The Gold Standard

I had a small amount of broken and mismatched gold jewelry that i wanted to cash in with the price of gold being high. I did my homework, knew the going rate and started out at one of those big chain establishments that you always see commercials for. They sorted junk (costume) from gold and offered us a really low amount. When I asked why so low she showed me a worksheet she gets from the office and said thats how they get their numbers. She had no idea what the days rates were. Next I went to a small jeweler (who didn't have any jewelry for sale?) . He came recomended but was a bit of a drive for me. He also sorted the jewelry by karat. We laughed about the big chain place and how they pay so low. Then I was shocked. He was even lower. When I asked to see his math because I was confused, he became very defensive. I was truly confused because he told me how much he was paying per penny weight. I think he was paying the same price for the 10 karat gold as the 24 karat gold, but I'm not sure because he gave me a speech about how he weighed it in front of me and used the calculator in front of me (but he would't let me see the calculator paper printout/strip). My last stop was the Gold Standard in Palos Park. The man behind the desk was very courteous and professional. He also sorted my jewelry. I did not mention anything about the previous stops, by this point I figured I had it all wrong, gold must not be high? He also weighed the pieces, and put the numbers into the computer. Then to my surprise, he told me the days going rate for gold ( he was spot on) and then offered a price that was DOUBLE the other two establishments had offered. He gave me a check and I was on my way. Why didn't I start here?