Adam Torres and Brandon Aversano discuss the gold and jewelry industry.
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Show Notes:
What are the biggest challenges for consumers looking to sell their gold jewelry? In this episode, Adam Torres and Brandon Aversano, CEO & Founder at Alloy, explore buying and selling gold jewelry and how Alloy is making this easy and providing competitive pricing.
About Brandon Aversano
Brandon spent many years in the Financial Services industry working with Fortune 500 companies, strategizing with senior-level executives on product design/launches, and overseeing organizational budgeting and financial reporting and analyses. Ultimately, his sole focus has been improving historically unpleasant physical or digital experiences for consumers across industries. Through his professional and personal experiences, He discovered there wasn’t a trustworthy or safe solution for people to exchange their pre-owned precious metal jewelry or scrap metal for cash easily, safely, or quickly.
About Alloy
Alloy is bringing radical transparency to the precious metals exchange industry by offering consumers highly accurate upfront payout estimates, industry-leading payouts, and a guaranteed safe, secure, and enjoyable transaction experience. Consumers can expect a fast, safe, and easy process to exchange their gold, silver, and platinum jewelry or scrap metal for cash through a company committed to upholding radical transparency, promoting sustainability across the metals supply chain, and constantly adding consumer-value.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest on the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right, so today my guest is Brandon Aversano, and he is the CEO and founder over at Alloy.
Brandon, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me, Adam. All right, Brandon. So I understand that you’re referred to us over from Linda Lice, a big shout out to her for bringing on a great guest, and I’m excited to get more into alloy and also, you know, the work that you’re doing, but before we do that, we’ll start this episode, the way we start them all with what we like to call our mission matters minute.
So Brandon at mission matters, our goal is to amplify stories for entrepreneurs and executives and experts. Brandon, what, mission matters to you? I am on a mission, Adam, to disrupt and change how people exchange their gold and other jewelry. That is what my mission is, to make sure that folks in vulnerable positions are no longer being taken advantage of and being predated upon.
and I think like, just let’s just dive right in. So, Alloy, like, what inspired you to start this company? Yeah, thanks for asking Adam. It’s a bit personal actually. So I was working at J. P. Morgan Chase in their co branded credit card portfolio space when I was unexpectedly diagnosed with testicular cancer about two years ago.
And that was a huge surprise as a, as a 30 year old to, you know, get that diagnosis to start considering your mortality at that age. And I had to take disability ultimately to, to kind of go through my treatment journey. And while I was on my treatment journey, my medical bills started to skyrocket, and so I actually attempted to sell some of the gold jewelry that I inherited from my grandmother, who had passed about a year prior to that and Adam, the experience was horrific.
I was living in Center City, Philadelphia at the time I took. Some bracelets and some rings to some jewelers and pawn shops in the city. And I was offered 10 to 20 cents on the dollar. Needless to say, I did not end up selling those items. But I thought to myself, there must be an online option for this because there’s an online option for everything these days.
And what I found That makes a lot of sense. I would think the same thing, Brandon. I was like, Oh, well, wait a minute. I’m going to go online and I’m going to sell it there and see what happens. Yeah, that’s good. Go ahead, please. Yeah, there you go. So that’s, that’s what I did. I kind of followed the same logic.
And what I found sadly was that the sort of online options and no one in particular, but they really feel and operate and felt like digital equivalent of the brick and mortar pawn shops. And so I, I had a big realization in that moment, Adam, and that was, if I’m. Being taken advantage of in my kind of most vulnerable moment that I’ve experienced yet in my, you know, short 30 years, then I am very positive that other people are definitely also being taken advantage of.
And so am on a mission to change that. So I took a step back and decided to start Alloy, which is the easiest to use transcript Highest paying and most transparent platform through which the everyday consumer like you and me can exchange their goals for fair and honest prices. And since then we’ve been catering to thousands of customers, gotten some amazing press for what we’re doing, and we are a mission driven organization.
So that’s a little bit about me and Alloy. Wow. What an amazing what an amazing journey. And I always love when somebody you know, they have a problem or they have an issue and then they, and then they find a solution and then they take that solution to market and attempt to help others.
So I think it’s a great story. It’s one that I love to bring to our listeners. But I do want to educate cause cause I’m, Educate me a little bit more on the, on the industry and the jewelry industry in general. Like as you started doing your, your research and putting together some of this obviously pulling together alloy, like did some of the things you found surprise you or.
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think that’s the thing that surprised me the most was that there’s no kind of collective or shared understanding of what this industry even is. So, often I’ll, I’ll talk to folks. That’s interesting. Yeah, they’ll say like, what industry are you in? And I kind of turn it on them, like.
What industry do you think I’m in? And, and the reason I think it’s funny and not funny actually is I think it’s intentional, the reason why nobody can speak about what we’re doing in industry, because I think once you can nail something down and understand it, then you can really understand kind of the value proposition of it.
And I think if folks understood for lack of a better phrase, the cash for gold industry, they would be. Horrified. And so you know, that just came as a huge surprise to me that this, this doesn’t even fall squarely, you know, within, within one industry. But just in terms of like a quick, quick, quick bit of education our industry is pretty straightforward in the sense that we operate on spot pricing.
And so, you know, if you were to Google, what is the price of gold right now, it’s actually record high today. It’s over. 2, 100 per ounce of pure gold. The spot price is what every gold buyer will base their offers off of. And that changes dynamically on a daily basis. And everybody uses the most part, the same kind of universally accepted number.
And so you can comp, you know, comfortably expect to receive about 20 to 30 cents on the dollar against spot price at a pawn shop. Or like a cash for gold store. Whereas with a organization like Alloy, for example, you’re guaranteed a minimum of 75 percent on the dollar all the way up to 95%. So it’s just a totally kind of different value proposition, even though we’re operating on the same kind of commodity pricing.
and correctly, if I’m wrong, based on the idea that like pawn shops and other things like that, I mean, it’s just, it’s very fragmented. So when you, when you create this type of exchange, there’s more competition for the gold. Right. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, is that, is that what brings the price up so that you’re able to pay a little bit more?
Or like, I’m just curious on how, how that piece of it works. Cause it’s, it’s, it’s super smart. And I’m just, I’m surprised I’ve never heard of anything like this before. I’m like, Oh, when you explain it to me, I’m like, duh, I’m glad you created it. Ella is amazing. Yeah. Well, I can’t give away all our secrets, but 1 of 1 thing I will say is that we have a significantly lower cost structure than brick and mortar pawnshops.
We don’t operate any retail stores. So we don’t have any overhead like that. And we also have very, very deep and close relationships with very large precious metal refineries in the United States that allows us to offer significantly higher. And, you know, the other the other piece of this, Adam, is that.
For a very long time, this fragmented industry has just gone unchecked. And so that’s another reason there was no motivation for the players in the industry to pay more. What, why they were making a huge margin and nobody was paying attention. Yeah. Cause this isn’t like when I think about, I’m not saying that you know, the golden industry relates to this, but when I, in my mind, what I.
What I connected to is maybe some like the lending stuff, like the predatory lending or other things like that. I wouldn’t use the word predatory necessarily in this situation, but I just mean, maybe, I don’t know, depending on the, on the particular shop. Right. But that being said, but unlike that, that this piece of it wouldn’t be regulated.
or correct me if I’m wrong. I don’t know. I’m guessing here because I’m just thinking about like lending, like the payday loan shops or things like that. There’s only so much interest they can charge to maybe an unsophisticated investor, right. Or, or unsophisticated financially. I mean, individual that comes in, signs up for a loan.
Maybe they didn’t know or couldn’t. didn’t exactly know what APR was or this or that, but they just needed the money. So they, you know, they signed their name on the dotted line and they were able to fix their car and they could get to work the next day. And, that’s what mattered at that moment, regardless of whatever that number next to the APR was.
So in this case, especially for that type of individual that maybe is in that situation or really, you know, that becomes interesting as well because that’s, and am I wrong on that regulation part? And if you don’t know, it’s okay. I’m not, I’m not asking you to overstep on your knowledge of loans and stuff.
I just mean, is it not regulated is my point. Am I off? No, you are correct. It is definitely not regulated anywhere near like lending laws are. Yeah. You could, you could essentially pay someone 1 cent for, you know, a thousand dollar gold bracelet and that’s a okay if they accept it. Which is a problem.
Yeah, I get that. Tell me about your, your plans on like how to continue to scale this. And I know you’ve, you’ve got many clients already, many people on the exchange already. I’m like, what, tell me about some of your plans and how you scale this and roll it out and continue growing it. Yeah, it’s a great question.
So, you know, over the last six months to a year, we’ve been talking to tons of customers, listening to their feedback, optimizing and perfecting the product. And we’re really kind of getting to a place where our team feels good about the product that that is out there and that we’re offering. We’re going to double down on that direct to consumer model because it’s working quite well.
And then we’re also going to start pushing forward on some B2B partnerships. So I can’t share any in particular. But you can see. Man, Brandon, you’re giving me all these can’t shares. I can’t share this. I can’t share our secret sauce. I can’t share how we make the cake. I can’t share the recipe.
What do you come up with? No, I’m just messing with you. I understand. Oh man, I wish. If this were only a month later, I would, I just companies like Jewelers, retailers those types of organizations. So, we’re really going to be You know partnering with others which we’re very excited about.
Yeah, that is exciting And have you always been an entrepreneur? I know you mentioned you had some finance background as well I believe have you always been in the entrepreneurial space there? No, no I’ve been in the corporate world since I I graduated from school. Yeah, I was at started in management How does this how does this feel coming out to like a launch in that?
So if correct if if this is your first endeavor in the entrepreneurial space, how does it feel man? You Well the honest answer would be I’m exhausted. Yeah, we do honesty on this podcast. Don’t worry. I I’m exhausted too, man. I was, I was at an event pretty late yesterday. Our very first monthly Orange County mixer.
So I was out there way past my bedtime, but go ahead. Okay. No, in all seriousness, I think, you know, the feeling that I have on a daily basis is, is. Gratitude. I am just so, wow. Thankful that I’m able to, that I’m alive, that I’m able to do this, that I’m able to help others, that I’m able to do what I’m passionate about and work with amazing, smart, totally wildly capable people.
And so, you know, as exhausting and tiring as it is and, mm-hmm, . Is as you know, it is, it is a long journey from idea to market to, you know, whatever. But but yeah, every day I wake up feeling just, just overall grateful for what we’re able to accomplish together. Yeah, it’s different. I can tell you on my end.
was in the finance industry for, I don’t know, 14 years or so before I I’ve been in media now full time for eight years, but this is Mission Matters is really my first significant, like entrepreneurial endeavor now. And again, being around for eight years. But I think about like when I was transitioning from corporate to entrepreneurship and I was like, Oh my gosh, I thought I knew what I was doing.
I thought I know there’s other things that I’m like, wait a minute. People don’t just take care. Oh, I have to figure that out. I have to, Oh, that’s not me actually isn’t it? Is there, I asked this question, not necessarily that you have to relate it directly to Alloy by any means, but I just asked this question because I know like we have a huge audience of entrepreneurs, but also executives and people in the corporate America space.
Whenever I get somebody at the line like yourself, who went from corporate America to entrepreneurship, it’s always fun to have this discussion. What’s been one of your favorite things of like the transition? Like what’s been pleasantly surprising to you on this mission? Yeah. Oh I mean, in addition to, you know, the hypothesis of alloy and that kind of I, from an entrepreneurship perspective, from like a transition corporate to being, you know, a founder, I really love being in control of my own time.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I know you work more so instead of working 70 hours you’re working 90 now, I understand go ahead Yeah, you are 100. I don’t even have to finish my comment, but as you know All of that, you know, yeah, I think it’s fun. Anyway, whenever anybody asks me, like going from this to that, I always say, don’t do it.
Cause I don’t want to be the guy that told you to do it. So don’t do it. Keep your job. Okay. And don’t ever come back to me or write me an email saying I told you to do it. But if you choose to, you, you may find some rewards there, whether they’re monetary emotional, physical. I mean, there’s a lot, a lot of different things.
Everybody’s a little bit different in terms of why they go on this path And why they do, why they do what they do. And then also what keeps them in the game? I mean, what, when things get, you know, tricky, whether it’s those long days or those long, whatever it is like what keeps you in the game?
Oh, my team and our customers we’ve just built such an incredible culture here of people who genuinely enjoy working with each other, being around each other, brainstorming with each other. And then, I mean, I wish I could play you some of these phone calls from customers who have struggled so long to find a reputable.
Buyer and someone that they could liquidate their hard earned assets And so that’s just been incredibly rewarding So even on the nights where i’m, you know stuffing appraisal kits by myself in the office till 2 a. m to get them out You know, that’s kind of what i’m i’m thinking about where we’re legitimately helping So you don’t have to be exact on this, but just for example, you, you use some terms today, like, you know, spot price and you gave us the number of the weather spots at right now.
And then also kind of like the percentage that, that they’d get if they go to a pawn shop versus this, like, can you maybe just like put, put a dollar amount on that? Like if you’re saying you’re bringing X amount or however, that part of it works, whether it’s weight or otherwise. And it can be a super simple calculation.
I just want people to sometimes when they’re driving in their car or otherwise. Yeah. Percentages don’t always register. You know what I mean? You know, like I got X percent. So it’s like saying if you had, you know, a hundred dollars versus this or something like that, like you got a simple, a simple example that anybody can understand.
Absolutely. So if you were to send in thousand dollar bracelet, like the total melt value, the spot price value of your bracelet We would pay you 750, and if you took it to any pawn shop, or jewelry store, or brick and mortar, anything, they would offer you 200. 200 to 250. Yeah, it’s a significant difference.
We’re going from like 20 percent to 75%, 200 to 750. Mm hmm. that’s significant. And if you think, especially if you think about somebody that’s you know, insignificant need, right? And, and because normally like as in your situation it was, you know, there was a need at that moment. So if you had a need and you did it, like that extra 500, it’s a big deal.
It’s a big deal. Yeah, and I think, you know, at the end of the day, Adam, that is what, it’s just what, it’s the fire inside of me, it’s what keeps me going, it’s the idea that there are people out there today, literally today, and I hate to use this word, but absolutely. You know, and I just, I wish that we could be there to help them truly.
Yeah. Yeah. what’s your vision for this going forward? Like, like what, let’s dream for a moment. We’re entrepreneurs. Let’s dream for a moment. Like my dream is that this, podcast would be top 10 out of all podcasts one day. There goes my dream. What, your dream for this? Yeah my dream is, you know, Alloy expands, you know, we’re able to help more people but we also start offering You know new products and services So one thing that we’re really excited about is we get a lot of really cool pieces in Like a lot of it sometimes vintage sometimes new and we know that oh well We can, you know, melt them down ultimately and have them be recycled into medical equipment or electric vehicle batteries or whatever.
Some folks might actually want to purchase some of these pieces. And so we’re actually looking to be kind of in the marketplace space. So that’s why our name is, our full name is Alloy Market. We just go by Alloy right now, but we’ll have the marketplace side of things this year. Oh, that’s a cool idea. So especially if somebody’s sending in something that may because maybe the designs of value or it’s vintage or it’s historic or it’s something else.
So then possibly the you know, the end consumer may get something at a good at a good deal. And then alloy may get a little more for what they were, you know, what they were you know, already giving already giving the consumer. Or the person that was selling the piece, I should say a better deal than they would have gotten anywhere else or most other places.
So it’s just a great win win situation. Sounds like, yeah, we are incredibly excited about it. We actually were just listed. Yesterday on us news and world reports, 16 best places to buy and sell your stuff alongside companies, eBay and offer up and Poshmark. And so you can kind of see by, you know, our, and I am extraordinarily grateful and that we made it.
You can kind of see how our placement amongst that peer set or that competitive set puts us into that marketplace kind of space. Oh, that’s amazing. Congratulations. That’s a big deal. Like that’s a big deal. We gotta, we gotta celebrate our entrepreneurs out there for being featured and recognized for your work.
Like that’s a big deal. Congrats. That’s awesome. Thank you. The team is buzzing about it. So we appreciate it. Amazing. Well, Brandon first off, been great having you on the show today. If somebody wants to follow up, learn more about Alloy, follow the Alloy soon to be you said Alloy marketplace soon to be, is that right?
Yep. Yep. Yeah. So our full name is Alloy market. So soon to be Alloy market. I mean, , how do people follow? How do people connect? Yeah, absolutely. So our website is the T H E alloy, a L L O Y market. com the alloy market. com. It’s a great place to check us out, learn a little bit more about what we do and how we can help.
Amazing. And we’ll be sure to put that that website link in the, in the show notes that our audience can just click on the link and head right on over. And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters or engaging in an episode, we’re all about bringing on business owners, entrepreneurs, and executives and having them share their mission.
The reason behind their mission, you know, why do they do what they do? Like what gets them Fired up in the morning to go out there and to make a difference. If that’s the type of content that sounds interesting or fun or exciting to you, we welcome you hit that subscribe button. We have many more mission based individuals coming up on the line and we don’t want you to miss a thing.
Brandon. Hey, it’s so much fun having you on the show and thanks again. Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure.
