Are you are looking to sell your gold ring or chain necklace? Are you trying to figure out how much you could get for your gold jewelry? Here we have put together some tips that will help you get the most value for your gold. Let’s see how you can value your gold jewelry, whom you can sell it to, and what you should be careful about when looking for a buyer.
First Step: Know the Value of Your Gold
Before you start looking for buyers, you should know the approximate value of the gold you have. For this, you should know the karats of your gold jewelry as well as the current gold prices.
Find Out the Karats of Your Gold Jewelry
Karat is a measure of gold purity, and a karat number shows how many parts pure gold there are per 24 parts gold alloy.
For example, a 10K gold alloy contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts other metals, so this alloy therefore contains 41.7% pure gold (10 divided by 24).
The karats of the gold you are going to sell are important because your jewelry will be valued based on them.
They are usually stamped on the inside of each gold item. Sometimes, karats are also expressed and marked as a percentage or parts per thousand.
If you don’t know a piece’s karats, you could have it tested for purity at a jewelry store, or you could do the test yourself at home using a gold testing kit.
Check Current Gold Prices
If you know what percentage of your gold jewelry’s weight is pure gold, then you can estimate its value.
Check the current market rates per ounce or gram of gold, and multiply them by the weight of the pure gold you have. (For example, if a piece weighs 400 grams and is 18 karats, which is equal to 75% purity, then you have 300 grams of pure gold.)
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If you go to a gold dealer, you should expect to sell your gold for about 60%-80% of the market price that you see quoted on gold exchanges.
In general, buyers that purchase gold in bulk pay better prices (e.g., gold refineries), but you might not have enough gold jewelry to meet their minimum threshold.
Evaluate the Gold and Stones Separately
If your gold jewelry has stones set in it, find out how much they are worth if sold individually.
There are gold buyers that will purchase your jewelry with its diamonds or other gemstones, but you should be aware of their value so that you know if you are getting a good deal.
Determine If Any of Your Gold Items Are Unique
Look at the gold you have, and see if there are any pieces that are likely to have some additional value as unique items.
For example, some could be sold as antiques. Such items are likely to fetch a price that is higher than their value as scrap gold.
Vintage jewelry or pieces made by famous designers may sell for more than a gold dealer would pay for them.
If you have such items, first try auctioning them, and sell them if there are bidders that offer you more than the jewelry’s scrap gold value.
Some jewelers may also be willing to pay more for unique jewelry, so go to several stores and ask how much they would pay for your items.
Get an Appraisal Only If Selling Complete Pieces of Jewelry
Appraisals are documents that contain a market price for your jewelry estimated by an expert. They are most useful if you intend to sell your items as complete pieces of jewelry, e.g. at an auction.
Appraisals are of little use if you are trying to sell your jewelry to a gold dealer.
Dealers don’t care about the theoretical value of the piece derived from its design, brand, or age. They buy jewelry for scrap gold and pay a predetermined price per unit of weight, so an appraisal won’t help you to argue for a better deal.
Decide If You Prefer Cash or a Trade-In Deal
Before you accept or reject any possible offers, you should decide for yourself whether you’d rather get cash for your gold or would also agree to a barter deal. Sometimes, trade-in deals with jewelers can provide better value.
Some jewelry stores may be willing to offer you store credit for your gold jewelry instead of cash.
If you don’t mind purchasing another piece of jewelry in exchange for your gold, such a deal may prove to be worth more to you than a cash offer. So, give this option some thought before you decide what kind of deal you want to pursue.
Consider Selling Any Diamonds or Other Stones Separately
Many gold dealers will offer to buy your jewelry along with the stones in it, but they will not necessarily give you the best possible price.
Ask several gemstone dealers how much money they would give you for your stones only, and then ask gold dealers to give you a price only for the gold in your jewelry. It might turn out that you would be better off selling your stones and gold separately.
Jewelry stores are another option you should check out for selling your stones. Even if they don’t offer you a good cash deal, you might consider accepting store credit.
Find Places Where You Can Sell Your Gold Jewelry
Once you know how much gold you have and what its value is as scrap metal, you should start looking at offers to decide where you can get the highest price.
Here are the options you should consider:
Gold Dealers
If you need money quickly, you can sell your jewelry to gold dealers. Dealers buy gold in order to resell it to companies that melt the metal down.
Ask several reputable gold dealers for quotes or check their websites to see what prices they offer. Gold dealers buy jewelry only for the metal content, and they won’t offer you more than what you could get at an auction, for example.
Some gold dealers also operate as refineries and recycle the gold they buy in-house.
Selling to gold dealers is quick and straightforward. They will give you a price based on the karat and weight of your jewelry.
These buyers quote prices per gram or ounce of pure gold, so they are not interested in how beautifully your jewelry is designed or what brand it is.
You should also compare the prices paid by a number of gold dealers – most of them should be roughly at the same level, but this will help you spot and eliminate offers that are too low compared with market prices.
Use the rule of thumb mentioned earlier in this article: You should expect to get about 60%-80% of the current market value of gold.
Jewelry Stores
Many jewelry stores do not buy used jewelry. Generally, if a store is willing to make you a cash offer, it will be heavily discounted compared with retail prices for new items.
Jewelers are more likely to offer you a trade-in deal for your jewelry. This means that you can exchange your gold pieces for new jewelry from the store.
You will be given store credit, and if the new items you choose to buy from the store are more expensive, you will have to pay additional money on top of the credit amount.
Many jewelers prefer such non-cash deals because each sale makes additional profit for the store. That’s why such offers are likely to be more generous in terms of value compared with cash deals.
Online Auction Websites
You can auction your gold jewelry online, and this option is most preferable if your pieces have some sort of collectible value or are unique in another way. Regular pieces of jewelry are less likely to sell for more than the price of their gold content, but you can always try and see what offers you will get.
For example, antique gold jewelry is likely to be worth more to bidders than to gold dealers, who will only pay you a scrap-gold price.
If you want to give this option a try, there are a couple of things you could do to increase the likelihood that you get the best price possible:
First, have your gold jewelry appraised. A written appraisal contains a theoretical market price for the items evaluated. Such a document issued by a certified appraiser will help you argue for a higher price by backing your arguments as to the value of your jewelry.
Please note that it might not be worth it to have a gold item appraised if it’s a mass-produced piece of jewelry that is relatively cheap – you don’t want to buy an appraisal that costs about as much as the item itself.
Second, make sure your jewelry is clean and well maintained, as you will need to post pictures of it for potential bidders to see.
The pieces should be in good condition, so if there are any parts that need to be repaired, it would be best if they are taken care of before you offer the jewelry for sale.
Online Marketplaces and Classifieds
You can also post sale offers for your jewelry on marketplaces and classifieds websites. Some of the rules that apply to auctions are valid here as well: Your gold jewelry should look presentable in any pictures you include with the ads. To find its maximum selling price, start by putting a relatively high price tag, and reduce it gradually until someone expresses interest.
Appraisals and certificates can help you here too, provided that the price you expect to get for the jewelry is high enough to justify the cost of obtaining them.
Pawnshops
Pawnshops are where people usually hock their items. However, many of these places also buy gold jewelry. The prices offered at a pawnshop are likely to be heavily discounted, though, and you may get a better offer from a gold dealer.
So, before going in, check the prices offered by a number of scrap gold traders to get an idea of what the market rates are, and if the pawnshop’s offer is significantly lower, don’t accept it.
Collect Offers and Select Buyers
Compare all offers and then decide. Don’t rush to sell to any single buyer before you’ve collected offers from all possible places where you could sell your gold.
Consider the offers you got online (including any possible shipping fees in your calculation), the prices gold dealers gave you, and the value of the deals offered by jewelers.
Make a decision only after you’ve weighed the pros and cons of each option.
Important: Ask the Buyer How Your Pieces Are Valued
Whomever you sell to, ask the buyer how your gold is valued. You should be shown the exact calculations, including the karats of your gold jewelry, the weight of the pure gold in it, and the price per ounce or gram.
Compare this rate with current market prices and with your own calculations.
You should also know how the karats of your jewelry have been determined. Did the dealer go by its hallmarks, or was the jewelry tested by the buyer?
If you are not sure what the karats of your jewelry are, first go to an independent jeweler and have it tested for a fee.
Check the Reputation of Potential Buyers
Finally, don’t forget to vet the reputation of any potential buyer you are seriously considering. This is especially important for online dealers that ask you to mail your gold to them.
The website of the Better Business Bureau can be helpful in this regard, as you can check online if there are any complaints against a particular gold buyer.
