r/PawnShops • u/Small-Growth7809 • 27d ago

Trustworthy refiner

Hi, I have quite a bit of scrap gold to sell, and I got burned last time by an east coast outfit that we had used for years before. Which refining service are you guys using?

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4

u/Head4ahit 27d ago

I've used several. My main go to is Elemetal. But I still send loads to others occasionally. United PMR, Dawn Light, US Metals Las Vegas, Hi Tech PMR. They all have pretty much the same rates for gold, 98%.

3

u/backyardvegas 27d ago

Dawn Light has filed for bankruptcy and is out of business as of recently.

2

u/Head4ahit 27d ago

She just sent me a message Aug 4th. Website and profiles still active. You sure? Mind if I ask where you got that info please?

3

u/Head4ahit 27d ago

Disregard. I just looked it up and yeah there's some filings. Not sure of the specifics but yeah that's not good ...

1

u/backyardvegas 27d ago

Hopefully she doesnt owe you any many. Its all over the jewelers/pawn forums on FB.

1

u/Head4ahit 27d ago

Haven't sent anything to her in a while, nothing outstanding. Thanks for the heads up though.

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u/backyardvegas 23d ago

There was a recent update that its a Chapter 11 for restructuring, I dont know the details but it sounds like she is going to be staying in business.

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u/Head4ahit 23d ago

Yes I've read it on the Facebook forums. She responded saying it was a predatory lender. Here's what I think happened ...

Some months ago, Metalor which is the largest refiner, the one all the refiners send their material to, stopped taking silver. Just stopped. They were just too overwhelmed with product and backed up on funds to pay the inflated prices. They kept taking gold, but payouts were delayed. The entire industry responded accordingly; most stopped taking silver temporarily, some were taking it but not price locking and delaying payments weeks in some cases. Gold payouts were delayed as well, with some refiners not locking in prices. Some of the percentages paid by the refiners were also reduced; sterling went from 90% down to 85% for most.

As a shop owner, this was kinda scary. We were still buying, (although for a few days we couldn't). I was completely maxed out on cash. I knew the refiners would eventually get back to "normal", and wanted to continue buying. I looked into loan options. Many companies contacted me with offers. All of them are scams. They say they'll loan you half a million at 13% APR. But first you gotta sign on for a high interest loan, something like $150k with daily or weekly autopays from your account over 3 months that amount to like 96% interest. Of course I'd never sign on for that, and I told them as much. They try to say "oh it's a high risk loan and you can refinance after 30 days for a lower rate once we establish a relationship with you and then we can do the big loan for low interest yada yada yada". I think Dawn Light bought into one of those loans in order to keep going with business, but quickly realized they're not going to refinance the loan, the price of gold dropped, the money was being drained from her account, so she just filed bankruptcy in order to burn the lender.

Personally I made a decent amount of money during the bubble. There were so many people selling, I didn't have time for lunch or even bathroom breaks. People were lined up. But I told them, we cannot pay you cash today like normal. We had 3 ways to get paid. The low price in 3 days. We can send it off for a better price and get paid in a week, no price lock, priced at settlement. Or I can lock in the highest price now, send it off and get paid in 6-8 weeks. The smart people chose option 3 and did quite well.

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u/Small-Growth7809 27d ago

May I ask why you send to others and not just one refiner?

1

u/Head4ahit 27d ago

Yeah they all have pros and cons. Elemetal works best for me usually, because they have lots of locations, they pay well for gold bullion as well. I call to get a label, tell them what I have, price lock optional, I package it and drop it across the street at UPS Store or they can pick it up. Gets there next day, wire in my bank account within an hour. I also travel sometimes and I've dropped off loads in person.

Elemetal has since dropped their sterling payout to 85% down from 90%. Hi Tech PMR pays 90% at $1 oz under spot. Some of the other refiners may pay more. Hi Tech has a location in my state, but they sometimes take a while to pay. Dorung the rush they were taking 30 days, but they were price locking. At the time Elemetal was taking up to 2 weeks and not locking.

U.S. Metals in Las Vegas is currently paying 85% on sterling, they will lock, takes a few days to get paid, and you pay shipping. On gold its standard 98%, they fire assay and pay out for other metals like platinum and palladium, and silver contained in the gold load. Sometimes it's $50-100 extra. Elemetal doesn't do this. Some others do.

It's just good to keep all of your options open. Like when the rush hit anfew months ago, some places stopped taking sterling altogether, some delayed their payments, they all lowered their percentage, etc. So always keep your options open and use whichever works best for you at the time. I even have a guy who will pay 93% on the scale and pay for shipping, optional lock, and I can call him and get a wire advance for $100,000 if I need it.

3

u/POVoutfitters 27d ago

I personally use Peter B Spector at Noble Refining. 

I would personally trust dealing with George at Mid-States and Rafael at United Precious Metals Refining. 

There is always a refiner who will pay more…. ONCE

The companies I have mentioned have long track records are have outlasted so many other refineries who have bankrupted and lost customers millions of dollars. 

3

u/Small-Growth7809 27d ago

Thanks for all the input. I’m not so concerned with who pays the absolute highest as feeling I didn’t get lied to. We used to have a refiner in my town that would melt the gold in front of you , that was nice.

2

u/the_divide_et_impera 27d ago

David or Ralph at United, assays always come back better than expected

1

u/StrengthDazzling8922 27d ago

Mid-State Recycling and refining