| And then, of course, the recession hit, and things | | | | Clearly, then, the industry also became much more |
| changed very quickly. Most of us went from being | | | | profitable than it had originally been. This means that |
| flush with cash to realizing that out liabilities far | | | | there are a lot of opportunities for people who wish to |
| outweighed our assets. This is not a good situation to | | | | join the field. Add to this the fact that scrap gold prices |
| be in, and most people were left with no recourse but | | | | have risen drastically over the last few months - in |
| to sell their old assets in the hope that they would be | | | | fact, they have been hitting record highs since as far |
| able to create some kind of liquidity out of them. | | | | back as November of 2009. This means that the |
| As a result, the number of customers for gold dealers | | | | market is extremely favorable to gold merchants right |
| increased overnight. Gold merchants, who were once | | | | now, and that this is a good time to join the ranks, if |
| relegated to shady back alleys and disreputable pawn | | | | you are keen on doing so. |
| shops, suddenly became seen as very reputable - | | | | Of course, it is also important to realize that things |
| almost a pillar of the community, in fact. The industry | | | | could go the other way entirely. It is possible that the |
| took off literally overnight, because of the sudden rise | | | | demand for gold merchants created during the |
| in demand for the services that they provide. | | | | recession was temporary, and will collapse very soon. |