selling gold

13 years ago

I know this has come up before and there were some very knowledgeable people around (golddust maybe? hm have anything to do with her name? If that was obvious to everyone but me... d'oh!) Anyway...

I have a small pile of gold jewelry that my dad has given me over the years for christmas before he got it that I don't wear yellow gold, nor do I wear heavy gold chains and large charms and whatever else he was buying me. With gold prices so high right now I decided that rather than just hold on to this stuff that I'll never wear (and that my dad forgot he gave me 10 years ago anyway) I should maybe sell it and use the money to get something pretty for myself that I WILL wear.

I went into a local jeweler and as far as I can tell they pay $18/dwt for 14k, which is less than 50% of the spot price for gold right now. I have found a few online places that are more like $37-38/dwt for 14k, which of course sounds better to me but, how reputable are they?

I am also checking out a local jeweler that advertises that they do not scrap their gold, they resell decent pieces (and since these pieces are all really virtually new) and have the best prices... I don't know if I'd get more than the 90-95% of scrap prices I am seeing online for craftsmanship but it is worth a look I suppose.

Has anyone ever used any online gold buying services or does anyone have any other suggestions for getting the most for my gold?

If anyone cares, this is the ring I am having made... this example is in sterling silver with a pink sapphire, but I am having one of my natural alexandrite earring studs re-set into a white gold version of this ring. It took me forever and a ton of research to track down a semi-matched set for earrings and the stones (one in particular, they are a little different because they are hand cut in india... one is slightly larger than the other and the cut on the larger one is also superior to the cut on the smaller one) but I love watching the stones so much (the color change is phenomenal that having them as earrings is really unsatisfying. I still need to figure out what to re-set the other one into but for right now I will be thrilled with this pretty little ring. I NEVER buy "new" jewelery, everything I own is antique, but I think the craftsmanship and artistry from this jeweler is exquisite.

Here is a link that might be useful: rose garden ring

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Comments (4)

maire_cate
13 years ago
That's a beautiful ring, I love the design of the band and how the stone is nestled in the setting.

I've been going to the same jeweler for over 20 years and I asked for his advice about selling some old gold pieces. Just before my Mother passed away she gave me some gold necklaces and rings and wanted me to have something made for my DD out of them. My jeweler told me that it's not practical to take specific pieces and 'melt' them down to make something new. Even though he does custom work he doesn't used old pieces, he sells them to his supplier. That's probably why the jeweler you're checking out advertises that he resells it.

His advice to get the most money from your gold is to just trade it in on something else. He buys the gold and then if the seller wants to buy jewelry from him he'll add an additional 10% to 20% to the value of the gold on the trade-in. He also resells the best pieces that he gets as trade ins, others he resells to lower price jewelers and broken or out of date pieces he sells to his supplier. He also said to take the gold to several reputable jewelers for estimates.

The mark up on jewelery is quite high. It's usually 100% so it's unlikely that you'll be able to get what was paid for the original piece.
moonshadow
13 years ago
Hey Lisa! Good to see you :)

The mark up on jewelery is quite high. It's usually 100% so it's unlikely that you'll be able to get what was paid for the original piece. Back in the dark ages when I worked retail in college it was 300%. I thought I heard somewhere it was still in that range.

There is a shop nearby that sells collectible things (sports trading cards, other odds and ends). He's the only one that's come close to offering market value on some gold I had (not jewelry, tho he did take jewelry and resell it). IIRC he was about 15% below market, so he'd get something when he resold it. Maybe a place like that would give a better price?
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Necia, that's a great idea! For DD's 16th birthday in March, we had a ring made for her with her birthstone, aquamarine, flanked on either side by DH's & my birthstones, both amethysts . . . meaning that she'll always be between our hearts forever. As for high school class rings . . . what a HUGE waste of money, IMO!! As the oldest in my family, I got one and wore it my junior and senior year . . . and never wore it again! Heck, the last thing I wanted as a college freshman was to be seen wearing a high school class ring! I talked my next in line sis into getting a nice birthstone ring instead. From then on, my four sisters all got beautiful birthstone rings and my 4 brothers got gorgeous gold signet rings. All still wear them ~ and love them ~ today, many, many years later . . . while I have this over-priced high school class ring that I never wear, sitting in my jewelry box . . . and no jeweler wants to buy some 10K, dated, nothing ring! Our now 25 y/o DS wouldn't listen to my "sage" advice and insisted he had to have a class ring. How long did he wear it???? TWO years, until he headed off to college!!! He's never worn it again . . . and probably has no idea where it is now! My 16 y/o is more wise, though; she's learned from all this and is already designing her own graduation ring . . . an emerald cut aquamarine flanked by two diamonds. Smart girl! Lynn
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A good website for this type of thing is silverrecyclers.com. You can calculate the price of gold, silver, coins, etc. A lot of the local gold stores that have sprung up everywhere take about 15-20% if I recall correctly. Sometimes you can actually do better at a jewelry store. I found I was able to sell it on ebay and make more than if I had sold to a gold store or jewelry store. (Even with all the ebay fees.) But, you have to be able to know the exact weight, and take some photos, etc. I would advise against selling at one of those gold parties. I did that with a few items and they take something like 30-40%. I seriously saw a few of the items up for sale later on their website for so much more than I got it was upsetting. They hadn't just melted them down at that point. (They were new and I was liquidating some of my late mother's inventory from her small jewelry business.) Anyway, I know you weren't asking for my opinion but just thought I'd give you some info I have. What I did was just call around, make up a weight if you have to, and then call and ask what they would give you for x kt and y weight. Sorry you find yourself in this situation. But, prices are high so hopefully you will do well. Here is a link that might be useful: Silver Recyclers
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kgwlisa
Original Author
13 years ago
Well I did take it to that local jeweler and he offered me basically double what the other guy offered. I figured it was about 90% of the market price of gold (about $750 per oz for 14k, because it is only 58% gold). He also had a ton of beautiful things but I just took my cash and left ;) I could have done a little bit better with the online places but something about mailing it away and trusting that they will weigh it right etc did not sit well with me... I would rather deal with someone face to face and walk away with cash, but even so I think I did very very very well!
maire_cate
13 years ago
That worked out well. Just last night our local TV station had another feature on selling gold and of course they mentioned how you can get many different offers. In the end they recommended going to a local jeweler rather than risking the online buyers.

selling gold

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