As we head into the spring and summer months, precious metals continue to remain near all time high levels of value. Silver is fluctuating between $70 and $80 per ounce, while gold continues to stay in the $4700 to $5000 per ounce range on any given day. As these values have continued to remain high, more and more people are deciding to sell old gold and silver coins, jewelry, and scrap for cash to take advantage of the historic high prices. A side effect of this is that more people than ever are coming by Frank's Jewelry (as well as countless other jewelers, pawn shops, and coin dealers) to find out what the potential value of their items may be. We are very privaledged to have the reputation of a trusted, local source for knowledge on this subject, and take pride in providing accurate estimates of value.
However, the past few months have seen an almost exponential number of folks dropping by with bags and boxes of old family jewelry and scrap wanting to know the value of these items. Going through piles of dozens of pieces of old jewelry is incredibly time consuming, and is often expected to be done at no charge, and the number of estimate requests we've been fielding has created a real bottleneck in the store. Customers who've brought in pieces for repair, resizing, or custom work are waiting longer than they should because so much of our time is being spent on estimates. That's not fair to them, and it's not fair to you either — because a hurried estimate isn't a good one.
So starting now, we're making a small change to how we handle verbal estimates.
For most customers, nothing will feel different at all. If you bring in one to three items within a 30-day period, there's no charge — same as always. If you're bringing in a larger collection, between three and ten items, verbal estimates will incur a flat $25 fee. For anything over ten pieces, there's an additional per-item charge on top of that. We'll always be upfront about what to expect before we get started.
And here's the part we really want you to hear: if you end up selling or trading your jewelry or scrap metal with us, there is no estimate fee. The fee only comes into play if you decide not to sell after we've done the work of evaluating your pieces. We think that's fair, and we hope you do too.
If you're bringing in a larger group — say, five or more items — we'd encourage you to use our drop-off service rather than waiting with us at the counter. It gives us the time to look at everything carefully, and it means you don't have to stand around while we work. For collections of more than ten items, drop-off is actually required. Just give us a call before you come in so we can make sure everything goes smoothly, and we'll reach out as soon as your estimate is ready.
One more thing worth saying clearly: our written appraisal fees haven't changed at all. If you need a formal appraisal for insurance, an estate, or resale purposes, that process is exactly the same as it's always been. Just ask us about scheduling one. Want to know the value of an item you're having repaired? We're happy to that as well at no charge to you during the service.
However, the past few months have seen an almost exponential number of folks dropping by with bags and boxes of old family jewelry and scrap wanting to know the value of these items. Going through piles of dozens of pieces of old jewelry is incredibly time consuming, and is often expected to be done at no charge, and the number of estimate requests we've been fielding has created a real bottleneck in the store. Customers who've brought in pieces for repair, resizing, or custom work are waiting longer than they should because so much of our time is being spent on estimates. That's not fair to them, and it's not fair to you either — because a hurried estimate isn't a good one.
So starting now, we're making a small change to how we handle verbal estimates.
For most customers, nothing will feel different at all. If you bring in one to three items within a 30-day period, there's no charge — same as always. If you're bringing in a larger collection, between three and ten items, verbal estimates will incur a flat $25 fee. For anything over ten pieces, there's an additional per-item charge on top of that. We'll always be upfront about what to expect before we get started.
And here's the part we really want you to hear: if you end up selling or trading your jewelry or scrap metal with us, there is no estimate fee. The fee only comes into play if you decide not to sell after we've done the work of evaluating your pieces. We think that's fair, and we hope you do too.
If you're bringing in a larger group — say, five or more items — we'd encourage you to use our drop-off service rather than waiting with us at the counter. It gives us the time to look at everything carefully, and it means you don't have to stand around while we work. For collections of more than ten items, drop-off is actually required. Just give us a call before you come in so we can make sure everything goes smoothly, and we'll reach out as soon as your estimate is ready.
One more thing worth saying clearly: our written appraisal fees haven't changed at all. If you need a formal appraisal for insurance, an estate, or resale purposes, that process is exactly the same as it's always been. Just ask us about scheduling one. Want to know the value of an item you're having repaired? We're happy to that as well at no charge to you during the service.