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After you sell: what you should leave with besides money
Leave with a ticket that matches the pile, your unsold pieces, your ID, and a payment you understand. If the paper is vague, fix it before you walk.
The visit is not over when the number feels good.
Leave with
A buy ticket that matches the pile: weights, face, counts, karat. Your unsold pieces, counted. Your ID. A payment you understand. Cash, check, or wire. Receipts. ID.
If the ticket is vague
“Gold jewelry $1,200” is not a ticket. “14k 18.2 g $X” is a ticket. Jewelry testing. Ask them to fix it before you walk.
If you already left and the paper is wrong, call the same day. Shops can fix a same-day mistake. They cannot reconstruct a vibe from last fall.
What to bring. Walking away still works until the money has moved.
More on the coin and money library.
Extra pad history for leaving with more than cash
Old shops wrote a buy in a carbon book. You got a yellow copy. The shop kept the white. That habit is why a decent ticket still lists weight, karat or face, count, and the form of payment. It is not decoration. It is how both of you remember the pile six months later when an heir, an accountant, or a police hold asks what left the building.
Cash used to be the whole story. Now a large cash buy can mean Form 8300 and ID. A check or a wire leaves a trail you can actually use. None of that is legal advice. It is how a shop stays in business.
What the shop should put in your hand
A ticket that matches the pad: “14k 18.2 g” is a line. “Gold jewelry” is a shrug. Your unsold pieces, counted back. Your ID. A payment you understand. If you sold only part of a bank box, the rest should still be in your bag, not in a back room “for later.”
Take a photo of the ticket before you walk. Keep it with receipts and cost basis. If the paper is wrong, call the same day. Shops can fix a same-day mistake. They cannot reconstruct a vibe from last fall. Walking away still works until the money has moved.
People also ask
Do I need the ticket if I was paid cash? Yes. Cash still happened. The ticket is your sale record.
What if they will not itemize? Ask once, calmly. A shop that will not write karat and weight is telling you how they work. How to tell if a shop is legit.
Can they keep unsold pieces overnight? Only if you agree, in writing, and you want that. Default is you leave with what you did not sell.
Is a photo of the ticket enough? Better than nothing. The paper is better.