Get-togethers a new one in NH

A new type of business where people sell their gold and platinum at a home party has been baffling regulators in New Hampshire.

These transactions, better known as gold parties, are nothing like going to a pawnshop, jewelry store or even mailing your gold to someone else, and they’re quickly becoming the hot way to get cash for old gold.

Gold parties are relatively new in New Hampshire and some town ordinances are having a hard time regulating them, while local and state offices are struggling to define where exactly, if at all, they fall under New Hampshire’s laws governing junk and scrap metal dealers.

The state law caused towns like Hudson and Nashua to expound upon their previous descriptions and create a whole new class of people beyond junk and scrap metal dealers who could potentially be subject to newer regulations.

Revisions were made to Nashua’s City Ordinance on pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers last October, forcing any independent businesses involved in these transactions to obtain a license to operate as a second-hand dealer in Nashua.

“They definitely need to have a secondhand dealer’s license to operate in Nashua,” said Deputy City Clerk Tricia Piecuch.

Different towns have also expanded their definitions of a secondhand dealer to include different types of jewelry like gold and other precious metals, but are still leaving some gold party businesses in the dark.

The competition between pawnshops, jewelry stores and cash for gold commercials is ongoing, but only the best businesses come out on top according to Ken Mermer, owner of Burques Jewelers in Nashua.

“I don’t have a problem with competition,” Mermer said, “But when you don’t have people who are playing by the same rules, that’s a problem.” Burques has a license to buy gold and only markets buying it to some of their longtime customers.

At Scontsas Fine Jewelry & Home Décor in Nashua, gold parties are offered as a draw to existing customers.

Owner Philip Scontsas believes it’s best to go to a privately owned jewelry store for gold transactions because of their already established relationship with customers.

“A store’s reputation is something no one wants to tarnish, we have a vested interest in our customer,” Scontsas said.

Scontsas qualifies as a pawnbroker/secondhand dealer and is licensed in Nashua. They base their pricing on the value of gold at the time and also offers the ability to refurbish the gold, turn it into another piece, or offers the choice to use the money as a down payment on another piece of jewelry.

As New Hampshire towns and cities struggle to figure out how to accurately define the gold parties and their licensing requirements, business owner Laurie Souza, president of Gold to Green Parties, is growing concerned about the reputation of her business in some of the towns and cities she visits in New Hampshire.

Gold to Green Parties is registered with New Hampshire’s Secretary of State and is in good business standing.Souza isn’t a junk or scrap metal dealer.

She is in the business of buying gold, yet she doesn’t qualify as a peddler or hawker in towns like Merrimack, or as a secondhand dealer in Hudson or Londonderry.

However, she is considered a secondhand dealer in Nashua.

“Londonderry, Hudson and Merrimack don’t require me to have a license. Some towns say yes, and some towns say no,” Souza said.

The itinerant vendor and peddlers licenses in other towns and cities don’t apply to Souza because she isn’t selling products to the general public.

“It’s a very new area of regulation just because we just don’t traditionally fit into the categories,” Souza said.

While the value of gold is still high, gold parties like Souza’s have seen an increase in bookings, even if the spike in business is temporary due to the high price of gold.

“Sometimes the localities don’t even know that these statutes exist,” said Souza’s attorney, Patrick Millina. “Even when you want to comply, it’s hard to.”

Julianne Hanckel can be reached at 594-5833 or jhanckel@nashuatelegraph.com.