02.What we found
Shadow Shop
Our shadow shop was undertaken over three days in early September. We presented each shop with the same three pieces of jewellery (a 9-carat ring, a broken 9-carat chain and a broken 18-carat chain) and asked for a quote. We noted the weight the shop’s scale showed, and used the New York Spot closing price on each day to calculate the gold value. (The Spot price varied by less than 1% over the three days.) Some shops did not accept all three pieces – for example, they thought the ring might be silver and only gold-plated or the 9-carat chain might be too light to be gold.
Using the table
Gold prices are based on New York Spot price of the day on which the price was quoted. Source: www.kitconet.com. All shops in this table are in Sydney; try the following shops as a starting point if you live elsewhere (we haven’t tested them):
Adelaide Adelaide Exchange Jewellers, www.adelaide-exchange.com.au, 10 Stephens Place, Adelaide (also branches in Glenelg and Modbury), (08) 8376 0044.
Brisbane: Gold Buyers Brisbane – Ainslie Bullion Company, www.cashforgoldjewellery.com.au, 289 Queen St, Brisbane, 1800 987 648.
Hobart: Adelaide Exchange Jewellers, www.adelaide-exchange.com.au, Cat & Fiddle Arcade, Upper Level, Hobart, (03) 6234 5000.
Melbourne: Cash For Gold Australia, www.cashforgoldaustralia.com.au, 112 Swan St, Richmond, (03) 9429 7000.
Perth: Perth Mint, www.perthmint.com.au/buybackjewellery.aspx, 310 Hay St, East Perth, (08) 9421 7428.
Table notes
(A) This quote was from the manager of the company, who was called by the shop assistant.
(B) Initial quote by the shop assistant; see (A) for the higher quote for two items provided by his manager.
(C) Company did not accept this piece of jewellery.
(D) Combined price was $160.
(E) Company did not provide weight for this piece of jewellery, so it was not included in the calculation of the percentage of gold value.