As seen in...

   SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2009

Gold Rush



Don't just sell your jewelry -get a cut when your friends do, too

BY NICOLE CARTER
Shine up your gold. As the stock market continues to plunge, the price of the precious metal has spiked. That means it's a good time to sell that dusty old necklace from your ex. But pawnshops and as-seen-on-TV cash-for-gold services aren't the only way to profit from your old rings.   Amy Steel, founder of the jewelry-buying Web site RedSwan.com, has devised a gold-trading concept that keeps on giving.

  "I just thought there needs to be a fun way for a smarter woman to sell her gold from the privacy of her own home," explains Steel. "And why not make it something that can continue to make you money down the road?"

  Here's the deal: After ordering the free, postage-paid box and sending in broken or old jewelry, you get a check in the mail.

  "But I decided to take it one step further. You know, if I get a $225 check in the mail for sending my gold in, I'm going to pick up the phone and tell someone about it. It's just natural," says Steel.

  That's where the party comes in. It includes 10 more free, prepaid boxes for you to hand out to friends or family. The kicker is, after you've persuaded them to send in their old jewelry, you get a portion of every sale.

  "For example, if I tell you about it and you send it in, I get 8% of your payment. Then if you tell someone else, I get 4% of their payment. And it just keeps growing," says Steel, adding that it's unusual for customers to receive monthly "thank-you payments" as the branching effect grows.

  Jody Stutman, who recently tried the service, made well over $1,000 by selling her own jewelry, but doubled that number after having a gold party with her girlfriends.

  "My daughter's bat mitzvah is coming up, so I wanted a way to start saving some extra money," the 40-year old mother of two says, adding, "It's not hard to convince people after telling them much money I made and that a second-grader could do it."

  Steel says that with popular jewelry like high-school rings, averaging $200 a pop, it isn't uncommon for them to pay out $5,000 to $10,000 checks.

  "This isn't like take-yourself-to-lunch money, it's like pay-off-your-credit-card money," Steel says. The service not only accepts gold but just about anything, watches to diamonds.

  But Steel reiterates that nearly everything is profitable and has been taken aback by a few items sent in by customers over the years, from rarities like antique Cartier opera glasses to oddities like solid gold faucets.

  And as the dismal economy has even financially fit people looking for ways to make extra money, Stutman says this service doesn't have the stigma that can come with selling personal items for profit.

  "It's nice that there's no one looking over your shoulder evaluating you and your life, and I would never in a million years walk into a pawnshop to get that uncomfortable pressure of having a bargain," says the office manager, an Ardmore, Pa., native.

  "Women in particular don't do a lot for themselves, and to have a reason to throw a little party that will also make you money is wonderful for me. I keep combing my drawer to see if there's anything I've missed!"