How far are you willing to go to a sale?

[SCpicker]

So it's been a while since I've been to a sale with a considerable amount of gold. About 3 weeks. There just hasn't been any good local sales. I looked before the weekend and kept expanding my search radius. Finally I found a sale on Saturday that looked like it had a some gold and sterling jewelry but it was 180 miles away. I crunched the numbers and if I drove my car it would be a little over $20 in gas.

So Friday night I'm still not sure about going that far to a sale. Plus I don't know the company or the local players in the area. I look at the crappy pictures and think there's at least $200 to $400 in gold at scrap prices. The listing doesn't say anything about gold so I could be wrong and there could be no gold. There was a sale on Craigslist about 20 miles out of the way halfway that just had a simple listing including jewelry. No pictures but it was in a good area. So I thought I'll check that halfway sale out then continue on to the "180 mile" sale . Worst case scenario I can pick the whole way back at shops and antique malls in towns I rarely visit.

So I wake up early Saturday and leave out. I arrive at the halfway sale and am extremely disappointed. Basically the sale was stuff left over after a house sold. Everything good was kept by the family. No antiques. No real jewelry. Nothing but flea market stuff. The "jewelry" was some newer McDonald's pins and dirty junky crap.

I jump back in the car and continue on my trip thinking my road trip might be a complete bust. I arrive 5 minutes after the sale start time and to my surprise there was over $2,000 in gold at scrap prices. I didn't buy all the gold but I did buy most of it. I ended up spending $900. I bought over 75 grams of 14k. The gold at 100% scrap (gold was at $1256/oz) was $1780 and I wouldn't consider any of it scrap.

I feel like it was well worth the 380 mile round trip but I'm curious what everyone else thinks? Does anyone else drive that far for a sale? Especially a sale that is a complete gamble?

Oh and a sad side note. Apparently there was a preview Friday evening and some of the gold disappeared. What's wrong with people

 

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[Beachkid23]

Is there a pocket watch in there? I would've gone well I mean I just did the yard sales all the way up to Orlando on my way there. Not to mention probably none of the jewelry is crap so you'll probably do better if you resell it! I think a trip like that is good once in a while especially gives you some time to think and step away and enjoy life a little bit too.

 

[SCpicker]

Is there a pocket watch in there? I would've gone well I mean I just did the yard sales all the way up to Orlando on my way there. Not to mention probably none of the jewelry is crap so you'll probably do better if you resell it! I think a trip like that is good once in a while especially gives you some time to think and step away and enjoy life a little bit too.

What? I can't count a pocket watch movement as 14k? Just kidding. No pocket watch lol it's all gold except for diamonds and a small stone in a ring. The thing that looks like a pocket watch is a locket. Oh and the sand dollar is NOT James Avery.

 

[jochart]

a couple weeks ago I drove 300 miles round trip and only made $350 off the deal. You did a lot better than I did. Nice gold.

 

[Beachkid23]

Those lockets are nice. They always do very well! But if it was a pocket watch I just wanted to see it because I like them [emoji6]

 

[joee5]

I don't look for them, but if I pass one then I'll stop.

 

[trdhrdr007]

If you are asking would I drive 380 miles to buy $1700 worth of gold(or whatever) for $900 the answer is yes. On the other hand, if the question is would I drive 380 miles hoping I could make some money the answer is no. There are way too many "estate sales" that have unrealistic prices and/or are selling nothing but junk.

 

[bigcaddy64]

So it's been a while since I've been to a sale with a considerable amount of gold. About 3 weeks. There just hasn't been any good local sales. I looked before the weekend and kept expanding my search radius. Finally I found a sale on Saturday that looked like it had a some gold and sterling jewelry but it was 180 miles away. I crunched the numbers and if I drove my car it would be a little over $20 in gas.

So Friday night I'm still not sure about going that far to a sale. Plus I don't know the company or the local players in the area. I look at the crappy pictures and think there's at least $200 to $400 in gold at scrap prices. The listing doesn't say anything about gold so I could be wrong and there could be no gold. There was a sale on Craigslist about 20 miles out of the way halfway that just had a simple listing including jewelry. No pictures but it was in a good area. So I thought I'll check that halfway sale out then continue on to the "180 mile" sale . Worst case scenario I can pick the whole way back at shops and antique malls in towns I rarely visit.

So I wake up early Saturday and leave out. I arrive at the halfway sale and am extremely disappointed. Basically the sale was stuff left over after a house sold. Everything good was kept by the family. No antiques. No real jewelry. Nothing but flea market stuff. The "jewelry" was some newer McDonald's pins and dirty junky crap.

I jump back in the car and continue on my trip thinking my road trip might be a complete bust. I arrive 5 minutes after the sale start time and to my surprise there was over $2,000 in gold at scrap prices. I didn't buy all the gold but I did buy most of it. I ended up spending $900. I bought over 75 grams of 14k. The gold at 100% scrap (gold was at $1256/oz) was $1780 and I wouldn't consider any of it scrap.

I feel like it was well worth the 380 mile round trip but I'm curious what everyone else thinks? Does anyone else drive that far for a sale? Especially a sale that is a complete gamble?

Oh and a sad side note. Apparently there was a preview Friday evening and some of the gold disappeared. What's wrong with people

I noticed that under the pile is a gold pocket watch case. You said that nothing in the pile is "scrap" so please make sure you don't scrap out the pocket watch, even if the movement is missing. Ever since gold started skyrocketing, tons of pocket watch cases were junked for quick cash, causing a shortage of 14k cases. It akin to buying a rare book and selling the dust jacket. Sure, you make some money but then the book has been greatly devalued. Sell the watch case to a collector!

 

[trdhrdr007]

I noticed that under the pile is a gold pocket watch case. You said that nothing in the pile is "scrap" so please make sure you don't scrap out the pocket watch, even if the movement is missing. Ever since gold started skyrocketing, tons of pocket watch cases were junked for quick cash, causing a shortage of 14k cases. It akin to buying a rare book and selling the dust jacket. Sure, you make some money but then the book has been greatly devalued. Sell the watch case to a collector!

In this case he said it was a locket so no pocket watch. Having said that, I hear similar comments from watch/sterling/(insert-your-collectible here) people all the time. I even sympathize with it and would prefer to sell to a collector. Unfortunately the market dictates the price & I'm going to sell to the highest bidder that is ready, willing, & able to buy. Most of the time that's not a collector. The people that are in the business of buying to resell to collectors also want to pay scrap prices.....they just aren't willing to pay as much as a refiner. That's mainly due to the length of time they will have to hold the item before it sells to a collector.

 

[Joe(TX)]

Earlier this year....I traveled 400 miles round trip just to buy a RARE metal detector!! Probably did not make any money since it is going into my personal collection!

 

[JimDon]

No way. I would prefer to stay local.

 

[jerseyben]

Yea, I don't know about this one...

 

[diggummup]

Depends on the sale. Most I ever drove was 100 miles one way, but we made a day of it and had a picnic at a local lake and hit a few thrifts too. Usually 5 miles or less, though.

 

[Customx_12]

It's more than just the gas money, my time is also valuable. Now if it were a scenic drive with the family and all that, it might be worth the trip.