Accessibility tools
Powered by 
Translate
Use the boxes below to change the website colours.
Visit disclaimer page for more information about the accessibility tool.
A golden opportunity … or is it?
People looking to sell off gold or other valuable metals to make some quick cash have been warned to shop around - after an investigation was carried out across North Ayrshire.
The Council’s Trading Standards team recently conducted a series of visits to High Street traders – included local and national traders conducting business as jewellers, pawnshops and second-hand goods retailers - offering to buy gold for cash.
And they were shocked to see the lack of transparency and the inconsistency of how gold was valued by different traders.
The team took the same nine-carat gold bracelet weighing 20.2 grams to seven traders based in North Ayrshire who buy and sell gold - and were offered seven different prices for the bracelet ranging from £200 to £505. This range of price meant that they were being offered prices per gram from £9.90 to £25.00.
During the investigation, the team also discovered that:
- Only one of the traders actually displayed the price per gram at the premise and when asked for the price per gram most traders were reluctant to give this. By law consumers must be provided with this information
- Five traders weighed the bracelet on legal scales, two did not. It is a legal requirement for traders to use what is known as Class II scales for weighing jewellery which are ‘legal for use for trade'
- The weighing should also be carried out in view of the consumer. If the trader uses small pocket sized scales, these are not normally legal for use
- One of the traders visited in North Ayrshire also did not hold a Second Hand Dealers License (SHDL). It is not legal to carry out the buying of jewellery without a SHDL in North Ayrshire.
All traders will be revisited to ensure Fair Trading and that legal compliance is met
Quote: This is great work by our Trading Standards team and is quite eye-opening that there is such a wide range of valuations of the same item. There is a difference of £305 for the same item of jewellery which clearly shows that when selling jewellery that you need to shop around for the best price and don’t be caught out. If you are planning on selling any old, unwanted, unused or scrap gold be aware. The smallest weight is worth a considerable amount of money, so do not let the traders take advantage of you.”
Quote from: Councillor Alan Hill, Cabinet Member for Communities, Housing and Islands
If selling gold or other metals
- know your rights
- know that you should be made aware of the price per gram before transacting
- know that you should be able to see the weighing taking place
- do a bit of investigating online beforehand so that you know roughly what price you should achieve for your jewellery.
For further advice or information, email North Ayrshire Trading Standards or tel: 01294 101101.
Published: 08 September 2025