Accountability

I'm all fired up from another thread and wanted some opinions/input from everyone on something I've been thinking about - All comment welcomed and encouraged!

Should the businesses/people that buy broken jewelry/unwanted jewelry/ scrap gold and silver and the like be held just as accountable as a scrap yard in regards to stolen property that they accept?

I believe that they should - they are practically the same as a scrap yards, they buy metals. I see them as "stuck-up scrap yards" like the type that think that they're on a higher level or something. I know that when my home was robbed the first place that my stolen jewelry visited was one of these businesses and it was the last before *poof* all of it was gone without a trace. Never to be seen again. Something just made the thieves move from jewelry to copper wires and the likes. I don't know maybe they robbed everyone in their area already. I'm done with my little rant on this and I would love to hear yours!

They're basically a pawn shop. Pawn shops in my area require photo identification. I've never dealt with a " cash for gold". I would think or at least hope they would have to keep records of transactions. The problem I see with this sort of storefront operation is they buy by weight. The piece isn't held or on display like at a pawn shop. If they were to flag large sales, theives could go store to store, town to town and sell, just like thief could do with stolen copper.

The only way the police are going to go through the trouble of tracing someone from a scrap yard or cash for gold is; if they think the theft ring is large enough to justify the man hours it would take to track down people, only to ask them questions based on circumstancial evidence. The police are only going to really go after the big story. The stories that get the police pats on the back from the community and gets people raises and promotions.

The ID thing... A formality. A way for the police to check records when they suspect a big theft or theft ring.

I live in Cook county its been called the most crooked county in America. It also touts the name Crook county. Ever heard of rod blagojevich, George Ryan, Illinois is terrible with self intrest politics which trickles down the cracks into the system. They are not going to pat down the cash for golds. They are on every corner paying a lot of taxes, which means people's jobs. The only way they are going to check a scrap yard or cash for gold is when the effort to do so is going to.make the front pages.

Tough question Julie...Do I want them held accountable? Certainly. Do I want more laws that will not be enforced? No.

Sucks that your stuff got ripped off, I've had it happen too. I just keep trying to stay one step ahead of the crooks.

One of my good friends owns a jewelry store and I have sold him lots of scrap gold. He is also very outspoken about some of these places and the way they do business. He is required to keep all scrap gold for 30 days after he buys it before he can send it to the refiner. This gives the local police time to check with him about stolen items. He also keeps identification on people with the gold that they sold.

Another time he had a suspicious person come in he bought the Gold took their ID and the tag number of the car that he got off his surveillance cameras and called the police after they left. The police were able to determine that the gold was stolen from a couple cities over even though the ID was a fake they were able to track them down through the car tag. He has busted a couple of people like this.

They key is to find someone reputable and only deal with them. Take in a very small amount and see what their prices are. Then don't sell it and take it somewhere else and compare. My friend pays the most out of anyone I have ever seen. I sent a few people to him after they got some estimates and he paid them almost twice what they were being offered at another place. I travel alot for work and I have seen we buy gold places set up in an RV in a gas station parking lot and if thats not sketch I dont know what is. But if you sell your gold to a sketchy guy in an RV than I thinks thats your fault really.

craasher i sold my gold to a guy in an rv it was a full time rv"Er and that"s all he did when the local cash for gold places only offered me $1400 he gave me close to 2 K

That guy might have been a decent guy but the vast majority of the people that buy Gold out there are sketchy. You sound like you did your due diligence and actually got quotes from more than one person which is smart. I'm not saying all RV gold buyers guys are bad but it just seems sketchy to me but I also have a very good gold buyer a few blocks from my house. Its like buying seafood out of some guys trunk on the side of the road. He might have packed it in ice and it might be fresh but you never know for sure.

this is a tough situation. sry for your loss. but do we want more regulation. we currently have in this country, laws and regulations to cover every possable situation in human existance or any existance for that matter. what we need is enforcement. and reduction of regulations that prevent us from taking proper action to protect life and property so we can impliment personal responsability and protection.

fortunately I live in a state (Florida) that has the Castle law that allows us to protect our property and, stand your ground law that allows us to protect our selves and others, also in this county we have a sheriff who allows us to self enforce those laws.

We had a theft here months back. we investigated and found out who it was, we couldnt prove it to the standards of the court but there was no doubt who it was. so we were told "mike looks like you have to handle this one your self". Two days later the thief lost his happy home and move 39 miles away to a neighborhood where he felt more comfortable.

i"m sorry for your loss but i will say the last thing needed ios more regualtion

One of the most valuable services on this forum is our buyers section. It allows us to comment on the buyers and makes my little business possible. (I am aware you know all this) This is the best I can do to protect myself. I also have four dogs at the house that will sound the alarm. To me the police are there to investigate after the crime and locks are for honest people. Mike.

I know that when my home was robbed the first place that my stolen jewelry visited was one of these businesses and it was the last before *poof* all of it was gone without a trace. Never to be seen again.

Sorry you had your stuff stolen. But I'm curious - how did you know it ended up in one of those places? If you had the name of the place, was there no paper trail at all? Was there a witness? If you knew where it went, was there nothing for the police to go on?
Just wondering.