I found Over $500 in 14 Karat Gold in a $20 Grab Bag from Thrift Store

I have shared that there is an assistant manager at my local thrift store that now does the jewelry. I have shared with the manager that there is no gold or silver in the bags anymore and he told me they are just told to grab a handful and put them into the bags.

I have told him over and over that she is sorting the jewelry and for some reason, there is no silver and gold anymore and I have been doing this for over 20 years and can't believe that they have just stopped getting donations of the "good stuff" and that it happens to coincide with her being hired. 

He told me recently that she isn't sorting the jewelry and I laughed as we tend to joke about the entire thing. I shared how the bags are smaller and smaller and are sorted by color and every bag is red, blue, silver, gold, or misc junk. So if she isn't sorting, the jewelry is miraculously sorting itself into bags! ;-)

I happened to go to the store about 10 minutes before closing and there was no one around. There haven't been jewelry bags for a few weeks again and I had to chase down an employee to open the locked cabinet. They happened to call her. She said, "There is nothing of value in those bags." I immediately was suspicious of her behavior. I told her, "It is fun to look anyway." and within 10 seconds of picking the bag up, I could see all the gold was hidden on the backside of the bag and there was for sure gold in the bag. 

I pulled out my loop and magnet and and it was clearly a thicker gold chain in 14 Karat gold. I figured there must be more as when I said, "I'll take this bag!" she slumped down and I started looking at the other bag and commented on how you can look at a bag for 10 minutes and still see new things. She then said very snippy, "You should just buy it and take it home and lay it out!" as I could tell she was upset. 

Twice in the past she has told me that "meth heads" take the jewelry to the pawn shop and make money off the jewelry. I always thought it was weird that she would say that but I really wonder if she is just taking it to the pawn shop herself. I think I may go in and show him a photo of her. See if he says anything. 

I got home and made a jewelry sorting video and found two gold necklaces and two sets of earrings all in 14 Karat gold. I got a few other things that I liked in the bag as well. I later weighed the gold to see how much she could make on that one bag, and the gold was over $500! 

The site I used takes into consideration the amount of pure gold in the 14 K and how much that would weigh and calculates it on how much gold would sell for today! 

I am not sure how to figure out how to get more options of buying the gold and silver, but I hope this assistant manager doesn't stay around long. None of the regulars feel that she is approachable and the items at the store are marked so high that they don't sell and the shelves are full and nothing moves and in a few weeks they take them down and ship them off. 

I tried to get them to mark down two $5 books that have been there for over a month each, one was even longer, and they wouldn't mark them down to $3 each saying that they will ship them to another store to sell! I can't imagine that for the $4 they would have lost on the sell, that it is worth paying an employee to take the book down, ship it with the cost of gas and to have another employee at another store put it up. It is so crazy! 

I just have to be grateful that I get any of the bags and see it all as a positive in the end. I am blessed! 

Have a blessed day!