Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, and Bonita Springs: competition increases offers of “We Buy Gold” and “Sell Gold”
We’ve all seen them, and in recent times we’ve all been seeing more and more of them – signs and advertisements everywhere proclaiming: “We buy gold,” and “Sell gold here, highest price!” Are you ever shocked by how the number of those businesses has exploded the way it has? Statistics on the website of the Florida Department of Revenue show that the number of licenses for Registered Secondhand Dealers in precious metals have increased statewide by 196% between 2008 and 2012, and by over 86% in Lee County where Park Avenue Gold Exchange’s Fort Myers location serves “sell gold” customers in communities like Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, and Bonita Springs, as well as Fort Myers itself.
The reason for these shops popping up everywhere, not just at home in Lee County, is that gold has become an even hotter commodity in recent years than it has been throughout history, and has experienced tremendous price increases. This has become pretty common knowledge. Speaking in rounded numbers, the price per ounce of gold has increased in the last five years by something like 160% from about $650 per ounce in January of 2007 to over $1700 per ounce now. In the summer of 2011, when gold prices got as high as $1800 per ounce, that increase was over 175%. By contrast, in the previous five years the price of gold had increased something like a modest 115% between January of 2002 and January of 2007.
“Hey, Cape Coral, We’re Right Across The Bridge!”
In a recent conversation with Doug Mitchell, the manager of the Fort Myers location of the Park Avenue Gold Exchange, Doug said that people in Cape Coral, for example, who live right across the bridge from his location on College Parkway near Highway 41 in Fort Myers, are subjected to incredible amounts of this kind of competition and advertising for their “sell gold” business. Yet, very few of the competitors he sees offer their customers the same experience that Park Avenue Gold Exchange does. Read on to learn why.
The “Sell Gold” Mistake You Can’t Afford To Make
The dramatic increases in the value of gold and the popularity of “sell gold” businesses have made it more important than ever that customers interested in selling gold do their research and make as informed of a decision as possible when they choose to accept an offer from a gold buyer for their valuables. Time and time again, Park Avenue Gold Exchange has demonstrated their superiority in this market because of the technology they use when testing a customer’s gold items. Yet, many customers remain unaware of the benefits of x-ray testing when selling gold.
The best way to achieve extreme accuracy when testing gold is using x-ray technology to find the exact metallic make-up of an item using a device called a spectrometer. This is the technology that Park Avenue Gold Exchange uses in its private in-office consultations with every customer who comes through their door, and it allows them to educate each customer about exactly what it is that they are selling before they make them an offer.
How Do Refiners and Gold Buyers Test Their Own Gold?
How do we, as customers, know that a spectrometer is the best way to test? We know because just like we sell our gold to a local gold buyer like Park Avenue Gold Exchange if we live in Cape Coral or wherever, that gold buyer takes their gold to a refinery to have it melted down, and they get paid for the weight of gold they deliver to the refiner just like we do. The difference is in how much gold trades hands in those transactions; and, not surprisingly, the dollar values can be pretty high when so much gold is involved. In those situations, being exact about precisely how much gold is involved in the deal becomes incredibly important to the livelihoods of both the refiner and the gold buyer. And, take a guess: How would you guess the refinery tests the gold before making a deal? Yup. With a spectrometer.
It’s true that when you and I sell gold, living in Lehigh Acres or Bonita Springs or wherever, we may not have as much gold to sell as a gold buyer does when they visit a refiner. Isn’t the money we get from selling our gold just as important to us though? Shouldn’t we get the benefits of the best possible testing to ensure we are being paid fairly for what we sell?
The Park Avenue Gold Exchange Perspective on Competition
Continuing my conversation with Doug Mitchell at the Fort Myers location of Park Avenue Gold Exchange, Doug spoke about his perceptions of the other gold buyers in the area that compete for his clients’ business by saying, “Most of them don’t offer private consultations in an office like ours, most of them are doing acid or conductivity tests and not explaining to the customers what they have and explaining the whole transaction the way we do, and some of the prices that customers tell me they were quoted by another establishment before they came to me are just predatory. We pay so much better, and when people shop around they learn that.” He went on later to say that, “When I talk to customers who arrive at our offices from communities outside Fort Myers itself, people who sell gold from Cape Coral, and Bonita Springs, and Lehigh Acres for instance, what I’m hearing from people is that they just don’t have an option comparable to what we do at Park Ave Gold Exchange in their immediate areas, and to them it is worth a few minutes drive to the get the kind of service and prices they are looking for.”
The Future of “Sell Gold” Services In The Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, and Bonita Springs Communities
The future of gold prices is always uncertain. Some feel that the gold market is headed for major corrections to balance out the tremendous increases of recent years, which could lead to a drop in prices. Others feel that with instability in international economic conditions gold will continue to be what it has always been: a solid shelter and financial safe haven in difficult economic times. If so, that may mean continuing price increases in the market into the future.
One thing is certain, however, the competition for our gold business will continue, and as customers it should be obvious to all of us that the best deal will come from buyers who are willing to share information with us. With better information from more accurate testing and from dealing with those who give us the best customer experience, we as customers can make better decisions and receive the highest prices possible when we sell.
Park Avenue Gold Exchange offers private office consultations, the industry’s most accurate testing method available via an x-ray spectrometer, and customer service that will leave you knowing you were treated fairly and got the highest value for what you sold.