Hatton Garden Metals

George_Michael

Gary and Barbara must me employing half of Bombay to create these accounts on MSE, some of them with hundreds of posts as history.

Considering that some of the people who have posted on here and stated good things about Hatton Garden Metals have been MSE members far longer than HGM has been in operation, (set up in Nov 2007), "Gary and Barbara" must be psychic.

Shop about folks and don’t read everything you see on sites like this

Surely you mean "don't believe everything you see", and if you mean that people shouldn't believe something written by a totally anonymous poster who has just set up an account to slag off one company, I couldn't agree more.

why all the resistance to some friendly insider advice.

Why?
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that in your very first post you implied that anyone who wrote anything good about HGM must be lying.
Hardly friendly advice is it?

Jacque

I sold Krugerrands to HGM. I got the best price on the day. I was over the postal limit for insurance so went in person. Even though I was over the normal daily transaction limit, the whole amount was in my account my 1300 that day. I can't see how I could have done any better.

Rough_Driver

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Any sensible person who thought that a business was ripping them off wouldn't use that particular company again, so someone with 25 years in the gold industry who allows themselves to be ripped off on a gold transaction for a second time by the same person must be lacking a good bit of business sense.




Hi all again,

Just seen some of the responses. Just to be clear the reason why I tried their site was to see if they where doing anything funny as their online quote was 3% below spot. How could they offer this rate given their business model? They where able to offer this quote by under weighing the gold people send in.

Ultimately, it was an exercise in curiosity having had nearly 25 years in the industry and seen every trick in the book.

Please don't take my word for it - anyway who am I - having just set up an account in this site to post negative comments on HGM.

Look at taxfreegold.co.uk - Again I have no connection to these guys but their rep in the gold market is very good and has been for many many years .

shaun_from_Africa

I tried their site was to see if they where doing anything funny as their online quote was 3% below spot. How could they offer this rate given their business model?

Maybe their overheads are lower than your company.
Sorry I forgot that you don't work for taxfreegold.co.uk do you?, but for someone who keeps stating "I have no connection to these guys ", you do seem very keen to promote them.

Anyway.
There are other reputable companies offering similar sums for scrap gold (Elm Investments for one, who I traded with last year).
The prices they quote for buying scrap gold are even higher than those offered by HGM. Are you saying that just because someone has less overheads and expenses and possibly works on a lower profit margin, then they must be stealing from their customers?

It's easy to make these claims when you are posting on an anonymous forum isn't it?

Just to be clear the reason why I tried their site was to see if they where doing anything funny as their online quote was 3% below spot.

So you sold something to them and they ripped you off, so why did you sell to them a second time?

Please don't take my word for it

At last.
Something sensible for a change.

Rough_Driver

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Maybe their overheads are lower than your company.
Sorry I forgot that you don't work for taxfreegold.co.uk do you?, but for someone who keeps stating "I have no connection to these guys ", you do seem very keen to promote them.

Anyway.
There are other reputable companies offering similar sums for scrap gold (Elm Investments for one, who I traded with last year).
The prices they quote for buying scrap gold are even higher than those offered by HGM. Are you saying that just because someone has less overheads and expenses and possibly works on a lower profit margin, then they must be stealing from their customers?

It's easy to make these claims when you are posting on an anonymous forum isn't it?


So you sold something to them and they ripped you off, so why did you sell to them a second time?


At last.
Something sensible for a change.

Hi Shaun,

In a nutshell the whole point of my posts was to try of educate and inform. The 2 golden rules ( no pun intended ) in the gold business are to be as educated as possible about what you are selling/buying and to shop around.

There are loads of reputable scrap gold firms out there - Elm Investments from what I know of them are the real deal - there are others. Although I would be interested to know how they can offer better rates than HGM i.e. better than 3% below spot. Maybe they do their own refining and would purchase the gold essentially for cost and keep the silver, nickel and any PG metals at the end of the refining process. I know a few places that operate like that. As HGM don't do their own refining then they are not one of them.

RD

Nile

Rough_Driver wrote: »

Now I have heard it all - Perhaps I should just go and talk to my nearest wall. I have over 25 years in the gold business - why all the resistance to some friendly insider advice.

Next you will be telling me that they use an "correctly" calibrated XRF machine:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

---

Hello wall, did you hear the one about regularly "serviced" electronic scales........

Can you tell me more about the XRF machine please? What does it do and how is it connected to selling gold?

Rough_Driver

Nile,

An X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) machine measures the metallic elements in a given sample by bombarding it with X-ray radiation. Think of a hospital X-ray but for metals. Some are hand held others are about the size of a regular lazer jet printer others are much bigger. When it comes to measuring the gold content in a given sample of scrap jewellery, a hand held or desktop application would suffice.

They should never really be used as a replacement for a proper "fire assay" and can be "gamed" to give a false or misleading reading - Mainly through improper calibration or modifications to the software.

For the purposes of measuring the gold content in scrap gold sent in by the general public (<100grams) they are fine - BUT as a system used to measure gold content they are open to being "gamed" - think of a dodgy set of scales.

There are many manufactures out there. From experience Niton are the best but expensive 30K plus for a good second hand XL2.

Again, from my previous posts - Not everyone is out there to con you in the scrap gold business but there are some who are - KNOWLEDGE IS POWER -

Like everything in life!:)

Nile

Rough_Driver wrote: »

Please allow me, as an "insider" to help. And no I don't have a postal gold site. I work for myself as a gold assayer for some of the largest pawnbrokers and refiners in the UK and US.

I don't know if you are a paid troll but do you see how they make their money?? Just take a moment to think about that please for your own financial benefit. Not all firms want to rip you off but...

I am not promoting any service or company all I say is do your research - if you don't then you will be ripped off even if you know it or not.

The Forum Etiquette says: Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps.

It's not nice to call someone a troll.;)

Rough_Driver wrote: »

Now I have heard it all - Perhaps I should just go and talk to my nearest wall. I have over 25 years in the gold business - why all the resistance to some friendly insider advice.

Next you will be telling me that they use an "correctly" calibrated XRF machine:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

---

Hello wall, did you hear the one about regularly "serviced" electronic scales........

Rough_Driver wrote: »

Nile,

An X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) machine measures the metallic elements in a given sample by bombarding it with X-ray radiation.

They should never really be used as a replacement for a proper "fire assay" and can be "gamed" to give a false or misleading reading - Mainly through improper calibration or modifications to the software.

Again, from my previous posts - Not everyone is out there to con you in the scrap gold business but there are some who are - KNOWLEDGE IS POWER -

Like everything in life!:)

Thanks for the explanation.:cool:

As you are a new member of the MSE forum, let me introduce myself to you. I live in East Yorkshire and I'm British. I've never been to India, so I'm not from Bombay...........nor am I employed by Hatton Garden Metals or any other jewellery or precious metals company. You will see that I've been an MSE forum member for many years.

I posted my experience after selling unwanted silver and gold jewellery, here is a link to my post:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=45479432&postcount=698


I am very happy with the price I was paid. I accept that Hatton Garden Metals made a profit from buying my unwanted jewellery, it's what I expect most companies aim to do (make a profit) from their customers.

If you post more of the helpful information (eg the XRF explanation) and less of the insults, you'll follow the Forum Etiquette and fit in with the friendly community here.

Welcome to the MSE forum.

Regards

Nile

John_Pierpoint

Rough_Driver wrote: »

Nile,

An X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) machine measures the metallic elements in a given sample by bombarding it with X-ray radiation. Think of a hospital X-ray but for metals. Some are hand held others are about the size of a regular lazer jet printer others are much bigger. When it comes to measuring the gold content in a given sample of scrap jewellery, a hand held or desktop application would suffice.

They should never really be used as a replacement for a proper "fire assay" and can be "gamed" to give a false or misleading reading - Mainly through improper calibration or modifications to the software.

For the purposes of measuring the gold content in scrap gold sent in by the general public (<100grams) they are fine - BUT as a system used to measure gold content they are open to being "gamed" - think of a dodgy set of scales.

There are many manufactures out there. From experience Niton are the best but expensive 30K plus for a good second hand XL2.

Again, from my previous posts - Not everyone is out there to con you in the scrap gold business but there are some who are - KNOWLEDGE IS POWER -

Like everything in life!:)

This is really interesting.

Can the X-ray machine see any way into gold?
How does one identify a "gold" bangle that has a core of some other metal.
OK if we are discussing pure gold and pure lead, Gold is much denser. Measuring , specific gravity/relative density of the bangle would give it away (The weights in air would look like gold but the weight in water, would differ because the lead core bangle would be "bulkier" and so lighter in water.)

However 9 caret gold is mostly not gold, how is the situation of having a core of something else, identified in this example?

How does a "fire assay" work?

OK I know I could Google it, but I expect you can explain from a practical point of view?

Cheers,

John.

PS it is Laser: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Unfortunately we live in a society that judges us by how we sound and how we spell, rather than what we say.

Similarly our financial standing is sometimes judged by the money we waste on fancy clothes and fancy cars.

JohalaReewi

MrInvestor wrote: »

I have to say, MSE does appear to be quite biased towards Hatton Garden Metals. There is an entire thread dedicated to feedback for the company - I cannot see feedback threads for any other gold purchasing companies on MSE.

That is because so few people report on other dealers, so they don't appear in the first few pages. Here is a list of the ones covered by MSE...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2085031

As well as Martin's article on gold selling...
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/gold-selling-sites?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=clicks&utm_campaign=resourcebar

And a general gold selling thread where all sorts of companies get a mention...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2624479