How to price and sell Scrap Gold Jewelery

Gold prices are high. It may be a good time to sell scrap gold. How do you know its value? Here is a basic guide.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 
    

   Scrap value is the absolute minimum you should sell gold for. The things that increase value above scrap are:
   1. Workmanship. A nice gold necklace is more valuable as jewelry probably. It would have a jewelers labor cost in making it built in. You may get more than scrap, but less than retail.
   2. Makers marks. Signed pieces like Tiffany etc... add value.
   3. Antique value. See an antique dealer if it is an older piece with character.
   4. Any stones like diamonds, rubies and so forth have value outside of the gold in the piece. If sending the gold to a metals dealer have a jeweler remove the stones first. Sell them in a separate transaction, not as scrap.

2. 
    

   * Once you know the piece is scrap, and that is the highest value, you need to know the Karat. 24 karat gold is 999.99% pure. 18K is 75% gold.
   * Here is a table to convert karat to gold percentage.
   * A. 8K, 8ct or 333 (parts per 1000) is 33.3% gold (usually European. Not recognized in USA. The lowest possible standard. Will tarnish sometimes)
   * B. 9K, 9ct or 375 (parts per 1000) is 37.5% gold (mainly British Commonwealth countries. Not generally made in USA. Hard wearing.)
   * C. 10K, 10ct or 416 (parts per 1000) or is 41.6% gold (Minimum USA standard. Hard wearing.)
   * D. 12K, 12ct or 500 (parts per 1000) or is 50% gold (usually old watch cases. Rarely seen)
   * E. 14K, 14ct or 585 (parts per 1000) or 58.5% gold (Asian for overseas market. Common in USA. Russian 584.)
   * F. 15K, 15ct or 625 (parts per 1000) or 62.5 % gold (British Commonwealth countries. Discontinued c1935. A good indicator that the piece is old.)
   * G. 18K, 18ct or 750 (parts per 1000) or 75% gold. (Most quality pieces are 18ct.)
   * H 22K, 22ct or 916 (parts per 1000) or 91.6% gold (mainly Asia, Middle East. Very soft. Very yellow)
   * I 24K, 24ct or 1000 (parts per 1000) or PURE gold (too soft for most jewelery manufacture)

3. If you know the purity, the next step is to find the weight. Gold and Silver are weight in Troy Ounces or grams. there are 31.103 grams in an oz. Find the daily spot price per ounce. This is in most newspapers or on the internet. It does change daily.

4. Take the spot price and divide it by the % gold. Divide that by 31.1 and you know the $ per gram. Times that by the grams of gold you have and you know its value. If gold is $1,000 Per ounce it is $32.15 per gram. If you have 3 grams of 24k gold your gold is worth about $96.00 If you had 3 grams of 18k gold times that by .75 12k by .5 and so forth as the karat gives you the % gold from step 2.

Tips & Warnings

• This gives you the knowledge not to be taken. The best place to sell your gold is a trusted jeweler or someone you have done business with. If the jeweler you like does not buy gold they will know where to send you.
• You should be able to get close to spot price minus a small fee. It does cost a jeweler to melt for reuse or slightly discount to sell to their contact. But spot is the going price and there should not be a big discount.
• If you are not sure how to weigh a gram, but your teenager says its easy, and they volunteer a scale from their room, look for some how to talk to your teen articles.

[omegapm]

on 8/13/2009 Pennyweight (DWT) is a common weight measure normally used by old school dealers. There are 20 DWT to 1 Troy ounce. Nothing magical here, just a different weight measure. No need to "beware" of dealers who use this system as Ben444 said. Any dealer would be more than happy to do the conversion for you if you ask.

[flamingosoup]

on 8/4/2009 Good info...especially liked the warning at the end! LOL!

[jamiekucharski]

on 4/6/2009 Good idea. People may as well sell their scrap and mismatched jewelry to make extra cash. Thanks!

[vallain]

on 11/4/2008 I've been thinking I should clear out some broken jewelry. Thanks for this info.

[Jayd]

on 10/30/2008 Nice info. Helpful indeed.