Reliable Places to Sell Gold Jewelry
The price of gold is up 25 percent since 2005. As of February 2009, the price ranged from $800 to over $1,000 an ounce.
Your bits of broken gold earrings and chains are probably not solid 24-karat gold. But even if they are 10- or 14-karat, they might add up to a quarter of an ounce. You may be wondering how and where to sell your gold jewelry. If so, be sure to look into the most reliable places to sell your gold.
Does this Spark an idea?
-
Check Out Current Gold Prices
-
Go online to find out what gold is selling for before you get estimates (see Resources below). Don't settle for less than 70 to 90 percent of the going rate per troy ounce of gold.
Visit One Independent Jewelry Store
-
Find an independent jewelry store (not a chain), and take your gold in for an estimate. Ask the jeweler what percentage of the going rate they are willing to pay for gold. Then ask for the amount of gold in your jewelry by karat weight. Once you know the karat weight, you can figure out what a fair estimate would be.
-
Visit Another Independent Jewelry Store
-
Go to another independent jeweler and get another estimate, without mentioning what the first jeweler told you. If the second estimate is close to the first, and if you are told the karat weight of your gold is the same at both stores, you can assume you are getting a fair offer.
Call a Jewelry-for-Cash Company
-
Many gold party companies will now come to your home, host a party for you or tell you when an upcoming gold party will be. There is no reason to be afraid of being cheated at a gold party. You already know the troy weight of your gold. You know what gold is going for. So get an estimate at the gold party, too. You don't have to accept it. The gold party companies have very little overhead: no fancy location, big payroll, heat, lights or inventory. It stands to reason that you may get a better offer from a gold party company that only has to carry a scale, a lupe and a special light around in a car.
Pawn Shops
-
Pawn shops are doing big business in gold jewelry. They are more reputable than the ones you saw in old movies. Still, they are basically there to make loans based on holding your property as collateral. You usually have 30 days to pay the loan back, and get your goods back. When the grace period is over, they own your goods.
Sell or Wait
-
The gold market is expected to keep growing, so it won't hurt to hold on to your gold for a while. On the other hand, if you need cash now, you can certainly get a good price for your gold scrap, jewelry and coins. If you have an heirloom piece, or a piece with valuable gems, you need to get a real appraisal for the entire piece, not just the gold. Then you can expect to realize about half the appraisal price in cash. Tip: Do not send your gold by mail to sell it. Remember, it is valuable, and there are reliable places who will pay you a high percentage of what it is worth. You don't have to take unnecessary risks.
Example
-
In February 2009, AARP reported that a man's 24-karat gold wedding band would fetch an average price of $65 on the scrap gold market. That may help you decide whether you want to sell your gold.
-
Resources
- Photo Credit Morguefile
