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Recently, the international gold price has repeatedly hit new highs, and the domestic gold market has also "risen with the tide". Consumers and investors have followed the rising prices and bought gold, and many consumers have also locked in their profits through gold repurchase. The Chaoyang District People's Court of Beijing reminds that many investors focus on the gold investment side, but do not have enough understanding of the risks of physical gold repurchase and realization. Consumers should pay attention to avoid the "pitfalls" of gold repurchase channels to avoid disputes caused by damage to their own interests during the physical gold repurchase process.

Bank channel repo: it is easy to buy gold but difficult to sell it

Buying and selling gold bars through banks is generally considered the most reliable channel, but disputes between consumers and banks also often occur.

In a case in which a consumer sued a bank for a sales contract dispute, the plaintiff, Mr. Wang, followed the repurchase process for precious metal transactions on the bank's official website and made an appointment for a repurchase time. When he went to the designated repurchase outlet to handle the precious metal repurchase business, the bank staff looked at his gold bars but refused to accept them. The two sides could not reach an agreement, so Mr. Wang sued the bank in court.

During the lawsuit, the bank said that the reason for not recycling the gold bar was that the surface of the gold bar was obviously scratched and damaged, and the outer anti-counterfeit bag was missing. It was impossible to prove that the gold bar was indeed the one Mr. Wang bought from the bank, and there was a possibility of forgery. After mediation by the court and negotiation between the two parties, Mr. Wang admitted that he had improperly kept the gold bar, which caused the surface and packaging of the gold bar to be damaged, and voluntarily applied to withdraw the lawsuit.

Zhao Bingqing, assistant judge of the Civil Court No. 3 of Chaoyang Court, introduced that the precious metal trading terms provided by banks are usually standard terms. According to the second paragraph of Article 496 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of my country, when a contract is concluded by standard terms, the party providing the standard terms shall follow the principle of fairness to determine the rights and obligations between the parties, and take reasonable measures to remind the other party of the terms that have a significant interest in the other party, such as exemption or reduction of its liability, and explain the terms according to the other party's requirements. When formulating standard terms for precious metal repurchase, banks should focus on and inform the provisions that have a significant impact on customer rights and interests, and inform customers of the repurchase process in an open, easy-to-search and understandable manner during the period of purchase and holding.

Zhao Bingqing said that buying physical gold through bank channels is indeed a good choice, but before buying, you should pay attention to the rules and legal terms of precious metal repurchase. For example, some banks only provide agency sales but not repurchase services, and some banks only provide repurchase services at some outlets or only recycle precious metals sold by the bank. The bills and packaging that may affect the recycling should be properly kept to avoid loss or damage. The precious metals themselves should be properly preserved to avoid bumps and scratches.

Branded gold shop repurchase: many tricks to exchange old for new

Compared with bank repurchase, branded gold shops have more relaxed gold recycling requirements. Due to the high price difference between the gold price sold on the day and the gold recycling price at branded gold shops, many gold shops will also recommend customers to exchange old jewelry for new jewelry, exchanging grams for grams according to the gold price of the day, but additional depreciation and labor costs will be charged.

Ms. Lin participated in the trade-in activity at a gold counter in a shopping mall. She chose a gold bracelet priced at 3,999 yuan and exchanged her old gold jewelry weighing 3.95 grams for the gold bracelet. According to the deduction rules, the old gold jewelry was worth 2,358 yuan, and she still needed to pay the difference of 1,641 yuan. During the purchase, Ms. Lin did not pay attention to the gold content and gram information on the bracelet label, and the merchant did not clearly inform her of the relationship between the price and gram. After returning home, Ms. Lin weighed the new bracelet and found that it was only 2.9 grams. "If you lose 1 gram of gold, you need to pay 1,641 yuan more." Ms. Lin asked the merchant to exchange the goods, but the other party responded that participating in the trade-in activity can only exchange "fixed price" gold jewelry, and cannot be exchanged according to the gram. Ms. Lin believed that the merchant deliberately concealed the exchange rules and misled her to exchange gold jewelry with a lower gram, infringing the consumer's right to know, so she sued the merchant in court. Under the mediation of the court, Ms. Lin gave up the old-for-new activity, and the merchant returned the old gold jewelry to Ms. Lin.

Zhao Bingqing said that Article 13 of my country's Price Law stipulates that when operators sell or purchase goods or provide services, they shall clearly mark prices in accordance with the regulations of the government's price authorities, indicating the name, origin, specifications, grade, unit of measurement, price of the goods or the items and charging standards of the services. The number of grams belongs to the specifications and is also part of the price mark. It is not in compliance with the provisions of the Price Law to mark only the price without marking the number of grams. Consumers should take the initiative to ask about the rules before participating in the store's gold buyback activities. The marketing rules of different gold shops vary greatly and there are many thresholds and routines. They should fully understand the rules of the merchants and clarify the price of "trade-in" before deciding whether to exchange to avoid subsequent disputes.

Online recycling platform: The detection process is a "mystery"

In recent years, online recycling platforms have also begun to get involved in the gold recycling business, and can even provide door-to-door recycling services.

Xiao Liu mailed a gold necklace given by his parents many years ago to an online gold trading platform. The platform weighed it for the first time and it showed 10 grams. After further testing, it sent Xiao Liu a photo of the gold nugget melted into a black lump, and the weight showed 7.3 grams. The platform said that gold testing requires the use of fire melting method, and the black lump is because the gold is old and mixed with impurities. Xiao Liu felt that the difference between the two weighings was large, so he asked the platform to return the original item. The platform said that the necklace had been melted and could not be restored even if he did not want to recycle it.

In this regard, Zhao Bingqing said that Article 8 of the "Gold and Silver Management Regulations" stipulates that the purchase of gold and silver shall be handled uniformly by the People's Bank of China. Except with the permission and entrustment of the People's Bank of China, no unit or individual may purchase gold and silver. Scrap gold recycling belongs to a special business industry, which requires a special industry business license and business license. Engaging in gold recycling business requires a specific business license and operating license. Online gold trading platforms vary greatly, and many online gold trading platforms do not have such qualifications. Investors are advised to choose regular recycling channels such as banks and branded gold shops. If you must choose an online platform, the seller should also fully understand the gold content, gram weight and other information of their products, carefully examine whether the online recycling platform has relevant qualifications, and understand the platform's operating conditions and testing procedures.

In addition to online recycling channels, consumers often see signs on the streets that say "recycling gold at high prices". It should be noted that there are many "ghost scales" and "remote-controlled scales" merchants. In addition, factors such as the lack of receipts and certificates during recycling may become an excuse for merchants to charge extra fees. Some merchants charge so-called "depreciation fees" on the grounds that the gold is too old.

Zhao Bingqing reminded that gold recycling is priced based on weight and purity, and has nothing to do with whether it is new or old, and has no direct relationship with whether there is a certificate or invoice. Consumers need to show purchase records, invoices, etc. If they really can't find the purchase invoice, they need to provide personal identity information for registration. If you encounter a recycling operator using a "ghost scale", you should report it to the market supervision and management department. For merchants who use electronic scales to weigh less gold for the purpose of illegal possession during the recycling process and defraud others of their property, if the amount is large, it may constitute a crime of fraud.