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Pot of gold leads to pawn shop
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Bad economies are good times for pawn shops. The current recession has led some residents to even pull their teeth to turn a dollar.
"People will do anything for money now, so we're getting a lot of dental jewelry," said Allen McIntosh, manager of Richie's Pawn Central in Middletown. "It can be a gold tooth or a gold cap or a gold grill. At least they are usually already out of the mouth before we get it."
Carla Barger of Keva Jewelers stands by a case of gold jewerly in her store, Thursday, May 1, 2008. As inflation and gas prices continue to take their toll on household budgets, shops report people are bringing in many gold items for quick cash even though the metal's value recently has dropped from $1,000 to around $850 per ounce.
"With the economy being so bad and gas prices rising, people are selling their jewelry to pay bills and just get by," said Carla Barger, who, with her husband Kevin, owns Keva Jewelers in Fairfield.
"Just talking to people bringing it in, we are hearing a lot of bad stories. It's sad," she said.
Robert Smith — who started up Franklin Swap Shop while he and his business partner, Tom Huckleby, were locked out from AK Steel last year — said it's much more profitable to scrap out gold than sell it in the store.
"It seems like people are surprised that broken jewelry brings as much. We scrap out a lot of nice jewelry, but with the price of gold right now, we couldn't sell it in here for what we can sell for scrap," he said.
Customers should go to someone they know before trying to sell gold to make sure they get an accurate appraisal, McIntosh said.
"Go to someone you trust to appraise it, one that knows the price of gold that day (because) it bounces," he said. "Any shop that is dealing honestly would not hesitate to relay that information when asked."
Those looking to supplement their income quickly should sell now before prices fall further, Barger said.
"It's a market that you really can't predict so I would sell it while it's high."
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jlander@coxohio.com.
