Selling Your Gold Jewelry: Answers To Common FAQs
Posted on: 13 October 2015
If you're looking for a way to get fast cash, nothing is easier than taking your jewelry or other gold items to a pawn shop, broker, or jewelry store that pays cash for gold. You might be worried about finding a reputable dealer or whether or not the price they offer is worth it. Here are a few answers to common questions that you consider before you pack up your rings and watches to sell.
How can I tell if my items are valuable to sell?
Most gold jewelry is made from gold alloys-- gold is mixed with other metals to make it more durable because pure gold is extremely soft and breaks easily. The karat value of your gold is determined by how many parts (out of 24) are gold and how many parts are other metals. The more parts gold, the more value your jewelry will have. Buyers may not be interested in jewelry that only has trace amounts of gold. They also will not be interested in gold items that are marked with the letters RGP, which stand for "rolled gold plated"; these pieces are simply coated with gold alloy plating and have so little valuable metal that they are not worth selling.
What's the best price I can get for gold items?
This is one of the questions that has the most variables. Many shops that buy gold do so because they are able to make a profit off of the weight of gold in your items, as no jewelry item is pure. So, not only will they check the karat value of the gold in your item, but they also will not offer full market price for the weight itself. For example, if you have a necklace that weighs 2 ounces, and is 18K gold, they will pay you for the gold in the necklace, which will be about 1.5 ounces.
However, if the price of gold on the market is $1000 an ounce, you still won't get $1500 for your item. You might be offered a price a few (or several) hundred dollars lower. This is because the company buying the gold will need to either resell it as-is and still make a profit, or they will need to go to the work to extract the gold from the alloy in order to trade pure gold with another buyer. Either way, it needs to be worth their while.
You can get a better shot at a fair price if your buyer measures gold in pennyweight, which calculates Troy ounces. Troy ounces are used to determine the market value and weight of gold. They have more grams than a standard ounce. Therefore, if your gold is measured on a traditional scale, you lose valuable grams that will affect the overall price of your gold. If you are selling more than one item, have them weighed and assessed separately, especially if they have different karat values.
How do I know what a good price is?
In order to make sure you are still getting a good price, research gold values before you buy. Negotiate with buyers for a certain percentage. If they make the first offer, suggest a counter offer that you feel will be more reasonable. Don't be afraid to take your gold elsewhere or save it for later if the buyer is not able to offer you as much as you hoped for. Just be aware that you will never be able to sell your gold for 100% market price for the reasons intimated above.
If you have more questions about selling your gold, contact buyers in your area, such as Rocky Mountain Gold & Silver Exchange, for quotes and sales procedures.
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