In short, Wellington states in their advertisement that it's "110% guaranteed to get (you) top dollar by mail" for your old gold, silver, platinum, etc.in reality, they only compare themselves to their internet competitors, and offer very little for the gold you are selling them.in this instance, I had sent them two gold rings, weighing 4.3 pennyweights (roughly a quarter ounce), each being made of 10 karat (10K) gold. Now, first of all, Goldpaq (Wellington's Trade Name?) does not mention anywhere in their advertisement, or on their website, what the going rate is for scrap gold, nor do they mention what percentage of this value they are willing to pay. I had assumed when they mentioned that they paid "Top Dollar" that they were going to offer something comparable to at least half of the scrap value for the rings that I had sent to them. If they had been at least half-way reasonable, they should have sent a check for at least $50.00 for the gold, taking into consideration the karat value, the mass, and the scrap gold market price, minus a very substantial business profit. They do offer a 10-day return policy, which is a good start, but that assumes you know you're being low-balled on the value, and can scramble fast enough to get your rings back. Unfortunately, I missed their brief return time frame, and got taken to the cleaners!
After calling a reputable regional jeweler, I began to realize just how badly this Wellington "limited liability company" had short changed me. After speaking with their staff, I was given a rough estimate for the value of one of the rings as being between $125 and $175. Perhaps a bit high, but with Gold selling for roughly $900 per ounce, 10K gold being ~40% gold, the value of the gold itself would be in the 70 to 80 dollar range (plus the one ring had a stone and a small diamond). Understandably, they get scrap value from a processor, have overhead, etc., but I could have taken that same set of rings to a closer Jeweler, and had gotten approximately 10X what Wellington / Goldpaq has offered me. Had I know what their rates were, rather than the vague "Top Dollar Guarantee", I would have gladly made the round trip to a reputable Jeweler!
What I am planning on asking Wellington is for a return of an equal weight of scrap gold, and a promise to be very forthright & upfront with what they will pay in return for the scrap jeweleries' gold/silver/platinum content, with a better way to estimate this on their website. Basically, to tell us what they offer per ounce or pennyweight of 10,12, 14, or 24K gold, platinum, etc., and what a typical ring (let's say a wedding band) might weigh, to give the customer some idea of prices.
I suspect they intentionally neglect to mention this information, as a means of snookering us into sending in our old jewelery, not knowing the true value of what we are sending to them. So be forewarned, and check out other more reputable dealers in precious metals and jewelery before you offer it to Wellington!
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