Have some old gold jewelry laying around the house making you wonder “how much is my gold worth?”
If you don’t use it anymore, selling off your gold jewelry can be a nice way to make a bit of spare change to spend on something you would enjoy more.
However, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could get bamboozled in the process. Check out these judicious tips before you try to sell a piece of gold jewelry.
Check Out the Price of Gold
The price of gold fluctuates all the time. Thus, the first place to start is to find out what the current price is. If you have time before you want to sell the jewelry, it can be a good idea to watch the market price and try to time your sale for when the price is higher.
Understand Karats
Most gold jewelry in the US is not made completely of gold. Rather, it is an alloy of gold and other metals such as nickel, copper, or zinc. Check your jewelry over carefully for a number and the Karat symbol written either K, kt, or Kt. Pure gold is marked with a 24, but it’s likely yours will say 10, 14, or 18.
When you go to sell it, you will only be paid for the gold percentage. Find this percentage by dividing the Karat number by 24 and multiplying the result by 100.
The numbers may have worn off of very old pieces. In that case, take your piece to an independent gold buyer to have it tested for purity.
Independent Appraisal
You should never take a buyer’s word on how much your gold jewelry is worth. If you don’t seem to know what you’re doing, they will happily offer you a lower price.
When selling gold by weight, this isn’t as much of an issue. However, it is still good to know the value of your finished piece. Some jewelry, particularly antique or designer pieces, is worth more intact rather than selling it for the metal.
Choose a Reputable Buyer
To get the best price, you definitely need to research where to sell gold jewelry. Shysters abound who will underpay you for your gold jewelry. Often, when people are selling gold jewelry it is because they are facing a financial crisis. These shysters know that desperate people will often be happy with whatever they can get.
To avoid this, always do a bit of research and find a reputable business to deal with.
Sell Your Gold Jewelry
Now you know how to sell gold jewelry! The main thing is to do a bit of research on your piece first to ensure that the offer a buyer makes is a fair offer for your items. A bit of research on the buyer doesn’t hurt as well.
Looking for a reputable gold buyer? Check out our gold-buying services here at Essex Fine Jewelry. We buy all kinds of gold jewelry and are committed to offering our customers a fair market price for their goods.