May 26, 2017

Checklist of Old Electronic Devices that Contain Gold

May 26, 2017/ Barry Lenson

If you want to make someone laugh, try mentioning some of the devices we’re going to discuss in this post today. Mention an eight-track tape player? Hey, that’s funny! A Commodore 64 computer? Stop, you’re killing me! There’s no question that many of the popular electronic devices of yesterday are objects of ridicule today. But laughable or not, all of them contain small amounts of gold, silver, and other metals that can be worth recycling for cash, provided you can collect 100, 200, 500 or more of them or more. What old devices are lying around at yard sales, junk shops and other places? Let’s take a closer look.

December 16, 2016

Why Gold Will Never Go Down in Value

December 16, 2016/ Barry Lenson

Some pretty amazing materials have been invented over the last 100 years, including Nylon, Teflon, long-chain polymers and advanced industrial ceramics. They are all remarkable, but they aren’t as amazing as gold. For many reasons, gold still reigns as the perhaps the astonishing material found on earth. Those are the same reasons that explain why gold will forever fascinate people and never decline in value - temporary price fluctuations aside, of course!

September 23, 2016

Looking for Gold? Here Are the Scrapped Electronic Devices You Should Buy Today

September 23, 2016/ Barry Lenson

Lots of electronic devices are going out of style or being replaced by newer, more advanced models. Just a few weeks ago, the last VCR that will ever be made was boxed up and shipped out. Twenty years ago, hundreds of thousands of VCRs were being made, and now they have gone away. Each of them contained small amounts of gold in their printed circuit boards that a qualified precious metals refiner can extract profitably.

August 19, 2016

How Much Gold Is in the Hottest New Gadgets?

August 19, 2016/ Barry Lenson

Everybody loves owning the latest new electronic devices and gizmos. What could be cooler than cruising through the neighborhood on a new hoverboard or in your self-driving car? But how much gold do today’s hottest new products contain, and how and when can you recycle it?

January 22, 2016

Start Your Own Recycling Company and Get Ready to Profit from the Biggest Gold Throw-Away in History

January 22, 2016/ Barry Lenson

According to Futuresource Consulting, 30 million new televisions were sold worldwide in calendar year 2015 alone. And according to Pew Research, 64% of Americans now own smartphones, up from 35% in 2011. Those are just two random statistics that tell us that millions of consumers around the world are trading up to more and more sophisticated electronic devices. When they trade up, they usually toss their old stuff – and every item they toss contains a small amount of gold. Do you sense an opportunity there?

December 04, 2015

Recycling Gold - Do Older or Newer Sources Give You the Greater Yield?

December 04, 2015/ Barry Lenson

I recently took a close look at the inner workings of an old stereo console that dates from the mid-1950s. It’s one of those “hi-fis” that were so popular back then. It doesn’t work anymore and would probably cause a fire if we left it plugged in, but it starts conversations. If you look inside, you’ll see that it contains an amplifier, a radio receiver, two big speakers, and even a turntable, all packed into a heavy piece of cabinetry. There are vacuum tubes, lots of wires, an antenna, and miscellaneous other components. But is there any gold inside?

November 06, 2015

Profitable, Perfectly Legal Lessons You Can Learn from Gold Heists

November 06, 2015/ Barry Lenson

Here at Gold Refiners.com, part of Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, we are 100% committed to doing business honestly and ethically. We very rarely get calls from people who want us to extract precious metals in ways that shortcut environmental laws, for example. But when we do, we turn that business away. Yet the fact remains that some lessons can be learned from crooks – the most successful of them are pretty smart, after all – about how to honestly get some more profit from gold.

October 02, 2015

Can You Accurately Test Gold at Home?

October 02, 2015/ Barry Lenson

Although those kits are useful, they cannot take the place of the thorough testing and analysis that is offered by a qualified gold refinery like Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, the parent company of GoldRefiners.com. Acid-testing kits can only determine the gold content of small individual items like rings or earrings. They can’t determine the gold content in materials like these, which we regularly test for our customers

August 14, 2015

Where to Look for Small, Easy-to-Find Pieces of Gold that You Can Recycle Profitably

August 14, 2015/ Barry Lenson

The best thing about looking for small pieces of gold is that if you start looking, you are really going to find them. (That cannot be said if you go out and buy a metal detector, for example, or if you put on scuba gear and start poking around on the ocean floor.) Here are some of the places where you are going to find small pieces of gold.

February 13, 2015

Do Old Digital Cameras Contain Precious Metals that Can Be Recycled?

February 13, 2015/ Barry Lenson

Hundreds of millions of digital cameras have been sold each year. That means that there are over a billion digital cameras waiting to be traded in or scrapped. That thought led me to research how much money can be made by recycling cameras. Here are answers to questions about camera recycling...

January 30, 2015

Three Reasons Why the Gold You Have Has Mystical and Magical Properties

January 30, 2015/ Barry Lenson

Gold is beautiful. It conducts electricity. It can be shaped easily. It is bright and shiny, even when found in riverbeds and mines. People are always finding new ways to use it in electrical, aerospace and even medical applications. That’s all true. But there is something else about gold – something that is a bit harder to explain: Gold is mysterious and magical...

January 02, 2015

Why Your Recyclable Gold Will Always Be in Demand

January 02, 2015/ Barry Lenson

All of us who work with precious metals are acutely aware that gold is trading at pretty low prices these days. But does that mean that demand for gold is about to go away? Or does it mean that you should forget about recycling gold today if you need cash? Not at all. You see, the demand for gold is at an all time high today, for some very compelling reasons...

November 07, 2014

Is this a Good Time to Sell My Gold?

November 07, 2014/ Barry Lenson

If you have been paying attention to dropping gold prices, you probably believe that this would be a very bad time to sell your gold. It seems like a far better time to buy gold now and hold it until prices bounce back.

Image of "Cash for Gold" signholders for Specialty Metals blog post, Scams to Avoid when Selling Precious Metals, courtesy of Comedy Central and South Park.

But the fact remains that there is no one answer to the question, “Is this the time to sell?” Even when prices are low, your circumstances could dictate that selling now might be a very good idea.

Those circumstances could be . . .

You acquired gold at a lower price than its current trading level, so selling now would represent a net gain for you. If you make a sizeable profit from selling your gold for more than you paid for it, the current trading price might not be a relevant concern.
You could use the money that is tied up in your gold holdings to make opportune investments in real estate, fine art, or other assets that will appreciate in value. And remember, you could receive a usable sum of money by recycling only a part of your gold holdings. (Nobody can require you to sell all the gold you own right now, correct?)
You can use the cash you realize as a tax-deductible charitable contribution to a college, a hospital or another institution that you support. Depending on your tax bracket and other considerations, it could be a strategy that will minimize your taxes, offset the current low price of gold, and help you support a favorite institution too.
You own gold-bearing items that need to be recycled, not bouillon, and you don’t know just how much money you stand to gain by recycling them now. They could be gold dental scrap, gold-plated decorative items, a large quantity of printed circuit boards or other electronic devices that need to be tested by a qualified gold refinery like us. You could get a much bigger payment for those items than you expect.
You are making a new estate plan. Instead of holding on to valuable precious metals and having your heirs pay inheritance tax on them should you die, perhaps you should liquidate them and put the money you get into a trust or other vehicle that will serve to minimize inheritance taxes. The attorney or other expert who is helping you plan your estate can offer you the advice you need.

How Much Are Your Gold-Bearing Items Worth?

If you are not sure call us at 800-426-2344 to find out.

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