All Entries Tagged With: "Scrap Gold"
Before I Sell My Gold, What Do I Need to Know?
Sell My Gold
If I want to sell my gold, what should I know? It’s a question that many owners of the precious metal often ask. If you’re unfamiliar with how to sell gold, here are a few things you need to keep in mind.
For instance, if you want to sell gold jewelry, it’s not always a good idea to try selling the unwanted pieces as scrap. When you’re selling items for scrap value, the value is based on the metal alone and not the historical value or quality of the jewelry piece. So often times when you have jewelry made from gold to sell, you could wind up losing as much as half of what you’d get if you were to sell it for its retail value.
However, not every jewelry piece will have a good enough retail value, such as a plain wedding band or simple chain necklace, and it would be better off being sold for its scrap value.
But even when you’re armed with this knowledge, you should still have a good idea of what your gold items are worth. You could easily have the items appraised if you know they‘re antique, but if the item isn’t worth as much as the appraisal fee, you could end up losing money.
If you have scrap gold to sell, an appraiser is usually unnecessary since the price is generally based on the melt down value of the item. Based on the current market value of gold, the gold buyer will buy your scrap gold at some percentage of the current market value of gold. (Dealers usually quote their prices in either ounces or grams. A troy ounce has 31.1 grams.)
Once the weight of your scrap gold items is determined, the dealer will then base what he’ll pay you on the going rate also known as spot price for gold and take a portion of the total price for their own profit before giving you a final quote. Generally a fair buyer will take no more than 30% of the total price and some may even take as little as 10%. Anything more than 20 or 30% should have you selling your valuables elsewhere.
One of the best places for selling unwanted gold are jewelry stores since they’ll likely give you up to 80% of the market value if your pieces are in good shape. Pawnshops are often not the best places to sell gold for cash since they don’t always offer a very fair price and are generally only interested in buying very low and selling high.
And finally, always remove jewels and other pieces that aren’t gold if you’re planning to scrap any jewelry. Businesses who buy scrap gold won’t give you any more for your jewelry items than what their metal value is worth, so you might as well make some extra money selling the jewels and non-gold items to another buyer.
Now that we’ve answered the question of, ‘If I want to sell my gold, what should I know,’ remember, to do your homework.
Selling Gold Jewelry
Selling Gold Jewelry
Your dwindling bank account may have you thinking about selling gold jewelry. The high value of gold tempts many people to sell scrap gold. That old ring in the jewelry box starts looking like a million bucks. You can rest assured that the old ring in your jewelry box is not worth a million bucks. So don’t assume you’ll get rich by selling scrap gold.
You have to decide if you want to sell your gold jewelry as jewelry or scrap gold. Selling jewelry for its weight in gold probably won’t get you a lot of money. Consider the price you paid for the piece. A $500 ring might bring in $100 or less as scrap gold.
This is because the ring will be valued based only on its gold content. The craftsmanship or antique value of the ring is unimportant. The ring could have a diamond in it, but it doesn’t matter.
When you realize the small amount of money you’ll get, you might decide selling your gold item is not a good idea. If you ring has a high resale value as a piece of jewelry, sell it that way. It’s possible that you can get more by selling the ring than by selling it for scrap gold. This is certainly true if the ring is an antique.
You should also keep in mind that some jewelry has absolutely no resale value. Class rings, plain wedding bands and rings that are in bad shape are difficult to sell. Those items are probably best used for a scrap gold sale.
You’ll probably want to get your jewelry appraised first. Search online and in your local phone books for appraisers. Most of them charge a fee for their services, so be prepared to part with some money.
Find an appraiser you can afford and make an appointment. When you go to the appointment, make sure to take all the gold you want to sell.
The following items can be sold if they are made from real gold:
- Bracelets
- Rings
- Earrings
- Necklaces
- Cufflinks
- Charms
- Miscellaneous Knickknacks
If you don’t want to visit an appraiser, ask a jeweler for help. They can weigh your gold and give you a value based on its weight. However, that’s not the actual amount you’ll get for scraping the gold item.
Whoever buys your gold will take at least 10 percent or more off its true value. This is so they can resell the piece and make a profit.
When you’re selling gold jewelry, a collector is the only person who might pay the actual value of your jewelry. However, you’d have to have a rare or valuable piece to attract a collector’s attention. You should try to find a local buyer before looking outside of your city.
If you can’t find a local buyer, carefully research nonlocal buyers before doing business with them. There are people who will scam you out of your gold. Taking time to perform research will pay off in the end.
