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My Dealings with ARA

ScubaDetective

ScubaDetective

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Just thought everyone would like to know my latest dealings with ARA. I sent into them two weeks ago 1586.00 in scrap wedding rings. 7.24 DTW of 10K, 29.70 DTW of 14K and 4.5 DTW of 18K. I was expecting 1586.00 in cash value. I was very surprised to find they assayed it out 125.00 CHEAPER.

I know they are under new ownership and all the folks I used to deal with are gone. They are no longer a family owned company either. The person that supposedly did all my gold won't let me talk to an owner. I am not impressed with them anymore and will probably go to a different refinery. I have used them exclusively since 2009

I know your results will vary but I wanted to give a heads up to anyone interested.
 
ScubaDetector said:
.... I was very surprised to find they assayed it out 125.00 CHEAPER.....
Click to expand...

There could be very slight weight that gets subtracted, once it's melted down and refined. Like enamels, teensy stones you left in, dirt in grooves, etc.. Or perhaps even though something on your end was MARKED "14k" or "10k", perhaps they were not true to their marking. I mean .... far be it for some unscrupulous jewelry dealer in a 3rd world country (Mexico, etc..) to sell something marked 10k, that was really only 9k, etc....
 
I appreciate the heads up. While I haven't had time to go swing and find gold, I am adding prospecting to my hobbies. Haven't hit a gram yet but I have a sluice, magic gold wheel and classifiers and a few pans..
Soon enough hope to have enough to send in.

You have a new place in mind to test?
No longer family owned is also is a major blow. Seems family owned businesses tend to remember customer service and all.
 
Gold purity

ScubaDetector said:
Just thought everyone would like to know my latest dealings with ARA. I sent into them two weeks ago 1586.00 in scrap wedding rings. 7.24 DTW of 10K, 29.70 DTW of 14K and 4.5 DTW of 18K. I was expecting 1586.00 in cash value. I was very surprised to find they assayed it out 125.00 CHEAPER.

I know they are under new ownership and all the folks I used to deal with are gone. They are no longer a family owned company either. The person that supposedly did all my gold won't let me talk to an owner. I am not impressed with them anymore and will probably go to a different refinery. I have used them exclusively since 2009

I know your results will vary but I wanted to give a heads up to anyone interested.
Click to expand...

Since 14K can legally be cast at 13.5K and still be called 14K, I would refigure based on this possibility. Also, did you agree with the amount they pay per gram ahead of time? ............ (so: .585 percent for 14k or 13.5 would be .5625 of pure gold).

Chuck
 
That's not good to hear, thanks for the heads up on it. Even though at my rate it's probably going to be another decade before I have enough gold to warrant the postage that would of been who I would of chosen. Any experience with Midwest Refinery or something like that. Curious if they are any better.
 
Chuck-N-Detroit said:
Since 14K can legally be cast at 13.5K and still be called 14K, I would refigure based on this possibility. Also, did you agree with the amount they pay per gram ahead of time? ............ (so: .585 percent for 14k or 13.5 would be .5625 of pure gold).

Chuck
Click to expand...

Yes the price was locked in. I have sent them gold for 8 years straight and never had that much of a difference. As I said. Others results may vary but I am going to look for another refinery. Two of the rings were Artcarved and one was a Treasurechest. All were newer and I am pretty sure were 14K or a little less. That much of a difference really doesn't sit well with me.
 
ScubaDetector said:
... I am going to look for another refinery. ....
Click to expand...

And I'll bet you dollars to donuts that ... given enough time, you'll bump into the same thing elsewhere. As chuck in detroit says: There's minor fluctuations in purity, despite the marks. And as I proposed: It's possible that you had a single ring in there that was marked for a purity, but was entirely different. eg. 14k vs 10k, or something (unscrupulous jewelry sales could do that).

And when you say: "The price was locked in", then ... was that PENDING the outcome of post refined weight ? Such that the "lock" was contingent on the final weight ? Ie.: assuming that the weights before hand were such such, then such & such is paid out ?
 
My local coin shop gives me 88% on the spot. I'm happy and he makes a little $$ on it too.
2 people you want to stay on good terms with is your local mechanic and your coin dealer!

EDIT: I sent in a test batch of rings and got scalped by midwest. ARA was good the few times I used them but both were a long time ago.
 
ScubaDetector said:
Just thought everyone would like to know my latest dealings with ARA. I sent into them two weeks ago 1586.00 in scrap wedding rings. 7.24 DTW of 10K, 29.70 DTW of 14K and 4.5 DTW of 18K. I was expecting 1586.00 in cash value. I was very surprised to find they assayed it out 125.00 CHEAPER.

I know they are under new ownership and all the folks I used to deal with are gone. They are no longer a family owned company either. The person that supposedly did all my gold won't let me talk to an owner. I am not impressed with them anymore and will probably go to a different refinery. I have used them exclusively since 2009

I know your results will vary but I wanted to give a heads up to anyone interested.
Click to expand...

I figured your 14k and how much money it should be if it was only 13.5K..... I only found a $25 difference which suprised me. Did you confront them?

Chuck
 
ScubaDetector said:
Yes and I was only able to talk to the person that said he handled it. I was NOT allowed to speak to an owner. THAT bothers me.
Click to expand...
Hmmmm..."Let's see I give this guy this much, report this much to the owners and pocket the rest." :shifty:
 
I use Midwest!!! There great company!!! My hunting buddy use them also he is very glad with there service!! Budsc
 
Send a letter to the owner and let him know they won't let you talk to him. Most owners like to feel they're in control and that THEY are the boss. Try it !!
 
Check for maybe a close refinery you can walk into. I use one down by the big box detector store. You walk in, guy checks the marks, questionable ones he uses that 50 thousand dollar testing gun. Pays 97% of melt. Tells you the price you can agree on. Youd know if they were short changing you and could disagree with the total, get your gold back etc. Was pretty much dead on mine. But Kapi had some green stuff with stones. That's when they start guessing low. Didn't agree with the price and the guy took the time to break the stones out and knock the green off. Got a lot better price. Bottom line is take stones out and clean the green before heading off to a refinery.

Oh yeah and thanks for the heads up. Was thinking about trying ARA again. Last time I sent in $900 in silver and they forgot to print and send me a check. They did send it after I called asking about it though.Made me nervous.
 
itsaring! said:
Check for maybe a close refinery you can walk into. I use one down by the big box detector store. You walk in, guy checks the marks, questionable ones he uses that 50 thousand dollar testing gun. Pays 97% of melt. Tells you the price you can agree on. Youd know if they were short changing you and could disagree with the total, get your gold back etc. Was pretty much dead on mine. But Kapi had some green stuff with stones. That's when they start guessing low. Didn't agree with the price and the guy took the time to break the stones out and knock the green off. Got a lot better price. Bottom line is take stones out and clean the green before heading off to a refinery.

Oh yeah and thanks for the heads up. Was thinking about trying ARA again. Last time I sent in $900 in silver and they forgot to print and send me a check. They did send it after I called asking about it though.Made me nervous.
Click to expand...
$900in silver melt... holy cow
 
Steve said:
$900in silver melt... holy cow
Click to expand...

Lol! My friend was tired of moving with some old silverware and had some gold he was wanting to scrap. Didn't want to deal with it and sold it to me cheap. All I had to do was heat up the knife handles and knock them off since the blades were stainless.
 

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itsaring! said:
Lol! My friend was tired of moving with some old silverware and had some gold he was wanting to scrap. Didn't want to deal with it and sold it to me cheap. All I had to do was heat up the knife handles and knock them off since the blades were stainless.
Click to expand...
You don't think you would've gotten more money reselling them than selling them for the scrap silver?
 
As Joe Pesci said to Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 2...

"Can I give you a friendly piece of advice? They ALWAYS freak you at the Drive through" :laughing:

I pay Spot...but only to select Hunters In my AO...With my empty beer can and totlot clad redemptions....I figure It's my duty, and I dont have to go out and incur the trouble, boredom and expenses of hunting for it myself!...Contrary to popular belief, finding Wild Gold aint easy...Doing the SWOT and ROI analysis...I'm better suited for finding or emptying beer cans and scarfing up clad...

I'm a classic enabler and Patron Saint to outdoor focused wanderers that have Gold Fever...Just doing my part to promote the Sport and clear the Earth of pulltabs...:laughing:
 
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