With today’s high gold prices, it is a great time to cash in and sell your unwanted jewelry and use the money to pay off debts, buy new jewelry or stockpile in your savings. Gold prices continue to rise higher than they’ve ever been, making it an ideal time to get the most money for your gold jewelry. Selling gold is a good way to bring in extra cash for unwanted jewelry.
Before you fork over all your gold jewelry to the first buyer though, you should learn some of the tricks of the trade to make sure you get the best prices for your jewelry. With the many unscrupulous gold buyers and sellers out there, it will pay to know what to look for in a buyer so you don’t get ripped off. Also, knowing about the going rates for gold as well as what your own jewelry is worth will steer you in the right direction.
Here are some tips for selling your gold jewelry and getting the most cash for your valuables:
• Make sure your jewelry is a good candidate to sell for the gold. If you are selling your jewelry for the gold, it will be melted down and used just for gold. So if you have an antique piece of gold jewelry, or gold jewelry with valuable diamonds or gemstones, then you will want to sell the piece whole, not just for its gold value, as it will be worth more intact. Mismatched or broken gold jewelry are great pieces to sell for gold, as no one will want to buy them as whole jewelry pieces.
• Learn the basics of gold. The value of your gold depends on several factors, including the karats, which signify how much of the gold is pure. 24k gold is pure gold and the most valuable. Gold jewelry is often mixed with other metals to make your jewelry hard, as pure gold is malleable. 22k, 18k, 14k and 10k are all common for gold jewelry, with the higher karat jewelry being worth more when you sell it to gold buyers. You can use a skey test purchased at a local jewelry tools store to test your gold.
• Get estimates. You will want to get estimates on your jewelry from at least a few experts to get an idea of a fair asking price for your gold. Go to an accredited appraiser if you have several pieces of gold or enough valuables to justify the expense. You can also check out pawn shops and jewelers to get free estimates. Shop around and you’ll get a good idea of what your gold is worth.
• Sell your gold to a pawn shop, local jeweler or online on sites such as eBay. Generally it is a good idea to stay away from gold parties, as you won’t get the best prices for your gold. Gold parties usually pay less because of the middle man – the party host gets a cut of the profit as well as the company that is buying the gold.
• Keep an eye on the scale. Gold is often weighed in Troy (one Troy is 31.1 grams) or pennyweight (1.555 grams). Make sure you are getting paid for the unit of measure that your gold is weighed in, as some buyers try to weigh by the pennyweight and pay by the gram, which would give the buyer more gold and you less money.
• Check out the buyer’s background. Your buyer should be licensed to buy gold and will be legally required to ask you for your driver’s license, passport or government-issued ID. If the buyer does not ask, they are not reputable so you should go elsewhere.
• Read the fine print. If you’re selling your jewelry online, make sure it is with a reputable site such as eBay, and read all agreement forms to make sure you don’t get stuck with hidden fees or high shipping costs if the buyer is not offering what you want for your gold and you want it returned.
Once you’re armed with some savvy gold selling tips, you’ll make the most cash for your unwanted gold jewelry, and come out a richer person.