The Dollars4Gold ad is compelling, it promises "more cash for your gold than anyone else" and to send you "a cheque within 24 hours".

The ad caught Darryl Phillips' eye as he watched TV with his sons. His sons were curious so Phillips called Dollars4Gold to see what it was all about.

"What's the percentage do you take off total value?" Phillips asked when he phoned the company. He waited for the answer but didn't get one

"They hung up on me," he said.

Another viewer contacted CTV news and said they mailed off nine pairs of 24 karat gold earrings and received $37. They complained and got it boosted to $200 but they still have doubts about whether they got market value.

The Dollars4Gold ad says "if you find a higher price we'll double it."

But when we compared a local Vancouver coin dealer to Dollars4Gold's price, Dollars4Gold paid less in every case. And if you read the fine print Dollars4Gold does not guarantee it can beat a local dealer's price.

"Easy means less money," says gold buyer Michael Isman of Royal City Jewelers.

Isman says you need to know three things to get the maximum price.

- the purity or karat of the gold

- the weight

- and the current gold price

Then go to at least two or three local coin dealers or pawnshops to get the best price

"The price you can get from a gold buyer varies hugely. I've seen it as low as about 40 cents on the dollar to as high as 80 which is realistic," says Isman.

A small bit of 10 karat gold he shows us is worth about $300 dollars to a buyer paying top dollar

Another piece of 18 karat gold is worth about $800.

"There are lots of places that will buy gold and silver locally. You don't have to send it anywhere," Phillips said.

But the commercial makes it seem so easy. You just put it in a bag and drop it in the mail.

"To get the most money for your item takes the most effort. Time and trouble equals more money. Funny how that works out," said Phillips.

After his phone call, Darryl says he wouldn't be comfortable just mailing off jewelry.

"You don't know where you are sending your gold you don't know who's appraising it," he said.

And our questions to the company went unanswered

Remember, broken gold, unwanted gold is gold -the same gold that's worth over a thousand dollars an ounce. It's not worth less just because you don't wear it any more.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen.