Guide on how to sell us your items | True North Gold Buyer

PREPARE YOUR ITEMS

Search for your unwanted jewellery, coins, bars, scrap gold, silver or platinum. We will accept almost anything that consists of ‘real’ (not plated) gold (8 k – 24 k), silver (800-999) or platinum (800-999) as well as gold and silver coins. Please do not send us ‘gold plated’ jewellery. We also accept precious metals like Rhodium or Palladium, but please give us a call first at (705) 302 1055, so we can collect some information on your material and provide you with a closer estimate.
Please note that we do not buy gemstones. Their weight has to be subtracted when weighing your items. We recommend removing them prior to weighing or shipping if you want to keep them.

Tips for recognizing 'gold plated' items

These items can be stamped with the following markings:

GE or GF – Gold Filled
RGP – Rolled Gold Plate
HGE – Heavy Gold Plate
GS – Gold Shell
GP – Gold Plate
EPNS – Electroplated Nickel Silver

If you can, please sort your material and group it by precious metals content (e.g. put all pieces of 14 k gold jewellery in one bag and all pieces of 18 k gold jewellery into another bag). For more information on how to grade your jewellery before shipping and how to sort out fakes click on the link below.

Tips on how to grade jewellery and sort out fakes

Look for any small hallmark on your jewellery that will usually give you the precious metal content of the piece if it is ‘real’. In case of a ring, they are usually found on the inside of the piece (see Galleries 1&2 below), for chains (see Gallery 3 below) and bracelets (see Gallery 4 below) they are often on or near the clasp. Smaller pieces like stud-/jacket earrings with fine, intricate designs might not bear any hallmarks, even if they are real (click here for picture).

If you have any pieces that do not bear a hallmark and that you are not sure about, there is one other relatively easy way to sort out about 90 % of the fakes. For this you will need a strong magnet. Watch what happens if you lay the piece on a table and bring the magnet close to it. If the whole piece of jewellery (not just the clasp, which often contains a magnetic steel spring, even in ‘real’ jewellery) is attracted to the magnet, you have a plated item. (see Gallery 7 below) If nothing of the piece or just the clasp is attracted to the magnet, you have a good chance the piece might be ‘real’ and you can mail it in for us to test it. (see Galleries 5&6 below)

Gallery 1

European 585 (14 kt) gold ring, hallmarked on the inside

Close up of the hallmark on the 585 (14 kt) gold ring

Gallery 2

18 kt gold ring, hallmarked on the inside

On this image one can see that the '1' of the '18 k' hallmark has almost been worn off. This is quite common after jewellery has been worn for a long time, especially if it has a higher gold content like 18 kt and up, as this generally makes the metal softer. — On this image one can see that the ‘1’ of the ’18 k’ hallmark has almost been worn off. This is quite common after jewellery has been worn for a long time, especially if it has a higher gold content like 18 kt and up, as this generally makes the metal softer.

Electronically enhanced image of the hallmark shown as a reference

Gallery 3

10 kt white gold chain, hallmarked near the clasp

Close up of the '10 k' hallmark on the white gold chain — Close up of the ’10 k’ hallmark on the white gold chain

Gallery 4

18 kt gold bracelet hallmarked on the clasp

Close up of the '18 k' hallmark on the clasp of the gold bracelet. The clasp is so narrow, that the stamp for the hallmark couldn’t fully fit on it, therefore it is a little difficult to read. — Close up of the ’18 k’ hallmark on the clasp of the gold bracelet. The clasp is so narrow, that the stamp for the hallmark couldn’t fully fit on it, therefore it is a little difficult to read.

Electronically enhanced image of the hallmark showing the missing bits of the '18 k' hallmark for your reference. — Electronically enhanced image of the hallmark showing the missing bits of the ’18 k’ hallmark for your reference.

Gallery 5

10 kt white gold chain lying on a flat surface, 30 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – not attracted to the magnet

10 kt white gold chain lying on a flat surface, 15 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – not attracted to the magnet

10 kt white gold chain lying on a flat surface, 5 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – not attracted to the magnet

10 kt white gold chain lying on a flat surface, 1 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – not attracted to the magnet. If it doesn’t get attracted at this distance, it is definitely not a fake with a steel core.

Gallery 6

Clasp (with a steel spring) of a 10 kt white gold chain lying on a flat surface, 30 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – not attracted to the magnet

Clasp (with a steel spring) of a 10 kt white gold chain lying on a flat surface, 20 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – not attracted to the magnet

Clasp (with a steel spring) of a 10 kt white gold chain lying on a flat surface, 15 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – just beginning to get attracted to the magnet

Clasp (with a steel spring) of a 10 kt white gold chain lying on a flat surface, 13 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – clasp got attracted and stuck to the magnet. This is normal even for a “real” chain, as long as the rest of the chain (other than the clasp) is not attracted to the magnet.

Gallery 7

Fake gold chain (gold plated on a steel base) lying on a flat surface, 30 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – not attracted to the magnet

Fake gold chain (gold plated on a steel base) lying on a flat surface, 15 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – not attracted to the magnet

Fake gold chain (gold plated on a steel base) lying on a flat surface, 8 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – beginning to get attracted to the magnet

Fake gold chain (gold plated on a steel base) lying on a flat surface, 7 mm from a strong rare earth magnet – chain got attracted and stuck to the magnet. If the whole piece (not only the clasp / closure) appears to be magnetic like this, you likely have a fake.

If you have access to a scale, weigh each group of material separately (e.g. all 14 k pieces together and all 18 k pieces together) on a precision scale (1g resolution or better is recommended) and note down the weights of each group (e.g. 32.5 g of 14 k gold, 12.2 g of 18 k gold). In case you do not have access to a scale, just skip this step and leave the weights at 0 g in the next step in the payout estimator.

ESTIMATE YOUR PAYOUT

Open the Payout Estimator on our website. The upper part of the page helps you with estimating your payout if you know the weights of your items. Then you can fill out the form on the lower part to start the process of sending and selling your items to True North Gold Buyer.

Start with one material group. First select the quality (karat/fineness) then enter a description of the items in the group in the next box and finally enter the total weight of the items in this group into the payout estimator form. Repeat this for all item groups.

Click here for a detailed example

Select ’14 k gold’ as material, enter the description e.g. ‘gold chain, two rings’ and enter the total weight (in grams) of the 14 k group as ‘32.5’. To continue with a second group of items click the ‘Add item’ button. A new line of fields will appear, here select ’18 k gold’ as material, enter an item description like ‘gold bracelet, earrings’ and again enter the weight (in grams) of all 18 k gold items of ‘12.2’.

5Select your preferred method of payment under Payment options from these 3 choices:
Cheque (no additional fees, we will send a cheque to you by mail)
Email money transfer (no additional fees, we will contact you to obtain your banking information and transfer the money to your bank account electronically, funds will be in your bank account immediately)
Wire Transfer (50 $ banking fee, we will contact you to get your banking information and wire the money into your account directly, funds will be in your account within 48 hours)
After entering all material categories and selecting your preferred payment method, click the ‘Calculate’ button to update your estimated payout.

6Enter your contact information. Please make sure you fill out all required fields (marked with Asterisk). ‘Unit/Apt number’ and the ‘Your Message’ Box are optional. You can use the latter if you wish to send additional information with your order or have special requests.

7Click the ‘Select or take picture’ button to upload a copy of a picture ID (e.g. drivers license or provincial health card). It is important that this ID belongs to the person receiving the payment. We can only submit payment to the person shown on the picture ID. We are required to keep a copy of your ID on file for 2 weeks after the payment is made, afterwards the data will be securely deleted. If you wish to send us more material in the future, you can choose for us to keep your ID on file by checking the box ‘Please keep my ID on record for future business’. If you are a repeat customer and previously authorized us to keep your ID on file you can skip this step.

8By checking the ‘Terms & conditions’ box you certify that you have reached the age of majority (19 or 18 depending on your province), have read and agree to the Terms & Conditions as posted. Finally click the ‘Submit order now’ button.
You will then receive an email with your shipping label attached as PDF and an order number. In the email you will also find a link that you will use later, after you shipped your jewellery, to send us the tracking code you receive from your carrier.

SEND ITEMS & GET PAYED

9Place your jewellery and all other precious metal containing items you want to sell to us into a ziploc bag and tape it tightly so nothing rattles. Place the bag into either a bubble wrap envelope or into a small package and use crumpled paper to fill the space and ensure nothing is loose. Print out the PDF file with your shipping label and order number. Cut out the shipping label and the order number section below. Place the lower part of the printout with your order number inside the package and tape it shut. Then affix the shipping label to the outside of the package and make sure the ‘sender’ and ‘ship to’ addresses are readable. If you do not have access to a printer to print the shipping label and order number, you can write the addresses on the box by hand and place the handwritten order number on a piece of paper inside the package. For safety reasons please write down our address and company name exactly as shown below:

Address your package to:
TNGB LIMITED
PO BOX 22027 BIG BAY POINT
BARRIE ON L4N 0Z5

10Take the parcel to your local Canada Post office and ship it to us as a tracked package. We recommend to ship the package tracked and insured via Xpresspost. With Canada Post Xpresspost the package is by default insured against loss of up to $ 100 and additional insurance from Canada Post of up to $ 5000 can be added for your package. With Xpresspost we usually receive packages within 1-2 business days, depending on the senders location.
After sending the package to us, click the link (see step 8) in our email to enter the tracking number for your shipment on our website. The link will open a form on our website. There you can enter the name of the carrier (e.g. Canada Post) and the tracking number of the shipment you have just sent to us. This way we can keep track of your shipment and ensure prompt reception and same day processing.

11Once we receive your shipment, we take pictures of your package and its contents. These will serve as a record in case there are any discrepancies between what you put into the package and what we received. We then list, weigh and test your precious metal containing items in our in-house assaying lab, provide you with a quote via phone and email. If you accept our offer, we will process your material and pay you via your chosen method of payment on the same day. If you are not satisfied with our offer for any reason, we will ship your material back to you tracked and insured via Canada Post Xpresspost.
After we have submitted your payment, we will send you an email with a link that allows you to post a review of our services on our website, so you can give us some feedback and let us know how we did and if you would like to see any improvements in the future.