rather by the gram or, more than likely, by the pennyweight (abbreviated dwt).  A dwt. is one-twentieth of a standard ounce.    Now, the companies that buy gold can obviously set their own prices that don’t necessarily need to be in line with what gold is currently selling for.

These are businesses that are trying to make a profit.  Nationally broadcast commercials on TV and radio aren’t exactly cheap.  This expense and others need to be recovered somehow.  This will undoubtedly come at the consumer’s expense as opposed to cutting into their profit margin.  Not only will you be given below industry minimums for your gold, but once you tack on processing fees you’ll end up with a check that shocks you with just how little you’ve received.

Lastly, there’s no appraisal that lets you decide whether you want to accept their offer or not.  You simply send your gold away and they send you a check with an amount that they deemed appropriate.

I’d Rather Stick with the Seedy Pawn Shops

At least with the pawn shops you knew you were getting ripped off and had the option to say “forget it” and take your gold back home with you.  With these mail-in cash for gold companies, not only are you getting the raw end of the deal, but you don’t even have the option of cancelling the transaction.

From what I’ve gathered the best bet is shopping around and doing so with local jewelers and gold buyers.  Local companies pay consistently higher prices then do the national firms.  Plus, very often the local companies will purchase the entire item, gemstones included.  This isn’t something you get when you sell to wholesale gold buyers.  They simply want to melt the gold down.

Also, just because gold prices are at a ten-year high, doesn’t mean that you should run out and sell everything you own.  There may be more value in having some patience with your gold.  Contemplate whether getting a quarter of what your gold is actually worth really merits your time and effort.

This post might not have much to do with credit repair services, but I thought we’d cover an area of personal finance often left unchecked.

It seems like every other day that I come home from a long day at the office to find at least two cards that proclaim in huge, bold letters “WE PAY CASH FOR GOLD”, with a little note at the bottom letting me know they also habla español.

Now I’m seeing all of these commercials and billboards with bright, shiny faces giving these glowing testimonials, as if they just couldn’t wait to tell you about how much they loved selling away their gold.  The gold buyers will even send you a “secure” self addressed package at no cost to you for your gold shipping needs.  And I’ve never seen a single person in these ads smoking a cheap cigar.

But I wonder if the part where they rip you off has changed at all.

Gold Prices Increase

Over the past 10 years gold prices have almost quadrupled topping out above $1,200 an ounce in December of 2009.  All the commercials for gold buyers will tell you the same thing.  It gets consumer’s brains to thinking that they may have an ounce in jewelry that’s just collecting dust.  Why wouldn’t you want to turn that into $1,200?

We Could Use the Extra Money

With the economy still struggling to get back on track many Americans need extra money to make ends meet.  Selling some excess gold seems like a good way to get money for something that you’re probably not even using.  With gold prices up and Americans needing money you would think this was perfect timing for consumers to hop on board with one of gold buying companies that tries to make the process so convenient.

The Price is Wrong

When you’re selling your jewelry its cost is not calculated by the ounce, but rather by the gram or, more than likely, by the pennyweight (abbreviated dwt).  A dwt. is one-twentieth of a standard ounce.    Now, the companies that buy gold can obviously set their own prices that don’t necessarily need to be in line with what gold is currently selling for.

These are businesses that are trying to make a profit.  Nationally broadcast commercials on TV and radio aren’t exactly cheap.  This expense and others need to be recovered somehow.  This will undoubtedly come at the consumer’s expense as opposed to cutting into their profit margin.  Not only will you be given below industry minimums for your gold, but once you tack on processing fees you’ll end up with a check that shocks you with just how little you’ve received.

Lastly, there’s no appraisal that lets you decide whether you want to accept their offer or not.  You simply send your gold away and they send you a check with an amount that they deemed appropriate.

I’d Rather Stick with the Seedy Pawn Shops

At least with the pawn shops you knew you were getting ripped off and had the option to say “forget it” and take your gold back home with you.  With these mail-in cash for gold companies, not only are you getting the raw end of the deal, but you don’t even have the option of cancelling the transaction.

From what I’ve gathered the best bet is shopping around and doing so with local jewelers and gold buyers.  Local companies pay consistently higher prices then do the national firms.  Plus, very often the local companies will purchase the entire item, gemstones included.  This isn’t something you get when you sell to wholesale gold buyers.  They simply want to melt the gold down.

Also, just because gold prices are at a ten-year high, doesn’t mean that you should run out and sell everything you own.  There may be more value in having some patience with your gold.  Contemplate whether getting a quarter of what your gold is actually worth really merits your time and effort.

Used to be a fella was always havin’ to carry cash around in his wallet if he was intendin’ on buyin’ somethin’ for himself while he was out ‘n about his business.  Nowadays, no one really even uses cash anymore, cuz they all got debit cards now.

Of course, if your aim is to improve your credit score or build up a better credit profile, you won’t want to use your debit card in the first place.  However, since they’re so much more convenient to carry around in your wallet than a wad of cash – and since people use them enough to (justifiably) go into a Hulk-like rage as soon as a major bank tries to tack a monthly fee onto their use – I thought we’d take a minute off from talking about credit repair services, and devote a post to them.

Most people (and I include myself among them) have switched to favoring debit cards over cold, hard cash simply because they’re more convenient to carry around.  I mean, who wants to be burdened by having wads of dolla bills weighing down their back pockets and purses when a simple plastic card will do the trick just as well.

Sure, there’s the extra hassle of having to balance a checkbook whenever you make a purchase with the card – assuming you stay on top of your finances in the first place, you don’t want to end up in need of debt relief, do you? – but it’s easier to carry around, so why choose a credit card over your debit card for purchases?

Well, aside from improving your credit score, there’s an advantage to using credit over debit on more than a couple of occasions:

Online purchases

Everyone knows about the dangers of identity thieves, especially since they’re so prevalent online.  If you’re heading over to Amazon to buy a few items, you might want to consider entering your credit card number instead.

Not necessarily because is one more secure than the other, but should your info get stolen out from under you on the internet, any transactions that occurred can be immediately credited back to your credit card, whereas with a debit card, an investigation would need to be made before you get your money back.

Vacation time

Thinking about flying somewhere for Christmas?  Or booking a cruise to escape the holiday chill?  You might wanna consider charging it to your debit card.  Since most big vacation trips are planned months in advance – and things like hotels and plane tickets are booked in that time – credit cards give you the luxury of being able to dispute any purchases should you need to, say, cancel or postpone the trip – an option debit cards do not share.

Recurring accounts

Thinking about tying a bill payment to your debit card?  If it’s an account you’ll be making regular payments to, you may want to reconsider using your debit card to pay the bills, if only because it can be difficult to cancel payments, and keep track of the accounts each month to make sure you’re never overdrawn.