The jewelry business is notoriously shady. When you find a reputable jeweler, stick with them, because they can be rare. They’re out there, but it might take some looking. Many a weasel lurks in the glare of a shiny stone.
One of the oldest scams, is the Free Jewelry Cleaning offer. Just bring us in your jewelry, leave it, and we’ll clean if for you. No charge! Sound too good to be true? Well then. . .
This is what an unscrupulous thief will do. Give the stones in your jewelry a close inspection, identifying the superior ones. Then swap out these stones with fakes, or flawed ones. How do they get away with it? Most consumers can’t tell the difference between a diamond and a dewdrop.
The weasels are always working. You can see them on TV every day. Most recent are the gold buyers. Mail us all your unwanted gold and we’ll send you a check! Sure, but how big a check?
NBC news set up a sting on these scumbags. They had some gold jewelry appraised at a reputable dealer, then mailed it out to several TV gold buyers. The highest check returned was for 90% of the appraised value. Not bad. Then it went down hill, all the way to just 8% of what the gold was worth. This is just stealing your gold.
There are some who have little sympathy for suckers who get robbed by these crooks. They wonder why anyone would send their stuff off to some unknown grifter with any expectation of receiving full value.
If you want to sell your jewelry, go to reputable, local jewelers and get estimates. Even locally, you’ll be surprised at the difference in appraisals.
Guess John Wayne said it best: “Life’s hard, but it’s a lot harder if you’re stupid.”
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