Chapter 147 Selling Gold
Zhang Ailun took the gold, asked Sig to stay in the camp to watch the gate, and immediately drove the SUV to Old George's pawn shop to exchange the gold for cash.
I drove through several blocks and arrived at the pawn shop, parked the Wrangler outside, pushed the door open to greet Old George, and found that he was arguing with an old man. The two of them were arguing anxiously, and the old man who was selling things was obviously a little feverish.
Zhang Ailun walked over and saw that there was an ivory-white guitar on the table, with a black and gold paint, patterns, and a unique music symbol logo.
It's one of those things that looks expensive at first glance. Maybe it's worth more than $10,000?
"This guitar of mine is from the collection of Les Paul, a legendary musician who invented the solid-body electric guitar. If I wasn't in urgent need of money, I wouldn't have sold it to you." The old man said angrily, "If this guitar were sold at an auction, it would be worth at least $25!"
Take less?
A broken guitar can be sold for $25?
Zhang Ailun was shocked, and immediately felt that he was a little ignorant and too poor.
Looking at this old man with a white beard, wearing an ordinary white shirt, long pants, black glasses, without any accessories on his body, and his clothes look like they cost no more than a hundred dollars, one can only say that one cannot judge a book by its cover.
I’m afraid the old gambler has caught a big fish this time!
Old George patiently explained, "Yes, after identification, this is indeed Les Paul's guitar, and your file notes are indeed authentic, but I can only give you a maximum of $5, because this is a secondary guitar that Les Paul collected, not a guitar used in concerts, nor a guitar he usually practices. The guitar that Les Paul used was sold in a pawn shop in Las Vegas, but it was only sold for about $10."
"According to what you said, your guitar was just given to Les Paul by someone else, and he gave it to your friend's friend's aunt's brother...oh, I'm really confused about this relationship."
Old George put on a mask of pain, held his head with both hands, and skillfully wielded the Dragon Slaying Sword to lower the price, "Fifty thousand dollars! This is the maximum price I can offer. I won't make a penny more!"
Without waiting for the old man to speak, he continued, "If you think this price is unreasonable, you can go to the pawn shop next door to ask for the price, or go to the auction house to sell it. They may raise the price by tens of thousands of dollars, but you still have to queue up to bid, and you also need to pay taxes and handling fees, and the final amount you can get is only about 50,000 or 60,000 US dollars. Aren't you in urgent need of money?"
After hearing his explanation, the old man gradually calmed down. Although he didn't say anything on the surface, he had already gradually accepted the price in his heart.
After all, what Old George said was true. He was indeed short of money and needed cash urgently, and the pawn shop could give him a quick discount. The price offered by the Magic Flute Pawn Shop next door was even lower!
"I also have a Rolex mirror here. I bought it in an antique shop in Chinatown." The old man hesitated for a moment and took out a mirror from the black box he carried with him.
It looks bright and shiny from the outside.
But Zhang Ailun took a look at it and thought that this thing was not worth even giving to a dog. It was only worth a dozen dollars if sold on the street, and the black people who bought it for free in a big shopping mall would not even look at it.
When he heard the word Chinatown, Old George's expression changed subtly and he fell silent.
He picked up the mirror and took a closer look. He looked at his pale face, which was still strong despite his age. Compared with yesterday, he looked even more haggard. He asked, "How much do you want to sell it for?"
"At least ten thousand dollars!" The old man asked for a sky-high price without hesitation.
When he heard the price, Old George took a breath and instantly put on a mask of pain.
Zhang Ailun also felt that it was a bit outrageous. You really dare to brag. What brand of glass is so expensive?
After thinking for a while, George Sr. raised a finger and gave a price: "100 dollars."
"What!?" The old man was stunned and couldn't believe it.
Ten thousand dollars, and you bargained it down to one hundred dollars?
Are you a fucking human being?
"First of all, this is not a mirror produced by Rolex. If it were real, I believe many people would be willing to pay a high price to collect it. But unfortunately, only the packaging box of your mirror belongs to Rolex. The other logos on the mirror have nothing to do with Rolex."
Old George immediately gave him a scientific explanation.
He even criticized it bluntly: "Excuse me, it should be on a family dressing table or in a trash can at a recycling station, not in an antique shop in Chinatown, let alone in my store."
"You mean, I was cheated by an acquaintance in the antique shop in Chinatown? I spent $4000 to buy this mirror!" The old man couldn't accept it for a moment, and he almost choked while holding his heart.
"I never said that." Old George immediately spread his hands, trying to shirk responsibility. He was also afraid that the old man would have a heart attack and die in the store.
"But after my appraisal, this mirror is only worth $100. If you can accept that, I'll take a loss and keep it. Just consider it a gift for the guitar."
The old man immediately felt uncomfortable and began to weigh the options.
As soon as Zhang Ailun heard Old George say "I'll take a small loss", he knew that the old man was making money again.
This old gambler never speaks a word of truth, and what comes out of his mouth is really not ivory.
Old George also took the time to smile at Zhang Allen and asked, "Guest, are your things ready? Please wait a moment, I will be able to settle the transaction with this guest right away."
Zhang Ailun nodded, indicating that he was not in a hurry.
The old man thought about it for a long time, and finally accepted the price. He breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay! The guitar is $50000, and the mirror is $. I want cash!"
"Ok, happy cooperation." Old George suppressed his smile and stretched out his hand to shake hands with the other party.
He turned around and went into the house to get the money and gave the other party a receipt.
I took it out and counted it using a money detector.
"$50100."
The old man was a little depressed and lonely. After half a lifetime of hard work, the result was only worth tens of thousands of dollars. Who could bear this? But after seeing the piles of US dollars in his hands, he felt a little comforted. He picked up the box and left without saying goodbye.
"This guy has no manners at all." After the guest left, Old George also made a rare complaint. He took out the Paul guitar again, couldn't let it go, and played a cheerful song.
"I didn't realize you could play the guitar?" Zhang Ailun expressed surprise.
"Man, I'm from Texas. My father fought in World War II. My grandfather started out as a cowboy and became a rancher through his own efforts. How can a cowboy's descendant not be able to play the guitar?"
Old George smiled and put down his guitar. "The only pity is that by the time my grandfather took over, slavery had already been abolished."
What are you regretting?
You are racist!
However, considering that you have collapsed the Laohei who bought for zero yuan many times, I recognize your spiritual will.
"You must have made a lot of money again, right?" Zhang Ailun looked at the mirror and the guitar and estimated their value. "At least $3?"
"Not that much." Old George shook his head. "It's just that I happen to know a few musicians who also like Paul's guitar and are spending a lot of money to collect it. If they are willing to buy this guitar, they will only make 50,000 or 60,000 US dollars."
"..."
You are not a human being.
But there is no way, this is how transactions work. If you don’t have channels and connections, your stuff will rot in your hands and no one will buy it. What is rare is not the goods, but the trading market.
Zhang Ailun didn't want to discuss profit with him any more. He didn't make much money from him anyway, so he took out the gold cake and put it on the table. "Take a look. This is pure gold, weighing 709 grams. Today's market price is $74 per gram."
Old George immediately took out his instruments and cut the gold ingot open. He rarely saw people selling gold here, and most of them were gold coins and other things.
After testing the purity, the gold purity has actually reached .
This is already very high. A purity of over 99% is considered pure gold. Except that the military industry has higher requirements for materials, the actual price of jewelry will not be affected.
Most of the gold nuggets that gold diggers get have a gold content of 83%-96%. After purification, they barely pass the test and their weight will also be reduced. Pure gold cakes like this can be bought without any hesitation in the market!
"I can give you $52000." After all, it was gold and he was an old customer, so Old George couldn't bargain even if he wanted to.
Last time, the gold necklace that Zhang Ailun got was snatched away by someone else at a higher price, and he didn't make a penny. No matter how small an ant is, it's still meat!
A few hundred dollars in profit.
"Gold is still rising. If you buy it at the market price today, you can make an extra thousand dollars tomorrow!" Zhang Allen persuaded Old George to spend a lot of money to buy it. "52466 dollars, you can't lose money, you can't be fooled! And didn't I bring you that battlefield motorcycle?"
"Where is the car?" Old George immediately became interested, but he didn't give in easily. "52000 US dollars, it can't be higher! I only accepted this gold cake from you under pressure. If we didn't cooperate often, I would never give you this price."
"Okay, then it's $52000." Seeing that the price could not be raised, Zhang Ailun gave up haggling with him and took Old George outside to help unload the American Standard motorcycle.
"Look at this big guy! I like this kind of cold and hard antique!" Old George laughed. The unit number was even sprayed on it, and the side seat of the tricycle could directly install an MG34 or MG42 machine gun.
This is also a Soviet American-standard imitation of the German BMW R75.
The Soviet Union copied the German research and development car and put an American badge on it. It sounds like it has a great origin.
World War II military industry will never go out of style. Many classics were researched and manufactured during that time.
Modern shooting motorcycles may be more powerful and usable, but they are still just small lambs for civilian use. Real men should play with military products!
I found a key from the side door of the car and tried to start it, but discovered there was no oil in it.
Old George immediately brought a bucket of oil with a military logo on it from the house and added it in.
As the throttle was turned, the motorcycle hummed and, as expected, the engine roared and emitted two puffs of smoke.
"Hahaha! It's perfect!!" Hearing this roar, Old George felt goosebumps.
"Can I ride it for a couple of laps?" Old George couldn't let go of the logo of blue sky and white clouds.
There is no need to worry about the quality of this military product. Although it is a Soviet imitation, it is labeled with American standards and the structure uses original parts. It was designed for use on snow, slopes, and muddy roads. The tires are also very solid and the style is very much to his liking.
"This is a pure manly car! A real man! Those three sissy cars you delivered yesterday stacked together wouldn't be enough for it to crash into!" Old George laughed.
"This is the city, you'd better not drive too far on the road. Once you buy it, you can drive it anywhere you want." Zhang Ailun reminded him.
The vehicle has been tested, its functionality is intact, it can fight, run and resist, now we can discuss the purchase price.
Old George got out of the car reluctantly. "Well, this car is very much to my taste. I really like it. I have always wanted to collect a BMW from the last century, but few people sell such things because most people who can afford to collect them are not short of money. What price are you going to sell it for?"
"I checked the market price. A BMW military motorcycle like this from the last century is worth at least $12000!" Zhang Ailun thought, "I want to sell it for $."
The market price of a brand new BMW series motorcycle is only between US$15500 and US$28000. Although this BWM motorcycle from the last century is a military product, its collection value is greater than the value of the vehicle itself. Its collection value of US$14000 is basically the upper limit.
Old George also thought the price was reasonable, but he wanted to try to bargain it down a bit more. "How about $7800?"
Zhang Ailun said with a wry smile: "I think if I put it on and mark it at $12000, there should be a lot of people interested. Yesterday someone tried to buy it for $13000, but I didn't sell it! I have plenty of time, so I'm not in a hurry to sell it!"
Almost done.
I didn't ask for a sky-high price. I gave you a real price. It's a win-win cooperation and everyone will make money. Yet you're still here talking to me.
Zhang Ailun immediately prepared to tow the car away.
"No! $12000! It's a deal! I can buy it!"
Old George admitted that he was a little anxious. This car was really to his liking. Why are you like this?
"Okay! A $12000 BMW motorcycle and $52000 worth of gold. Do you want to pay in cash or online?"
Old George is old after all, and he can no longer wield the Dragon Slaying Sword in front of the peerless masters.
"Transfer money!" Zhang Allen took out the collection card. He still had more than 10,000 US dollars in cash, and he didn't need so much US dollars for meals on weekdays. He didn't charge rent, and Dominic and Jennifer paid for the groceries.
Old George took the savings card, went in and wrote a list for Zhang Ailun. After some operations, he received a text message reminder that the money had arrived.
+64000 USD.
Total deposit, US$14.
Including other inherent assets, the total property has reached 200,000 US dollars!
Great, it feels comfortable.
Without further ado with Old George, Zhang Ailan drove the Wrangler back to the camp and sent a few messages to Sig, asking him to gather everyone together to distribute the dividends.
When they returned to the Qiaodong camp, all the Modern Brothers members were already there, and the Beggar Gang disciples who had been involved in supervising the alchemy work in the past few days also gathered together.
Zhang Ailun parked the Wrangler aside, got out of the car, took out a bag of cash, moved a stool and sat on it, looking at Faith Modern.
He laughed and said, "Your people almost ruined a deal for me. I could have taken my anger out on you, but since you brought me profits and worked hard, I won't be too demanding on your share of the profits. I sold that gold cake for a total of $52000, but I also helped you teach that short-tailed dog a lesson. How much profit do you think you can get?"
"Can I choose not to get dividends and continue working here?" asked Faith.
(End of this chapter)