Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, only a few people know the importance of gold during the financial troubles. But to be honest, gold is one of the best investments by a person. It is always so, because any other metal can never outmatch the value of gold. The risk involved with investing in gold is much lesser than investing in any cryptocurrencies.
The reason that gold has been important for many during recent times is that they could sell gold in Bangalore or anywhere else across the world. Because of the months-long lockdowns caused by the pandemic, many people suffered losses of sole-breadwinners, employment, business, etc., and gold had been the option for survival.
As mentioned before about lockdowns, many central banks and investors from around the world poured in money on gold. You might wonder what is the need to do so? The reason is simple! To safeguard themselves from inflation. Tangible assets such as buildings, land, gold and other commodities safeguard during inflation.
It is about to be two years now after the coronavirus affected our world with an increased number of cases and deaths, but gold remained a safe asset for everyone.
In this article you will learn how to sell gold in these tough times and what you should consider before you do so.
#1 Know the Gold Rate
Gold is a commodity that has a fluctuating price each day. Each day the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) sets a new gold rate. They set the prices for gold daily at 10:30 am and 03:00 pm GMT in US Dollars. That would be 03:30 pm and 08:30 pm IST.
There are two types of prices before they set the gold rate. One is spot price, and the other is future prices. What you see every day in the newspaper and in the news is a spot price. Spot prices refer to the current market price, whereas future prices refer to the price settlement agreed to transact on the date of settlement.
You should always consider the gold rate on that day, before you head out to sell gold. Once you know the price, you can head out to start the procedure to trade gold for cash.
Failing to know the price would only end up your being tricked into the previous day's price that would be much lower than the current one. When you know the rate of gold, you skip all of this nonsense.
#2 Gold Buyer Versus Other Gold Dealers
After you are aware of the gold rate, you can now start searching for places where you can trade the gold for cash. If you are using search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo or any other, they will return you with a huge number of results. The important decision of choosing one from so many matters the most. Or maybe you might visit the nearest gold dealer to whom you can sell your gold.
The most important of all is choosing the right gold dealer. There are three types of gold that you can choose for exchanging your gold. They are - gold buyers, pawn shops & jewellery stores. There is also another option for financial institutions. But that is for other options other than selling gold. You will know about it soon.
A pawn shop will help you with quick cash only in exchange for something as collateral. This collateral is your gold. They do also accept buying your gold, but you will only get less value for it.
Financial institutions also help with pledging of gold. On the other hand, a jewellery store could also take your gold and return cash for it, but again lesser value for your gold.
The only dealer that pays you well for your gold is a gold buyer. You can get the right value for your gold. There are no extra charges that would make you lose the value of your gold. Hence, it is better to choose a gold buyer than any other dealers, if you are thinking of selling your gold.
#3 Transparent Process
When you reach the gold dealer to sell your gold, they should make the entire process transparent.
The term “transparent” means that everything involving your gold should be done right in front of you. Once you hand over your gold to the gold dealer to clean, weigh and evaluate the ultimate value of your gold, all of this should happen right in front of your presence.
The reason that everything should happen in front of you is because when you hand over your gold, you give it in one piece. When it is in their hands, the gold dealer would first remove any gems or stones that are attached to the gold. They do so to clean any residuals that are present on your gold.
After cleaning your gold, they weigh it and determine the exact weight of your gold. After knowing the exact weight of your gold, it will help the gold dealer to evaluate what your gold is worth. This is when you should also think about the gems or any other stones attached to your jewellery.
You can either sell them to the same gold dealer and get cashed for that or else you can carry it home with you.
#4 Instant Payment
After you are happy with the offer the dealer has put forth, you can wait for payment. This payment should be instantaneously. It should not delay for over 12 hours at all. But the payment is always expected to happen within 5 minutes. The delay till 12 hours is only when the bank needs to register your account for processing the payment.
But usually it takes just less time with the advanced payment methods that are now available. A genuine gold buyer will ensure that you get your money the very instant you accept the value they are ready to pay for your gold. Never accept cheques or any other forms of payment that can take over 12 hours to reach your account.
#5 Don’t settle on one
Once you reach out to one gold dealer, check on many more. You have many options, why not use it right? There might be chances that another gold buyer would offer you a better price for what you are being offered by the one you visited.
Visit as many gold dealers as you can if you aren’t in a hurry. Because, sometimes you can see the variations in the amount that some gold dealers are trying to steal from you. It is always beneficial for you if you check on many other gold dealers before you settle on one.
Conclusion:
You should always choose a gold buyer to sell gold because you can be assured of the right value for your gold. When you visit other gold dealers such as a pawnshop or jewellery store, they would charge you for melting and any other nonsensical charges. This would only make you lose the money that you deserve for your gold. Also ensure that you don’t get delayed on the payment that is supposed to be given to you.
