Sending scrap and other valuables

Was: Refining settlement fee charts

We have a bunch of scrap again now and we're procrastinating
on the refining because the last time was such a nightmare. Besides
recommending hoover and strong for refining what is the safest way
to send scrap (or other valubles) in your opinions? 

I would use insured registered mail. It takes a little longer than
priority mail but my understanding is that each time the package
changes hands in the process it is logged and accounted for.

Joel Schwalb

Hauser & Miller in St. Louis, MO are great! They are wonderful
supporters of our guild “Society of Midwest Metalsmiths.” Their
telephone number is 1 800 462 7447.

Ray Wenneker

Hauser & Miller in St. Louis, MO are great! 

Funny-- I had read on Orchid about Hoover & Strong-- and somehow got
it mixed up with Hauser & Miller. I sent all my old scrap via UPS. A
couple of people advised me to get it back and send it to Hoover &
Strong.

After a quick price comparison, I thought I’d ask for my platinum
back as they were paying far less than Hoover & Strong. Their prices
for silver & gold were a bit better at that time.

On the phone they were patient, kind and even opened my package,
ready to send my vial of platinum back to me. In the end it did not
make enough economic sense to have that done. So I went ahead with
them.

Later they called and told me that there had been a lot of gold
mixed in with my sweeps which came out to nearly $ 800 more than I
had expected.

As for honesty, I suppose one could never know entirely, unless they
were in the refining area watching over their metals. I did receive
unbeleiveable courtesy, one on one attention, and the process took
only a few days. Hoover and Strong is so busy, they said that with
no refining, just credit for the scrap, it would take a min. of 20
days.

I’ll definitely use Hauser & Miller again!

Carol
Austin, TX

Later they called and told me that there had been a lot of gold mixed
in with my sweeps which came out to nearly $ 800 more than I had
expected.

As for honesty, I suppose one could never know entirely Its easy
enough to estimate your anticipated yield from solid scrap. With
bench sweeps it gets trickier. Most of the metal will be grindings
ie: dust. You can dump all your sweeps in a large plastic bag and
shake the b’jesus out of it. The greatest part of your heavier metals
will collect at the bottom. You’ll see it ‘looks’ rich. Now you’ve
got a bowl full of stuff and from there you can guesstimate a base of
what your stuff is worth.

Yeah your filters and whatnot contain filings too but bear in mind
it generally costs you more to process that kind of material. You can
put aside your bulkier, low grade sweeps and save them up for a later
date when you have enough volume to make it worthwhile.

My refiner has been so consistently inline with my projections, he
has my complete trust. It doesn’t get turned around as quickly as
some other refiners but I’ve never felt shorted. You might look at
it like this…you want the money quick, or in full measure?