Source: Shanghai Internet refutes rumors
The recent rush to buy gold has also brought about an increase in gold recycling, and many people have taken out their gold jewelry at home and planned to cash it out.
However, recently, Jiefang Daily and Shangguan News have received a number of consumer complaints, saying that they have encountered many problems in the process of gold recycling.
Higher recovery price than banks?
The condition does not match, and it cannot be cashed
The reporter visited a number of second-hand gold recycling stores in the market and found that the recycling price they publicized was higher than that of the bank: usually, the recycling price of 99% or more of gold jewelry was the Shanghai gold price on the same day minus a handling fee of about three or five yuan. For example, on April 25, the gold price in Shanghai was 547 yuan/gram, the recycling price of a second-hand store was 545 yuan/gram, and the recycling price of ICBC was 538 yuan/gram.
So, can consumers really cash in gold jewelry at such a high recycling price?
Ms. Zhang, a consumer, believed the introduction of the relevant store, but found it difficult to cash in.
On April 5, she took 5 pieces of gold jewelry to a second-hand store in Hongkou District to recycle, and all the gold jewelry was tested on the gold tester one by one before the gold melting, and the purity was above 99%. When the molten gold was tested again, the purity of the three detection sites decreased to 93% to 96%, respectively. The clerk said that the purity was insufficient and could only be recycled at 9% off the recycling price.
Ms. Zhang disagreed, and during the gold melting process, she found that a little gold had stuck to the bottom of the white crucible, and some of the peeling ash had stuck to the gold. Ms. Cheung suspected that the clerk deliberately stuck the ashes on the bottom of the pot to the gold in order to reduce the purity and reduce the price. The clerk said that the bottom of the pot could be scraped off and re-tested, but Ms. Zhang was worried about scraping off the gold as well, so she refused.
The reporter consulted industry insiders and learned that the gold meter generally refers to the X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, which is mainly used for elemental analysis. The penetration distance of X-rays in different materials is different, and generally speaking, the maximum test thickness of X-ray fluorescence spectrometer when testing gold is about tens of microns, so the detection results of X-ray fluorescence spectrometer have certain limitations. If the thickness of the gold jewelry is thick, it is not possible to test the internal gold content of the gold jewelry without damaging the gold jewelry. Therefore, when recovering gold, in addition to the initial detection, it is also necessary to use fire and melt it again to test.
The clerk's explanation is consistent with that of industry insiders. He said that the test result before gold melting was the purity of the surface of the gold, and if the gold was mixed with other metals, the gold detector could not detect it, and after the gold was melted, the internal metal precipitated to the surface, so it was found that the jewelry provided by Ms. Zhang was not 99% fine.
However, Ms. Zhang said that the five pieces of gold jewelry were purchased through different channels, including those of large brands and small gold stores, all of which claimed to be 99% fine. But by this time, the five pieces of gold jewelry had been melted together, and she couldn't tell which one was not of sufficient purity, so she couldn't find the merchants who sold the gold jewelry to defend her rights. She believes that the clerk should separate the five pieces of gold jewelry and melt them.
The reporter checked the process of recycling gold from other consumers in the store, and found that the clerk did not adopt Ms. Zhang's suggestion, and still put the gold jewelry brought by the consumer together to weigh, melt, test the purity, and then calculate the recovery amount. The clerk said that the gold jewelry brought by consumers came from different sources, and some of them were re-beaten, and it was easy to mix impurities when striking gold, coupled with the dirt left by long-term wear, resulting in most gold jewelry not reaching 99% purity after melting, and could only be paid to consumers at 8% to 9% off the recycling price.
Regarding the bottom ash of the pot mentioned by Ms. Zhang, the clerk said that the test results of the relevant gold jewelry were still less than 99% after avoiding the ash at the bottom of the pot and taking other points for testing, and the weight of the gold increased after sticking to the ash at the bottom of the pot, and the clerk had no motive to stick the ash at the bottom of the pot to the gold. However, Ms. Zhang questioned the clerk's improper operation.
The reporter noticed that the gold of other consumers did not stick to the bottom of the pot, why is there adhesion to Ms. Zhang's gold? Industry insiders speculate that the crucible used for molten gold is usually made of high melting point materials such as graphite or alumina, and the gold itself is impure, the melting temperature is not enough, and there is dirt on the surface of the gold or crucible will cause adhesion. If you have to judge the material of the current adhesion material on gold, you can only send it to a professional laboratory. For Ms. Zhang, even if she gets the test results, she cannot restore the gold to its original state, which is of little significance.
Left: Ms. Zhang's 5 pieces of gold jewelry are weighed before melting; middle: There are black spots on the surface of the melted gold, and the ash from the bottom of the white crucible is also glued; right: The bottom of the crucible is suspected to be glued to gold, and part of the bottom of the pot is peeling off.
Due to the complexity of the situation, as of press time, Ms. Zhang has not reached a consensus with the merchants.
Beware of gold recovery traps
Ms. Zhang's case is unique, but it also exposes the problems involved in the recycling of second-hand gold. The reporter's investigation found that there were also consumer complaints about "ghost scales" and "gold theft" in the recycling process.
Mr. Wang, a consumer, said that on March 26, he took several gold bracelets and necklaces to recycle them at a luxury recycling store in Huangpu District, and the clerk said that the gold content of the lock and the main body of the bracelet was different, and the bracelet needed to be cut open and the connecting lock should be removed. Mr. Wang agreed, but during the operation, some gold dust fell on the counter and was later glued away by the clerk with gloves. The whole operation process was very fast, and Mr. Wang completed the audio and video recording before he had time. He terminated the trade because he felt that the store was frustrated, and when he got home, he weighed it and found that 1.7 grams of gold were missing. After that, Mr. Wang asked to check the store's surveillance, but the store's operation method could not be seen clearly in the surveillance, so he had to give up.
Left: Gold jewelry weighed before cutting, right: Gold jewelry after cutting and partially locking removed.
There are also consumers who feel that they have encountered a "ghost scale". Mr. Han, a consumer, said that at the end of March, his son privately recalled a gold necklace from his family at a pawnshop in Minhang District, and it weighed 15 grams when it was recovered. However, the necklace was purchased in 2017 from a well-known brand, weighs more than 20 grams, and has a receipt. Mr. Han believed that the merchant used a "ghost scale", but the merchant believed that the pawn had confirmed the grammage and purity with Mr. Han's son, and that Mr. Han could not prove that the gold jewelry used to pawn was the gold jewelry on the receipt, and there was no video record of the pawning process. Mr. Han asked his son, but was told that his son, who was eager to exchange money, did not pay attention to the results at all. After that, Mr. Han complained to the store through multiple channels, and after multiple mediations, the store paid him 2,000 yuan.
The reporter's investigation found that the operation is not standardized and there is no video record is the main reason why second-hand gold recycling shops are prone to "pits". For example, although the business license of the business license of the merchant Ms. Zhang went to had "jewelry recycling and repair services", the clerk could not provide the qualifications for the job, and only vaguely said that she had done training. The staff of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China told reporters that all the fire melting masters of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China hold job certificates and have to take exams twice a year. At the same time, the threshold for banks to recycle gold jewelry is high, only recovering products with a purity of 99% and above, if the purity detected after melting does not reach 99%, the gold can only be returned to consumers, and cannot be restored.
All of the above shows that the recycling conditions of second-hand gold recycling shops seem to be favorable, but there are many problems, and consumers are advised to choose carefully. In order to avoid disputes, industry insiders remind that when buying gold jewelry, you must choose formal channels and keep relevant receipts, invoices, and inspection certificates. When recycling gold, you should pay attention to check the business qualifications of the store, and complete various operations under your own supervision, do not let the gold out of your sight, and it is recommended to record and record the whole process.