Why even bother asking my advice?

[Dizzy_1986]

Just a rant I need to get off my chest.
I've worked in the same job for 6 years now. I am (reasonably) knowledgeable in the field that I work in (jewellery).
At the moment, 99% of conversations I have with customers go like this:
SC "Hi, I wondered if you could give me some advice on this matter?" (For arguments sake lets say they want to sell some jewellery)
Me "Of course, lets have a look..."
Me "Ok, these are lovely pieces that you are selling, we are curently only buying gold for scrap (not a lie, we are way overstocked at the moment, everything we buy gets melted down) at the moment, you would do much much better with these pieces to sell them in an auction or similar, any price I give you will be an insult"
SC " Well just give me a price and we'll see"
Me "OK, but it will only be a scrap price, in no way will it reflect the retail value of the piece"
SC *all sweetnes and light* "No problem at all, thats fine"
Me "We could offer you £X"
SC "WHAT??? HO DARE YOU?? THATS A £5000 RING DON'T YOU KNOW! WHAT AN OUTRAGE!! HOW CAN YOU DO THAT, ITS DAYLIGHT ROBBERY!!!"
Me "I did warn you..."
SC "WELL I'M DISGUSTED, I'LL TAKE MY BUSINESS ELSEWHERE FROM NOW ON, I'M NEVER COMING HERE AGIN!!"
Me

I've just used this as an example, but honestly we get it with everything. The second you give them your honest advice and it isn't what they want to hear, they lose their s**t.
The conversation may as well go like this
SC "I'd like to waste your time by asking for your (free) advice but then not taking it"
Me "No, go away"
SC "OK"

It would save so much time in the long run

[Shyla]

You need a sign. Worthless advice here. See how many still ask. I bet a lot will still ask.

[Pixelated]

They obviously have a higher value of "scrap" than is reasonable ...

I mean, I know gold is valuable, but like anything, at least part of its value lies in its scarcity. An overload of the stuff means the price plummets, and that includes the price of that "lovely" and highly expensive ring.

Sorry you are dealing with this. All you can do is refrain from throttling them and remind them (as you did) that "I'm sorry but I did warn you." And just wave cheerily at them as they stomp out in a rage (to get the same response at the next half-dozen places they visit).

[Slave to the Phone]

I know several women who think that their jewelry will work as retirement investments. They seriously make their husbands/boyfriends buy them "expensive" rings and earrings then brag about wearing 10 grand in diamonds. I can't imagine how those women (notice I didn't call them ladies, or friends), would react when they learned the real value of their bling.

[Draco]

Diamonds are garbage gems. Their rarity is manufactured due to releasing them slowly, not natural (unlike, say, emeralds).

How much does scrap gold go for currently? Well, I imagine it's less what you buy it for than what you sell it for.

[wolfie]

Diamonds are garbage gems. Their rarity is manufactured due to releasing them slowly, not natural (unlike, say, emeralds).

Admittedly the prices are lower than for gem-quality, but as of a few years ago you could get a 5 carat diamond (single-point dresser - used for "cleaning up" grinding wheels) for under a hundred bucks. The price ratio of gem quality to industrial diamonds is definitely fishy.

[greek_jester]

Actually, my mum has always made a point of buying gold bracelets etc. when the price of gold is low. This has come in handy over the years; on a few occasions she's been badly scrapped for cash if something major went wrong (e.g. problem with the car) so she went and sold enough to get herself some ready money. She knows which jewellers won't screw you over, so she's never walked away with less than a couple of hundred pounds.

Of course the knock-on of this is that when we have enough money she's justified in asking for jewellery for birthday/Christmas again...!

[Slave to the Phone]

IMO, buying jewelry as an investment is not a very wise choice. I knew from the start that my rather expensive marriage ring lost half of its selling value as soon as I put it on my hand.

I will be talking to someone like the OP next week. I inherited a full jewelry box and have sorted out the obvious costume, but am going to take the things I think might have value to someone who knows what she is looking at.

The agreement is that she will sort the costume from the real, and then if I want to know more about the real, I have to pay for her time.

I think this is a great deal and I have no plans to scream if she says that its all very good costume. (Its possible that I might scream with joy if she says that I have a 5,000 ring, though.)

[lexamckenzie]

Oh well, better to be honest and this is how business actually works. People actually expect jewelry to have a high-value in the market but that's not how it work. You surely have a lot of patience dealing with this type of customer from time to time. Great heads-up you have there.

[Captain Neon]

I grew up around and own an antique automobile. I have witnessed dozens of antique automobile negotiations in my life. Without fail every fall someone will come on one of the forums that I frequent asking for a ballpark figure of what his car might be worth with some story as to why he needs to get rid of it: lost storage space usually. He's not actually looking for an honest estimate based on supply and demand, he's asking if anyone has any interest in buying his car sight unseen. He bought it cheap locally and thinks he can unload quickly to enthusiasts for top dollar. As a general rule, antique cars aren't as valuable as a lot of people want to believe. For the most part, they are second cars with some character and the actual purchase prices are accordingly, esp. in the fall when demand plummets. On occasion, I will give a real world estimate of these vehicles that need to sell NOW to weed out the speculators from the guys that really want to sell. Response is similar to jewelry seller above.

[vikingchyk]

IMO, buying jewelry as an investment is not a very wise choice. I knew from the start that my rather expensive marriage ring lost half of its selling value as soon as I put it on my hand.

Then there is my mom, who sometime in the 80s, started feeling bad that she didn't have a lot of family jewels to pass on. Because she didn't wear jewelry, and a lot of the family pieces had been lost or stolen over the years (not that there were that many to begin with) So, she became enamoured of a local jewelry store (not a chain store) and started buying rings. Some were vintage. Then more rings. And still more rings. And maybe a few pendants. Mostly semi-precious stones in 14K settings, 50s thru 90s styles. I think she finally slowed down in 2000s. I hope.

She keeps calling it my legacy. Yes, because all these things you bought since the 80s mean SO much to me. You wear them once in a blue moon. I live out of state, so I never see you wear them. Plus most of them are kept in the safe deposit box at the local bank. Yes, those are the same thing as something that had been in the family for generations. Oh, the sentiment! Bless her heart, she tried.

So when she dies, I'm getting who knows how many rings, which probably have a current average value of $250 (which she bought for $400-600) and are at least two sizes too small for me. If I like any of them, I'll have to pay to have them resized. I still haven't had any of the rings I inherited from my aunt resized - those are three sizes too small. And my aunt died 19 years ago. And I don't wear the jewelry I have now (aside from my wedding set) She has bought me several vintage rings through the years, but at least those are my style (I prefer 20s thru 40s art deco) and in my size. I only wear them once in a blue moon

But she's totally convinced this is my legacy AND a good investment; in case I ever need money, I can sell all this stuff. Oh dear, I need a Starbucks - better sell one of Mom's rings! Don't get me started on the Thomas Kinkade prints!!

[Pixelated]

Actually, my mum has always made a point of buying gold bracelets etc. when the price of gold is low. This has come in handy over the years; on a few occasions she's been badly scrapped for cash if something major went wrong (e.g. problem with the car) so she went and sold enough to get herself some ready money.

Wish I'd thought of that years ago. It's probably a better idea than my vast collection of Harry Potter items.

My mother used to tell us proudly how much money her living room and dining room sets would be worth someday (they are teak). Well, that might've been true except for one minor issue: 40 YEARS OF CIGARETTE SMOKE. The cushions can be trashed instantly (for that and other reasons); I have no idea whether the wood will also have absorbed a ton of tobacco carcinogens and thus will also bring in far less than she believed it would. I feel badly for her but the upside is she will never know.

[Monterey Jack]

Anyone who buys anything hoping it'll be "worth something" or "a good investment" in the future is deluding themselves...even if you keep said item mint in the box or in tip-top condition, VERY little of anything will be worth anything more than what you originally paid for it, and usually less. And if it IS worth something, it's a pain in the ass to find someone to take it off your hands for the price you want.

[Slave to the Phone]

Well, I'm here to publicly eat my words.

My MIL never once said a word about the value of the contents of her jewelry box to me, so I was very surprised to learn that the worth of the box I took to the jewelry appraiser is real money. Of course, for many of the objects much of the value is in the metal, but there were a few rings that made her grab her monocular thing.

vikingchyk be very grateful that your Mom doesn't have any family stuff to pass down. MIL was the youngest of her generation so all of the assorted family stuff was passed down to her. My husband was her only child and he was also the youngest in his generation. When he was a child, he had no interest in listening to the story of some piece of jewelry that came from his great grandmother who he had never met, and when he was old enough to want to listen to stories about that sort of thing, he was living across the country so we never got to know where that beautiful circa 1930 diamond and sapphire ring was worn.

We have inherited jewelry that is obviously over a hundred years old, and had great sentimental value to someone at that time due to the wear marks and would probably be highly valued by someone in the downstream family, but we don't know who they are.

And we have no children.

Do you see the problem?

[Rosco the Iroc]

^ thread title.

OMG all the damm time with people who ask me about guns and car issues and life in gen.

My wife all the time. Asked should she do XXX? I say why not and should do YYY or QQQ then she spends 3 days arguing for XXX. Long past the point I stopped giving a fuck. Then again that would be pretty much from the word go because of this cycle.