Offered gold today.

[Tuberale]

I was at the local WinCo store, and had a guy offer to sell some gold chains and rings he had. I had a couple of hundred $ on me, and took him up on it. All of the items still had tags on them!!!!! First thing he offered me was a 14K gold chain, for $100. Next, was another 2 gold 14L chains for $150. Next a 14K 9 diamond man's ring, for $100, and finally a 14K 3-carat man's gold ring, still with the tag on it, for $150. He offered it to me for $200, but I only had $150 on me at the time. The 3-carat ring still had a price tag of $28,000 on it! I am a retired newspaper person, so I kind of suspect these were stolen. But there was nothing in the news in the past month or 2. Comments?

 

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[Kray Gelder]

Stolen? Why would you think that?

 

[GaRebel1861]

That’s an old trick. I’d be willing to bet that you bought junk jewelry that had a high price tag on it to make you think that you were getting a really good deal. I got a feeling that you've been had by a parking lot conman.

btw, never ever buy anything that you suspect is stolen. No matter the price!

 

[Tuberale]

That’s an old trick. I’d be willing to bet that you bought junk jewelry that had a high price tag on it to make you think that you were getting a really good deal. I got a feeling that you've been had by a parking lot conman.

btw, never ever buy anything that you suspect is stolen. No matter the price!

All of them: the rings, the gold necklaces: had price tags. The 3-carat ring had a tag from Zale's, which is where I got my last diamond ring from.

Everything had 14K markings on them.

 

[Jay Plunder]

Trust me, you want to get it tested and I will almost guarantee you it is fake, price tag and stamp 18k regardless. Many jewelers put displays up that appear real, but are not. My brother got burned a few years ago same way at a gas station buying a "His/Hers bridal set diamonds encrusted 18k gold. He gave the guy $100 for them. Took it to a pawn shop to see what it was worth and was told it was display jewelry lol. I saw them myself they appeared authentic. Its a common scam but then again there is always that "small percent" its real and hotter than the sun and next thing you know you are trying to explain to the FBI your alibi lol

 

[Sleepy]

I've worked in several jewelry stores over the years and I'm pretty good at looking at jewelry and being able to tell if it's real or not. In most places I worked we had display jewelry and it looked real. Most of the "gold" was just brass and stones made of glass. Also there's just a ton of fakes out there. Two weeks ago I found a nice looking man's gold bracelet and it was stamped "14k Italy" on it. I said immediately that it was fake and the two guys hunting with me swore it was real and I was wrong. One guy even used a loupe to look closely. I got home and checked it and sure enough it was fake. I could see the copper showing through the edges. The old saying "if it's too good to be true then it probably isn't" is true the majority of the time. Nobody is likely going to sell a $28k ring for a single Benjamin whether it's stolen or not.

 

[CRUSADER]

Fake.

 

[smokeythecat]

Probably fake. Anyone can buy one of the 14k or 18k stamps on Ebay or elsewhere.

 

[Reanm8er]

A vendor at a jewelry show handed me a pair of gold hoop earrings. I didn't pay her anything for them
but they had that plated look about them. But the real tip was the weight. Lite as a feather. They turned
out to be gold plated plastic.

On the police shows where the detective finds the jewelry of the murder victim in the pawn shop down
the street, is a total fiction. Thieves and illegal pawn brokers use mules to the move the stuff all around
the country. The stuff gets traded back and forth for drugs and payment for criminal activity of all kinds.
I'm told there's a criminal network that travels from Fla to New York along I 95 moving drugs and
contraband all along the way. They pick up and drop off stolen goods and re-distribute them to places far
removed from the original crime. The things they pick up on the northern leg are re-distributed
along I 81. That's why you wouldn't see it in the local paper.

We had a legitimate licensed pawn broker in our region that would send some of the firearms he
bought to other regions "so that the original owners wouldn't run into some stranger hunting with
their rifle". The ATF caught him buying guns off the record and linked him to nearly 10,000
unregistered firearms.

Rub the items between your fingers and then smell them. You may smell brass. Then imagine
Ben Franklin with wings!

 

[Kray Gelder]

A vendor at a jewelry show handed me a pair of gold hoop earrings. I didn't pay her anything for them
but they had that plated look about them. But the real tip was the weight. Lite as a feather. They turned
out to be gold plated plastic.

On the police shows where the detective finds the jewelry of the murder victim in the pawn shop down
the street, is a total fiction. Thieves and illegal pawn brokers use mules to the move the stuff all around
the country. The stuff gets traded back and forth for drugs and payment for criminal activity of all kinds.
I'm told there's a criminal network that travels from Fla to New York along I 95 moving drugs and
contraband all along the way. They pick up and drop off stolen goods and re-distribute them to places far
removed from the original crime. The things they pick up on the northern leg are re-distributed
along I 81. That's why you wouldn't see it in the local paper.

We had a legitimate licensed pawn broker in our region that would send some of the firearms he
bought to other regions "so that the original owners wouldn't run into some stranger hunting with
their rifle". The ATF caught him buying guns off the record and linked him to nearly 10,000
unregistered firearms.

Rub the items between your fingers and then smell them. You may smell brass. Then imagine
Ben Franklin with wings!

I worked with a guy that was part of that Florida to New Jersey crowd. A real Goomba. He was always pushing gold rings, bracelets, necklaces, diamond jewelry, all used, warm to the touch. He denied they were stolen, that he was in the "jewelry business". At the same time, he would brag about his road trips to Florida and Atlanta all the time, and would hint about his connection to the mob. A real piece of work. His name was Salvadore. Hey Sal. Like a walking cliche'.

 

[dirtlooter]

probably had a trunkful of them, me, I would smile and walk away. quickly

 

[Reanm8er]

Me too dirtlooter, just because I can't run anymore!

 

[Samanthy]

Even if a gold chain is stamped with a Karat number it does not guarantee that the piece is solid gold.

 

[ticndig]

I dug an ugly wedding band style ring and wanted to cash it in . it was marked 18k so was looking for some beer money.
the guy at the pawn shop held out a magnet and the ring jumped from 2'' away and stuck.
he looked at me and said they can't offer anything on that junk. he told me lots of crap out of China is marked 18K

 

[Tuberale]

Thanks for the opinions, folks. I looked online for the rings and chains, couldn't find any of them! Maybe they are fake. I'll need to take them to a jeweler to be sure.

 

[MrMarsHill]

Yes, take them to a jeweler. I am one and I could tell you in 5 minutes if I had access to the pieces. I have stamps on my bench for 10k,14k,18k,sterling,.925,.999 that I use on my jewelry and my hand poured ingots daily. They can be had on Ebay or Amazon or a million other places for about $15. I am an honest person and even test MY OWN jewelry before stamping just to be sure I am not making a mistake. I could easily take a fake chain and stamp it 10k in less than a minute... plenty of people would have no problem doing that sadly. The story sounds shady, but I cant go off that. Maybe the items are stolen, maybe it was his and the guy was in a bind and needed quick cash, maybe the jewelry is fake and he took you. Any competent jeweler can test the gold and diamonds for you with no trouble and possibly even at no cost. Stamps on jewelry or tags etc really are no guarantee, you should only do business with legitimate dealers... or invest in a testing kit. I hope you scored, but my money is on fakes. It's a valuable lesson, but an expensive way to learn it. Good luck and I hope you will report back!

 

[Duckshot]

If the turn out to be fake you should return them to the store he stole them from.

Then seek out the dude that sold them , try to get a refund?

Nah, that won't work...

 

[chub]

Didnt it cross your mind why he would be selling a $28000 ring for less than 1% of the *price tag? Everything about this screams con....from the stamps to the price tags to the nature of the sale.

Good luck

Chub

 

[Honest Samuel]

Best of luck to you. Be careful from now on.

 

[trdking]

I had a friend that owned a pawn shop back in the day. I used to hang out in his store when I wasn't Busy. Had a guy come in with a roll of 14K gold stock chain for making necklaces. My buddy looked at it and tested it and it was of course fake. The guy said he had more rolls in his car and could he borrow my friends acid to test it and bring back any roll that was real. My buddy said sure and he laughed after he was gone. He told me that the guy was going to pour out the acid and put water in his bottle and come back with the same roll. Sure enough the guy came back My buddy tested that roll with the acid that was returned and whaLaaa tested positive for gold. The guy smiled then my buddy Grabbed another bottle of acid and it disappeared right before the guys eyes. My buddy then looked at him and asked him if he thought he was born yesterday? Told the guy that his face was on camera and that he would be alerting all pawn shops and calling the police. Which all was done after the guy fled. Con men are VERY tricky and will stop at nothing to get your money.