Gold sales get homey touch

Friends are worth their weight in gold, especially when they show up for a gold party.

When a dozen women gathered at Kitsy Rose’s Virginia Highland home on a weekday evening to sip wine, nibble hors d’oeuvres, and catch up on life, the only sign that it wasn’t a typical girls-night-in was the table decorated with plastic cups, magnets and a scale where the Golden Girls had set up shop.

Selling gold has become common in this tough economy; although the options for turning gold into cash include visits to pawn shops or locations advertised on late night TV, it is in-home gold parties, conducted by companies like Golden Girls LLC, that are gaining popularity in Atlanta.

“Historically, when gold prices are up, you will see this type of sale occurring. But normally, in the past, what we have seen is them occurring inside of a jewelry store or pawn shops or places that are accustomed to dealing with gold,” said Oscar Garrison, assistant commissioner of the consumer protection division at the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

The trendy home parties, modeled after Tupperware and other direct sales brands, have already morphed from mere money making ventures to social gatherings where the money is —- almost —- beside the point.

Taking a seat at the gold table usually brings forth a good story like the one about the cheapskate ex-husband who had given his wife a gold bracelet that turned out to be fake or the woman who sold a set of wedding bands after getting remarried —- to the same man. The gossip is part of what makes a gold party a party. The other part is the pressure-free environment.

“Women love to get together, but they often get together at parties where you have to buy something. Here, there is no check involved, unless you leave with a check,” said Deanna Brown, the Atlanta-based co-founder of Golden Girls LLC. The year-old company has held 800 parties in 13 states, she said. A fund-raising aspect that allows the host to donate a percentage of the evening’s take to charity has paid out just under $150,000, Brown said.

As in-home gold parties become more frequent, friends in the same circle often are tapped to attend more than one, but gold parties tend to be a one-shot deal. Once the jewelry box is cleared of unwanted metal, there’s nothing left to sell. That’s when attendance becomes purely social.

“All of my gold from high school is gone because my house was robbed,” said Mia VanWagenen who attended Rose’s gathering with her two young children. Her only remaining gold was the amethyst ring on her finger, a gift from her dad that she decided was off limits. So she chatted with friends while her children played.

Some women resourcefully turn to mothers, grandmothers or husbands for gold to sell. When Kristin Cowart held her first gold party two months ago, her mom sent lots of jewelry for consideration. Most of it, they learned, wasn’t real, Cowart said.

After Cowart’s party, two of her neighbors decided to have parties, as did Rose, which is how Cowart ended up at Rose’s party looking to sell an engagement ring. It wasn’t her actual engagement ring, but one her husband had been given by his father when his (divorced) father decided not to propose to the woman he was dating at the time. The ring was intended for Cowart, but her husband had the good sense to know she’s a platinum type of girl.

Cowart took a turn at the table where Patti Cotter and Jayne Appling, two of 15 local Golden Girl reps, examine the gold. First comes a magnet test to determine if the gold is real. Then they use a meter to measure karats, separating stones when possible. Items are then dropped into plastic cups labeled 10, 14 or 18 karat, before being transferred to another plastic cup on the scale for weighing. Finally, a price is set. Cowart’s would-be engagement ring earned $179.

Almost everyone left Rose’s event with a check, pledging to put it in savings accounts, use it to pay bills, or in the case of Susan Davis of Morningside, “buy some jewelry I will actually wear.”

For her trouble as hostess, Rose made about $200, most of which went to cover expenses for a party that started at 6 p.m. and didn’t end until midnight … long after the Golden Girls were gone.