American Recycling Associates - Are they still good?

[1treasurehunter1]

Hey everyone:

I have accumulated around $2000 worth of gold jewelry and was wondering if ARA still pays 98% of spot? I have heard some negative reviews lately with one person getting only 60% of spot (they acid tested everything before sending it in). The last time I dealt with them was Oct. 2011 and everything went perfectly. I'm a little concerned as their website aragold.com doesn't work anymore and their new website aragold.net doesn't specify how much they pay and doesn't mention the free stone removal service.

Has anyone dealt with them this year or shortly before 2013? What was your experience like?

Thanks!

 

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[Sandman]

One of our members did a review of ARA in 2011. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/p...0042-my-personal-visit-ara-dallas-review.html

 

[1treasurehunter1]

Thanks for answering. Unfortunately I have heard negative experiences people have had in 2012 with ARA. I dealt with them on Oct. 2011 and the article you linked was published on March 31 2011, months before I dealt with them. I'm worried that they may have changed since I have dealt with them. I really hope not. Anybody else deal with ARA recently? Thank you very much.

 

[Sandman]

I have sold gold and silver to them twice in 2012 and thought I was treated fairly. I had one item that I thought was gold but didn't test it and they sent it back with a note that it wasn't gold. Midwest Refineries keeps everything you send them but pays you less with telling you some items aren't gold or not as pure KT as you thought. Things could be marked wrong, but I test most pieces anyway and weigh them. I still trust ARA. Midwest Refineries is about 4 miles from my home.

 

[biggmike]

Perfect every time for me. I usually send about $800 - $1000 at a time though. $2000 is a lot to send in one shipment IMO.

 

[DrJoePrime]

My last shipment with ARA was November 2012. They were spot on. I generally accumulate $1000 to $1500 to send them. I insure the package USPS for $1000...the cheapie I am <smile>.

They gave me a diamond quote for about a dozen very small diamonds adding up to a half carat of $35. I should have taken it but there ws a 0.4 carat stone which I thought was good and wasn't.

I'd give them a 5 out of 5 rating.

 

[NYwaterhunter]

Hi guys.
I'm dumping 3,000 bucks. (done 1,300 so far)
I got scared at ARA no web site.
I'm using a pawn guy.
I get 86% of Kitco price, NO PAPER TRAIL, CASH IN HAND, No copying driver license, Don't have to worry 14 K comes back as 13.3 or whatever, No insurance in case it is lost in mail, Out the door - see ya.
Just showing the other side.
All is good,
Take care
Gary G.

 

[biggmike]

Hi guys.
I'm dumping 3,000 bucks. (done 1,300 so far)
I got scared at ARA no web site.
I'm using a pawn guy.
I get 86% of Kitco price, NO PAPER TRAIL, CASH IN HAND, No copying driver license, Don't have to worry 14 K comes back as 13.3 or whatever, No insurance in case it is lost in mail, Out the door - see ya.
Just showing the other side.
All is good,
Take care
Gary G.

I see that. There is ARA gold at Gold Processing - Stone Removal - ARA - American Recycling Associates - Dallas - Texas but no percentage paid anymore. I would be veeerrryy careful.

 

[DrJoePrime]

I would definitely call them first. They no longer advertise payout percentage.

 

[Hag730]

I used them a few times in 2012.....absolutley no complaints. The offer I recieved on some diamonds from them was kind of funny, but the money I recieved back on my gold was spot on. Midwest seems to have a faster turnaround just FYI...

 

[captaindoug]

Why all the negative talk when you have'nt even called them and asked them. They have always been very good to me and as far as I know other MD'ers. I think they are just trying to get away from the We buy gold people. Give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a call rather than just saying on here you have heard negative things.

 

[1treasurehunter1]

Hi Doug:

If they became dishonest somehow (unlikely), why would they bother telling me the truth if I called them? I wanted to know peoples experiences first. Midwest claims they pay 95% of spot and people always complain that they get shorted. I'm sure ARA hasn't changed but I need to be sure. $2000 is a lot of money for me and I'm not willing to risk it.

 

[lonelyduckhunter]

I have send ARA 3 shipments so far in 2013 and have nothing but positive things to say about them. Send them 2 last year. I buy alot of storage units so I let them buy my gold. They are still paying me 98% spot. If a item is not gold they will send it back to you. They will call you once your items are recieved if you request that on the form and call you once your items have settled. I have nothing but positive things to say about them. There website might be a little weird but there professionalism and turn around times are not. They imo are #1. Very nice people there as well. I usually send them 500-1000 at a time. The stones come back as well if you request it. There numbers are always right on to mine. Make sure you insure your package. I know it takes about 3 days for USPS to get my stuff from MD to TX. I have never tried midwest and proably won't as long as ARA keeps giving me the service they have. I would not give a second thought not to send ARA my stuff. They have a form available where you can weight out your stuff and mark what services you like. ie melt and shoot, stone removal payment options etc. If you don't have the form call them and they will get it to you.

 

[reg11756]

ARA told me this morning I need an EIN which is an EMPLOYER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER for businesses, with employees, which I am not. Why can't they just use my SS#? This is my first time trying to use them, should I just send it in and see what they do?

 

[bigscoop]

Hi Doug:

If they became dishonest somehow (unlikely), why would they bother telling me the truth if I called them? I wanted to know peoples experiences first. Midwest claims they pay 95% of spot and people always complain that they get shorted. I'm sure ARA hasn't changed but I need to be sure. $2000 is a lot of money for me and I'm not willing to risk it.

So far this year I have something like eight or nine checks from Midwest and they have all been spot on. Used them several times the last few years and they have always been spot on with their payouts. Both ARA and Midwest are huge, reputable operations, who rely on small margin and volume with no room for a bad reputation so I suspect most of the stories you hear about how "they cheated me" are simply the product of miscalculations by the sender.

 

[surfnturf]

Last week I sent gold silver and Plat to ARA! yesterday I got a cheak for my silver!! I got about 87% and a good spot price!! I had some iffy silver so Im very happy!! that was about 1 week turn around! Hope me gold cash comes this week AAAARRRGH !!!! I have done business with them before no problems no Tax ID#! Also I was told there is a tax luploe for selling jewlery, you just can't pool it and sell when you want to?!?! GL!


SnT

 

[reg11756]

Sent my first batch ever...decided on PG&G in CO since they don't ask for EIN. Weighed all and took photos and made a list. Got email yesterday confirming and a price that was HIGHER than my estimate (spot $ difference?). Very HAPPY!!

 

[ARA]

I hope you don't mind us posting here but we heard there was a bit of confusion from a few customers and we just wanted to make sure everything was cleared up. Our website is currently not up to date so some of the information is still undergoing changes and there have been some law changes in Texas recently regarding refineries but we've found new information that may be beneficial to you. If you guys ever have any questions or concerns regarding absolutely anything feel free to email me at [email protected] we just want to make sure all of our customers end up happy.

I just thought i would give ya'll some insight as to what's going on in Texas as there has been mass confusion lately (some with us as well). They are cracking down heavily on refineries but here is what we've found.

We are required to have a Tax ID of some sort which we have found out recently is way more simple than we had previously thought.

**Per the owners, we REQUIRE a copy of one of these listed below. You will only need to send it in once and we will keep it on file. Please be sure to use the shipping list which is available on our site.**

"A Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is an identification number used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the administration of tax laws. It is issued by either the Social Security Administration (SSA) or by the IRS. A Social Security Number (SSN) is issued by the SSA whereas all other TINs are issued by the IRS."

Taxpayer Identification Numbers:
Social Security Number "SSN"
Employer Identification Number "EIN"
Individual Taxpayer Identification Number "ITIN"
Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions "ATIN"
Preparer Taxpayer Identification Number "PTIN"

Note: The temporary IRS Numbers previously assigned are no longer valid.

If you need/want further info here is a link regarding TIN's: Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN)

Make sure you check out our site http://www.aragold.com/
It was down for a few days but it's back up and running (somewhat) now the Gold Processing - Stone Removal - ARA - American Recycling Associates - Dallas - Texas is an EXTREMELY OLD/OUTDATED website that we are having issues getting removed for whatever reason.
Our current site also lists our hours from 7:30am - 5:00pm but this won't actually take effect for another month or so. Right now we're still 7:30-4

We have the shipping list under Customer Application for some reason... our site is hosted via ATT/YP and its a pain to get them to fix it but we are definitely working on it.

There's a lot of new things happening for us down here and we are excited to share all of it with you guys!

We have a new program being developed (really close to completion) which will automatically email/text you depending on your preferences when your lot is received/checked-in with the expected due date and when it settles as well with the breakdown and amount settled.

We are moving to a new/bigger state of the art facility in a month or two so keep an eye out for that and I'll try to get back here and keep you guys updated with our status.

Also i have a more detailed breakdown of our Refining Schedule/Payouts I can email to you which we are trying to get put up on the site as well due to the one listed currently being uninformative/incorrect.

If you guys have ANY questions please feel free to contact me at [email protected] and I'll try to get back to you in a timely manner!

We apologize if our changes have caused you guys any frustration/confusion

-The ARA Family

 

[bigscoop]

Thanks ARA for clearing up the confusion.

 

[ARA]

No problem at all man like i said we're here to help, just shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll do what i can.