Should I Sell Gold to a Pawn Shop or a Jewelry Store?

Consider the value of the piece before the value of the gold.

Pawn Shops Offer Quick Cash

Selling your gold to a pawn shop is a viable option in an attempt to get some quick cash. It's a fairly simple process--bring in the gold, negotiate, get paid. Unfortunately, the main interest of the pawn shop is quick turnaround, so if they deem your piece unworthy of resale, they'll offer to scrap it, and this means up to a 75 percent loss of retail value for you.

Jewelry Stores Pay More ... Sometimes

Jewelry stores are not as interested in buying gold as they are in buying pieces of jewelry that they can resell. If all you have is some broken pieces of gold jewelry, they most likely will not want to make a purchase. Like pawn shops, they may offer to scrap it, but once again, that is not the best option.

Bottom Line

Your first visit should be to a jewelry store. They will give you a more accurate evaluation and have less of a bartering process. If you don't like the offer, try a few other places, pawn shops included. In most cases, you should not let yourself be talked into scrapping the gold, as this will lose most of the value of whatever the gold makes up. Typically, you will get more money by selling things made from gold and not just the gold itself.

References

• Bankrate.com: Old jewelry worth its weight in gold?
• MSN Money: How to sell your old gold jewelry