what difference does color make?

I've gotten a few items that were gold and/or purple (and light blue also) but were not unidentified or when identified had no special properties... just damage.

why are some items purple or gold if they don't carry special properties, upgrades or runes?

Cause anet sucks! Hehe, just kidding. But really, there is no other reason then the developers not being able to fix buggy drops.

I'm sure theres a better explanation like purples have a higher chance for mods than blue and gold even higher chance for mods than purple, but can still get 0.

If you do get items that are purple or gold and don't carry special properties or runes, then you're just running out of luck. It may be true that there are more purple items that have more mods than gold items, but most gold items have a higher attack than the purple weapons do

take it for what it is...Gold items are worth more than purple are worth more than blue....you sell white items to the merchent...so cheapo gold and purple shouldn't be any different...Most gold items go for a 100-200 gold...just sell it and move on...you're life isn't over now that you've gotten a useless gold drop.

I've NEVER gotten a usefull gold drop. I'm still holding onto a gold wand a gold staff and a gold storm artifact.