Buying or selling gold is always a matter of trust. So if you want to sell old gold, such as old jewelry, or buy gold coins and bars as an investment, be sure to look for a reputable dealer you can trust. Because unfortunately there are also many black sheep and fraudsters.
Be careful when selling your gold
Before selling your gold pieces, try to find out as accurately as possible what you have (weight and alloy is relevant) and what prices different dealers are offering for it. Reputable precious metal dealers list current prices on their websites. Research the internet presence, locations and ratings here!
Buyers without a fixed retail store, who only buy gold in hotel rooms or inns, should definitely be avoided!
Caution is also advised when selling gold privately over the Internet. Only recently, a Viennese couple was defrauded again, who had offered gold coins for sale privately via a platform. The supposed buyers exchanged the money envelope when handing over the coins. Instead of the agreed 5,000 euros, the envelope only contained a few 1-dollar bills.
Another scam is that gold jewelry is purchased significantly below value in the course of other purchases (old goods, legacies). Last year, a fraudster was uncovered who, as a supposed dealer in old goods, made mainly older victims supposedly good offers for second-hand goods and also bought "jewelry". For the gold, on which it had it actually aimed, it offered thereby only approximately a quarter of the actual value. In the "total price" for old goods and gold this fraud went down however. However, only the gold jewelry was paid for and taken away "for the time being".
Whether you want to sell old jewelry, chains, rings or coins and bars. Sell to in any case a precious metal dealer and compare in advance the purchase prices!
Buy gold only from reputable dealers!
While most people are now appropriately sensitized when selling their gold jewelry, fraudsters still celebrate success by exploiting the "greed" of bargain hunters.
Highway Gold
A classic scam is "highway gold": at train stations or highway rest stops, scammers approach unsuspecting people and tell them the following story: they have been robbed, lost their wallet and now lack the money for their onward journey. They ask if the person they are talking to does not want to buy the "real gold ring" or the "real gold chain". The price that the fraudster calls up for it is in the supposed bargain range. But the gold is, of course, fake. Anyone who falls for it is a few euros poorer and a piece of worthless costume jewelry richer.
Fake stores on the Internet
Fake online stores for gold and precious metals regularly appear on the net. High "new customer discounts" and "exclusive promotions" which are all available "only for a short time" should lure customers and bargain hunters.
Payment must be made in advance, but the goods are then simply not delivered.
The scammers are based abroad, but use addresses and data of legitimate merchants on their quickly and cheaply assembled fake site. When enough profit has been made, the pages are taken offline again.
Info: A list of known fakeshops and tips on how to recognize them can be found on our Fakeshop Blacklist.
Fake gold via Ebay, AliExpress & Co.
Not all that glitters is gold! Especially on Internet platforms supposedly genuine gold coins are offered, which subsequently turn out to be more or less good fakes.
On offer are replicas and imitations, without appropriate marking as such, plus forgeries made of base metals, from cheap brass forgeries to clever tungsten forgeries or simply coins with too low a gold content.
There are no gold bargains! If you are offered gold at suspiciously low prices, there is definitely a catch. Fraudsters are playing here with the lure of paying less than it is worth.
Whether buying or selling: Off to the dealer
The specialist dealer is the best address when it comes to precious metals. If you want to be on the safe side when buying gold or if you want to sell your old gold, come to one of our branches in Vienna 9, Vienna 3 or Vienna 22 at any time for a personal, non-binding and serious consultation.
