“A lot people have single earrings, broken rings or necklaces that they’re not going to repair,” said the pawnbroker. “With the record price of gold now, a lot of times they’re pleasantly surprise with how much they can get for it.” He also advised customers to go local when you put your gold items on the market.

Many people are also mailing in their gold to companies who advertise frequently on television. Recently several of these businesses have come under intense scrutiny. New York Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has even called for the Federal Trade Commission to look into one company’s “deceptive practices,” after hearing several complaints from sellers who say the company didn’t give them the promised price for their gold.

And all experts agree (including us at the San Diego Luxury Pawn Shop Report) that before selling or trading to any gold buyer, consumers should get several quotes from different brokers.

Question: How does a pawn work?

Answer: A pawn is another term for a collateral loan. Pawnbrokers lend money on items of value ranging from gold and diamond jewelry, musical instruments, televisions, electronics, tools, household items, firearms and more. Some pawn shops might specialize in certain items. Loans are based on the value of the collateral. When a customer pays back the loan, his or her merchandise is returned. A customer also could choose to surrender your collateral as payment in full. Pawn shops may offer extensions/renewals (where permitted by state law).

Question: Why would someone go to a pawnbroker to get a loan?

Answer: Pawnbrokers offer the consumer a quick, convenient and confidential way to borrow money. A short-term cash need can be met with no credit check or legal consequences if the loan is not repaid. Pawnbroking imposes a discipline on the borrower that other lenders do not. Pawn loans do not cause people to overextend credit or go into bankruptcy.

Question: How much should I expect for a loan on my item?

Answer: Loan amounts vary according to the value of the item. There is no minimum dollar amount allowed on a pawn transaction but the maximum amount might be set by state pawn laws. Your loan amount will be determined according to other factors as well such as demand and condition of the item. Not all pawn stores are the same and price will vary.

To read the rest of the Q & A, please check out the article by clicking on: Pawn Shop Q & A.

In the couture jewelry and diamond category, San Diego Jewelry Buyers’ offerings include a round 6.00 carat G, VS1 diamond for $275,000; a radiant cut 5.12 carat Fancy Yellow Diamond ring for $82,500; a round 10.01 carat K,VS2 diamond for $210,000; and a round 10.03 carat I, VS1 diamond for $420,000.

In the fine mechanical watch category, San Diego Jewelry Buyers offerings include a Men’s Pre-Owned (2001) Rolex Masterpiece Special Edition. This unique platinum timepiece is priced at $50,000, and includes a full diamond bezel and diamond dial. Also available to the horology connoisseur is a Men’s Pre-Owned (2004) Patek Philippe 5040. Priced at $55,000, this timepiece is crafted in 18K yellow gold and comes with a leather band.

San Diego Jewelry Buyers also has more modest mechanical watches and fine jewelry available for holiday shoppers. “We have thousands of loose diamonds in our inventory,” says Blackburn, “plus a wide selection of estate and vintage jewelry. In other words, our vault can more than match the expectations of almost any budget or discerning need.”

Of course, San Diego Jewelry Buyers is also available to purchase or provide an instant collateral loan on any gold, jewelry, or watch item for customers who need extra funds this holiday season. “We are open to purchase any product that is made from gold, silver, or platinum, or which has been set with diamonds or gemstones,” says Blackburn.

Located in downtown San Diego, within the Jewelers Exchange Building, San Diego Jewelry Buyers has been in the luxury pawnbroker and jewelry buying business for over thirty years. Their reputation is such that KUSI TV News chose to feature them in a news program aimed at helping consumers choose a good gold buyer. To find out more about what items SDJB has for sale or how they can help you get instant cash with no credit check, call them toll-free at: 800 557 9413.

For more information about the company, visit their website at SanDiegoJewelryBuyers.com.

Located at the Jewelers Exchange Building in the gas-lamp quarter of downtown San Diego, SDJB leverages over 30 years of industry experience and fine jewelry expertise to make certain that customers receive the fairest cash offers and loans for their diamond/gemstone jewelry, and premiere brand watches.

San Diego gold investors and gold sellers take note that Business Week has an excellent interview online with commodities guru Jim Rogers, creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index, wherein he talks about gold’s current popularity.

Here is an excerpt:

MARIA BARTIROMO

Gold, as you know, hit an all-time high today, with the Russian central bank buying bullion. How high can gold go?

JIM ROGERS

Well, I own gold and I have for a while. How high can it go? I fully expect it to be over a couple thousand dollars an ounce sometime in the next decade—I didn’t say the next month, I didn’t say the next year, I said the next decade—because paper money around the world is very suspect. But right now everybody’s bullish on it, so I don’t like to buy things when that’s happening. But I’m not selling under any circumstances.

What’s behind the runup? Has buying by the central banks changed the equation here? Or is this still a demand story?

Certainly a demand story because, as I said, everybody’s printing so much money and people around the world are worried about that. But you also have central banks, which five years ago were selling gold, now buying. So that’s a huge shift in the marketplace. Central banks are like lots of other people—they just follow the crowd. There are probably better commodities to buy than gold, but you can’t tell that to central banks because they’ve got gold on the brain.

To read more, go to: Why Gold is Glittering.

The Associated Press is reporting that gold’s remarkable run has implications far beyond smart investors. In New York’s diamond district, more people started showing up late last year to sell their gold, and the crush hasn’t let up, said Anthony Iannelli, owner of Iannelli Diamonds.

“They’re bringing in jewelry from the ’70s and ’80s they don’t wear anymore,” he said. “They’re following the news and see prices are high. They realize they have a little cache, and want to take it out of the vault.”

Typically, gold is a safe place for investors to park their money, says the AP, not something they buy to make money. It doesn’t earn any interest, and because it’s always sought-after, its value tends to be fairly stable. For example, when gold first reached $1,000 it was in March 2008, shortly after the collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns. Investors bought it up then because they feared for the stability of the financial system.

This time is different. Investors — think of them as the ’09ers — are buying gold to protect themselves against the falling dollar. Currencies are weak investments around the world because of record-low interest rates. Foreign banks that hold substantial amounts of U.S. debt, such as China’s, want to diversify their holdings. News earlier this month that India’s central bank bought nearly $7 billion worth of gold from the International Monetary Fund triggered a frenzy of gold buying.

The surge has been remarkable. Gold is up 7 percent just this month, and 26 percent for the year. Some forecasters see it going to $1,200, $1,500 or beyond — unless the buying frenzy comes to a halt. That is good news for folks in San Diego looking to sell their old gold jewelry and other gold items.

San Diego Jewelry Buyers (SDJB), the elite pawnbroker of San Diego County, has reported a steady increase in immediate cash loans on luxury collateral, such as fine jewelry, gold coins, rare timepieces, and large carat diamonds. According to Carl Blackburn, president of San Diego Jewelry Buyers, the rise in its large instant cash loans is due to a combination of factors: the privacy SDJB ensures its clients; the fact that no credit check is required; continued lending restrictions among banks; and the ability his company has to offer significant cash loans on the spot.

“Since the second quarter of 2009, when we increased our loan limits on qualified collateral, we have seen a notable increase in 25-50k loans, on everything from high grade vintage watches and large estate diamonds, to rare jewel-studded writing instruments and custom made fine jewelry,” says Blackburn. “The credit crunch has been especially hard on many high net worth entrepreneurs in San Diego,” he adds. “And fortunately we’ve been in the position to help many small businesses maintain their liquidity after they’ve been turned down by banks or other institutional lenders who continue to tighten their purse-strings.”

According to San Diego Jewelry Buyers, the company will accept any luxury asset for collateral that is fashioned from precious metal (gold, platinum, or silver) or which includes precious gemstones, such as diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds. SDJB also offers large cash loans on exceptional timepieces, providing generous valuations on exclusive brands such as Rolex, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Panerai, and Audemars Piguet, as long as the hard market value of the watch qualifies for the company’s minimum loan amount of $2500. For loans below $2500, the company recommends customers use one of the many jewelry pawnbrokers in San Diego that require no minimum.

“We have a special interest in many top shelf brands of Swiss timepieces,” adds Blackburn. “And our staff has decades of experience evaluating the real worth of these mechanical works of art. A rare or vintage timepiece could still qualify a client for a substantial loan, even if the piece is not fashioned in gold or platinum.”

The process for receiving an instant collateral loan from San Diego Jewelry Buyers is described as follows:

1. Call or email SDJB to set an appointment.
2. Bring in your valuable items.
3. SDJB’s qualified consultants will appraise your items while you watch.
4. You will receive cash on the spot against the value of your items.

To learn more about SDJB and read about the personal experiences of their customers, as well as view a TV news program which features the company, please visit them at: SanDiegoJewelryBuyers.com.

WALB News in South Georgia is reporting on a new trend that we have also seen occurring in San Diego; that is, signs of an economic recovery are showing up at some pawn shops. The report from the peach state rightly mentions that pawn shop activity is often a good indicator of the economic pulse because many people use them like banks for loans or cash advances.

For the last year, pawn shop owners have been reporting that most customers were pawning items to get quick cash. There’s still a lot of that happening, but store owners say they’re starting to see more shoppers looking for bargains on items many would consider luxuries.

To back up their report WALB notes a big crowd of customers were doing business at Albany’s Dawson Road Jewelry and Pawn in Georgia. “We have seen an increase in the amount of traffic coming through,” Owner Jason Sheffield said. “Needing money to get through the week, to make it to next week’s paycheck. Then you got some people who might run across hard times in their business,” he added

But in recent weeks Sheffield is seeing more people buying gold jewelry and other luxury items at up to 50 percent less than retail. While many people are still pawning items, Sheffield states that his his store’s redemption rate has been close to 70% recently, meaning most people are able to pay back their loans and recover their pawned items.

The folks over at CoinNews.net are reporting that two huge California Gold Rush era assayers’ ingots, recovered from the famous SS Central America and with a combined weight of over 100 pounds of gold, will be exhibited at the next Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo, September 10 – 12, 2009, in the Long Beach, California Convention Center, 100 S. Pine Ave.

During the three-day Long Beach Expo more than 1,000 dealers will be buying and selling rare coins, paper money, stamps, postcards, historic documents, antiques, estate jewelry and other collectibles. Some dealers will provide free, informal appraisals on gold coins and other items for visitors.

A free gold coin will be awarded daily to a registered visitor. Young numismatists’ activities include a children’s treasure hunt, educational programs, and collectors’ clubs meetings. Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas, the world’s largest collectibles auction house, will hold a public sale of U.S. and world coins and paper money.

The public hours of the Long Beach Expo are Thursday and Friday, September 10 and 11, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturday, September 12, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (The show is closed on Sunday.) A complete Schedule of Events is online at www.LongBeachShow.com.

General admission is $6 (good for all three days); $4 for members of any coin or stamp club who display a valid membership card; and $3 for seniors 65 and older. Free admission for children ages seven and younger. Discount coupons are available online at www.LongBeachShow.com.

Orange County readers of the San Diego Luxury Pawn Shop report should take note that a new law has been passed. The Shawangunk Journal reports that under this new law, anyone who has a business that buys second-hand jewelry (gemstones and precious metals) would have to have a license from the county and undergo a background check. In addition, two crucial rules apply. To sell gold jewelry to a store, you have to be over the age of 18 and you have to have photo ID for the store owner to see and if they want, to record. Then, the store or pawn shop must hold the items for 15 days before selling them.

The journal interviewed Dan Depew, Country Representative of the 18th District, who put it this way. “You can’t just ride into town, stay in a motel, and announce that you’re buying gold. Because, now you have stay in the county a while, and you have to register and undergo that background check.”

Police Chief McCann believes that the new law can be a win-win for everyone, saying that if pawn shops and jewelry buyers work it into their practices, then they can be sure that the police know they’re on the right side of things. McCann also added that residents can take steps to protect themselves. “Everyone [should maintain] a good record of the piece of jewelry, or property of any sort that has a value, or that they think is important to them. A photo is good, but if there’s some marker on the property that is known only to them, so they can ID that piece of jewelry, then that’s a great help to us in recovering things.”

Cash for gold isn’t just a hot trend in San Diego. Shoppers around the country have been trading in their gold bling for quick cash. In an article recently published by The Denver Post, the newspaper lists the following tips for when selling your gold jewelry:

—Unless the piece is of a high-quality maker, such as Cartier or Tiffany’s, you’re looking at scrap gold pricing. Forget what you paid for it.

—Remove gemstones from your gold jewelry unless they’re too small to sell separately.

—Know the price of gold the day you’re going out to sell. The New York gold markets close at 1 p.m. Pacific time, so sell your gold in the afternoon.

—Weigh your gold jewelry in bulk. Keep similar karat gold together. You might get a better price.

—Do the gold math. Know the 100 percent value to see if offers are fair to you.

—Get gold buying offers from several stores, whether jewelry or pawn shops.

—Avoid online gold buyers. Unless you’re selling in high volumes, you’ll not likely get a better price.

—Never let strangers view gold jewelry at your home. Consider a bank and safety deposit box for security.

—Walk away if you don’t like the gold buyer’s offer. Gold is constantly on the move.