The single clearest sign of a dishonest gold buyer in France is refusal to be transparent: no ID check, no police register, cash payment, or a weight and rate you cannot verify. The spot price of gold is public and identical for everyone. What an honest dealer will explain, and a dishonest one hides, is the buyback rate, the percentage of spot they actually pay you.
If a buyer offers cash, skips your ID, or keeps no register, they are breaking French law, and that is your cue to leave. Under French rules, payment for precious metals must be traceable: bank transfer or cheque, never cash. The buyer must record your identity and log the transaction in a mandatory police register (livre de police). These are not optional courtesies. A dealer who ignores any of these three obligations is either untrained or deliberately operating outside the law, and in both cases your money and your recourse are at risk. A legitimate professional will ask for your ID without prompting and hand you a written purchase slip. Treat reluctance on any of these points as a warning to stop the sale.
The most common technical trick is to weigh or grade your gold out of your sight, or to lump different karats together at the lowest rate. Your gold's value is driven by weight, fineness and hallmark. Fineness is fixed and verifiable: 24k is 999, 22k is 916, 18k is 750, 14k is 585, 9k is 375. A dishonest buyer may weigh items behind a counter, use an uncalibrated scale, or grade 18k jewellery as 9k. Insist that weighing happens in front of you, on a scale you can read, with each fineness sorted and priced separately. Ask which hallmark they read on each piece. A transparent buyer welcomes this; a scammer resists it, because the manipulation only works when you cannot see the numbers.
Every dealer works from the same public spot price, so the real difference between offers is the margin, the percentage of spot they actually pay you. The spot price of gold moves daily and is identical for all buyers. What varies, and what dealers are not obliged to publish, is their buyback rate. One shop might pay a high share of spot, another a much lower one for the same item. A pressure tactic such as "today only" or a headline price with no rate attached is designed to stop you comparing. Ask plainly what percentage of the day's spot they pay, get it in writing, and compare gold buyers in your city before committing. Refusal to state a rate is itself a warning sign.
A serious buyer explains how the sale is taxed and gives you the documents; a scammer stays vague to keep you uninformed. Selling gold in France falls under either a flat tax on precious metals or the capital-gains regime, which requires proof of purchase. Which one applies affects what you keep, so a buyer who cannot or will not explain your options, or who discourages a proper receipt, is not protecting your interests. Keep every document: the purchase slip, the register reference and any proof of original purchase. These protect you legally and can reduce your tax bill. A dealer who rushes the paperwork or tells you it "does not matter" is removing exactly the trail that keeps the sale honest and provable.
No. French law requires payment for precious metals to be traceable, so a professional buyer must pay by bank transfer or cheque. A cash offer is a clear red flag that the buyer is not operating legally.
The spot price is public, so look it up before you sell. Then ask each buyer what percentage of spot they pay and get it in writing. Comparing that rate across several buyers is the only reliable way to judge an offer.
You should receive a written purchase slip showing the weight, fineness and price per piece, plus a reference to the police register entry. Keep any proof of original purchase too, as it can matter for how the sale is taxed.