Historic Prices Bring in Cash for Gold

With gold prices reaching a historic high this week, the owners of a Haddonfield shop that buys gold are reaping the benefits of customers who want to unload old jewelry.

“We’re a market-based business, and when the market for gold goes up, we tend to get more customers,” said George Evearts, who owns Evearts Gallery on Kings Highway with wife Irma. “We do see an influx if the market is up.”

And the market is certainly up. Gold reached its highest price ever this week at $1,500 per ounce and counting. Although this could point to inflation for the country, it’s a boon for local cash for gold businesses.

“People come in for different reasons,” said Irma Evearts. “Some need money right away. Others are getting rid of jewelry they don’t want or use, or they are here to divide up an estate.”

Although there is no typical customer profile, the Evearts said many of their customers are retired and looking to either get money for old keepsakes or fund a new purchase.

With the rise in gold prices, the couple said new clientele of all ages regularly appear at the store to inquire about cash for gold.

Customers follow the market, the Evearts agreed, and tend to time visits with rises in the price for gold and other precious metals.

Evearts Gallery differs from most traditional cash for gold operations, George Evearts said. Many of those stores only buy gold or other metals, cut off the pieces' stones, and send the goods away to a central refinery. 

Cash for gold is just one component of Evearts’ business, and the owners often resell or repurpose the jewelry rather than melt it down. Unlike strictly cash for gold operations, Evearts wants to preserve handcrafted pieces, George Evearts said.

If possible, the Evearts resell or remake the jewelry into a new piece. This is often more comforting for people getting rid of family heirlooms, Irma Evearts said. It also brings in more valuable pieces by famous jewelers—pieces that will be destroyed if traded in at a place that refines the gold. 

“There is a cash for gold craze going on right now, but you can’t always trust all of those places,” Irma Evearts said. “When it’s melted down, that’s it. We appreciate antiques and fine pieces.”

Cash for gold stores are popping up around the region, and Irma Evearts acknowledges there can be a stigma attached to trading in jewelry for cash. The couple tries to be sensitive to that, and will often bring their customers into a back room or shut the store down while appraising pieces.

“People come in for all reasons. In this bad economy, we are seeing more people come in,” she said, “ but no matter why they’re here, everyone gets treated the same.”