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How to Sell Gold Jewelry for Cash
Can you turn your old jewelry into a nest egg or a fast cash injection? If you’ve got gold simply taking up space in old jewelry boxes, you can unlock its value by selling it to a trusted buyer in your area. In this article, Benjamin Khordipour will give you all the advice and tips to get the most money for your gold jewelry.
Skip to Benjamin’s Guide for selling gold jewelry.
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Use our handy gold price calculator to quickly figure out how much you could get paid for your gold jewelry. Simply enter the details below and see an estimate within moments.
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Benjamin’s Guide to Selling Gold Jewelry
There are a few important steps to selling gold jewelry, and without knowing them it can be highly problematic. Here are the steps, ordered by importance:
- Buyer Trustworthiness
- Correct Buyer Type
- Determining Market Value of Gold
- Inlaid Gemstones
Skip to my top tips for getting the most amount of money when selling gold.
1. Buyer Trustworthiness
Trusting the buyer is without a doubt the most critical part of selling gold jewelry. There are a million ways that the transaction could go wrong, and you will want to be dealing with someone trustworthy.
Do not just sell your jewelry to the first jeweler willing to buy it. This is a big mistake.
I recommend as the first step to talk to reliable family and friends and have them recommend someone for you. If they don’t recommend anyone, start searching for a gold jewelry buyer, and then research them very carefully to ensure that they are reliable. Check their website to ensure that they look reputable, look at their online reviews, and read online information about them.
2. Correct Buyer Type
Before you lock-in with a jewelry buyer, you’ll need to make sure that the jewelry buyer is an expert in the type of gold jewelry that you’re selling. The reason is simple. In order for him to give you the best price, he’ll need to understand its true value.
For example, only sell vintage gold jewelry to a vintage jewelry expert. Only sell gold coins to a gold coin collector. Only sell Etruscan Revival gold jewelry to an Etruscan Revival jewelry expert.
This is very obvious (and very important), but most sellers don’t realize how important this is.
3. Determining Market Value of Gold
Before you present your jewelry to the gold buyer, make sure to check up the market value of gold. You can use the calculator above.
A few notes to know about gold market value:
- The price is continuously changing throughout the day.
- The Karat weight of the gold will drastically impact its worth, and the value of the jewelry will only be for the percentage of the metal that is actual gold. For example, 18K gold has only 75% pure gold. See below.
- Gold jewelry doesn’t sell at market value. If there is no other value attached to the item (see below) and the value is only in the gold, the buyer will very likely offer anywhere from 50% – 75% of the market value of gold for the jewelry.
4. Inlaid Gemstones
Most jewelry have inlaid gemstones in addition to the gold. Usually, the smaller gemstones, even if high quality aren’t worth as much as the weight of the gold, but sometimes, they are. It is a good idea to assess the value of the gemstones before selling just to ensure that they aren’t valuable.
Tips for Getting the Most Money for Your Gold Jewelry
Once you’ve found a trustworthy location to sell your gold jewelry, you will still want to maximize your potential profit. I reached out to expert jeweler Afshin Shaddaie for his top tips on how to ensure that you get the best value when selling gold jewelry.
1. Bargain and Negotiate
So long as you are respectful and courteous, always try and bargain on the price that your given. Jewelers usually are prepared for a little negotiation, and they will very rarely be concerned if they’re asked gently to consider a better offer.
That being said, there are a few things to consider when negotiating for a better offer.
- Always be respectful. Definitely, don’t try aggressive tactics. This will usually cause any upstanding jeweler to end the entire deal on the spot.
- Don’t hyper-negotiate. If you offer a counter-offer that is so far away from the original offer, it will usually get rejected. Try and counter-offer in a safe zone to the offer or the buyer will think that you’re not serious about selling.
- Don’t over-negotiate. You can try your luck to respectfully negotiate once or twice, but at some point if you continue bargaining, you will start to upset the buyer. Find a good negotiated deal, and then accept it.
2. Get Multiple Offers
Unless you’re in a rush to sell (or the entire process is too stressful), we recommend going to a few different gold buyers and getting multiple offers. One buyer may see your gold ring and offer to pay $1,000 while another buyer may be willing to purchase it for $1,300.
The important part is not to string the jewelers along for too long, because prices change, and so will their patience.
If you take too long to seal the deal, the buyer with the best offer may drop out.
Also, make sure that all the buyers are reputable and reliable. Do not even get an offer from a buyer who you don’t trust. There are so many things that can go wrong when dealing with a problematic buyer.
3. Tell the Buyer that You’re getting Multiple Offers
A great way to get a better price on gold jewelry is to tell the buyer that you plan on showing the item to multiple potential buyers. The buyer may be a little upset (or hurt), but this will usually convince him to give you his best price.
It may be hard to negotiate after this, but you’ll likely get really good starting offers.
4. Hallmarks, Maker Marks, and Documentation
Your gold jewelry may be worth a lot more than you realize. In addition to searching for documenting that came with the jewelry, we recommend checking the actual jewelry itself for hallmarks or designer marker marks.
These marks will usually be found at the bottom or back or jewelry and will usually be very small. But if you find a valuable hallmark or makers mark, it can sometimes add a massive premium the jewelry. Of course, you’ll need to find a buyer that will know what the mark means.
Read our expert guide to learn more about hallmarks and designer maker marks.
5. Sell at the Right Time
It is a really good idea to watch the gold market prices carefully before deciding when to sell. There are times when gold is very low and there are times when gold is high. It may be a good idea, to hold onto your gold until you find a good time to sell.
6. Clean the Jewelry
Jewelers and buyers will often judge the quality of an item based on their first reaction upon seeing it. It is for that reason, that it is a very good idea to clean the jewelry item before presenting it for selling. All you need is lukewarm water, dish soap, and a gentle toothbrush, and the jewelry item will look so much nicer.
A big reason why cleaning the jewelry is important, is that the buyer will assess how important this item is to you. If they see that’s in bad condition and poorly taken care of, they will assume that you don’t really care much about how much they offer.
Of course, don’t overclean or polish the gold jewelry as you can easily ruin the integrity of the item.
7. Research the Gemstones for Value
It is a really good idea to spend some time researching to ensure that the gemstones on the jewelry item are not worth more than you thought.
Sometimes all it takes is showing it to an expert or sending it to an jewelry appraiser to get it checked.
What Types of Gold Jewelry Can I Sell?
You should be able to sell any good-quality, solid gold jewelry. Which means anything from 10-karats through to 24-karats.
Most buyers will not consider buying either gold-plated or gold-filled jewelry. If you’re unsure, use a magnifying glass to examine the jewelry. If you see the mark GP, it means the piece is gold plated (which is gold layered onto a base metal). The actual gold content of these pieces is usually less than 0.5% and not of any interest to gold buyers.
The mark GF stands for gold-filled and denotes another method for fusing gold with a cheaper base metal. Again, most gold buyers aren’t interested in these small amounts of gold. The effort and time to extract the gold from the base metal renders buying this type of jewelry virtually worthless.
Solid gold bracelets, rings, necklaces, brooches, or small trinkets should all spark the interest of gold buyers. You may find that some experts will also be interested in any gold jewelry with precious stones, such as engagement rings or other items that they can sell on for a profit. If the buyer needs to separate the stones from the metal, always ask for any stones back so you can get those valued separately at another facility.
Selling Broken Jewelry, Chains or Settings
Unless the buyer is only interested in reselling whole pieces, you should have no problem selling broken jewelry. A gold valuation is usually done on weight and purity, meaning that the condition of the jewelry is rarely an issue. If you’re selling to a jewelry expert who is interested in whole pieces for resale, they may not accept pieces if they are severely broken. However, they will also let you know early in the process if this is the case so as not to waste your time.
Selling Gold Bullion
Of course, not all gold sales revolve around jewelry. A reputable gold buyer will also be able to take solid gold bullion off your hands for a fair price. Gold bullion is always 99.5% purity or over, so you can get potentially high amounts of cash for these transactions. Because of this, gold bullion is priced by weight only, based on current market values.
Check if the gold buyer charges an extra commission for buying bullion. Some do, and this can dramatically drop the price you can expect, particularly if you’re only selling solid gold in small amounts. Remember to check the current price of gold so you can be sure you’re selling at the right time to make the most money.
Questions to Ask the Gold Buyer
Knowing what to ask a potential gold or jewelry buyer can help you shop around more efficiently. Here are some quick questions to gather the information you need.
1. How long have you been operating?
A brand-new gold buyer isn’t automatically untrustworthy. However, you are more likely to get good service and value from an established entity within the industry. If the buyer’s website doesn’t give you any clear information about the heritage of the firm, ask them how long they’ve been buying gold and what their industry expertise is.
2. How do you come up with your valuations?
Any gold buyer should be completely transparent about how they come up with the cash price you’re offered. If they’re vague or unclear about this process, consider a competitor who can clarify the process for you.
3. Do you Provide Sale Documentation?
It is extremely important that all transactions are documented clearly. Confirm at the beginning to ensure that they’re willing to provide proof of sale.
Contact an Expert Today
Are you looking to sell gold jewelry? Use the form below to contact us and we’ll let you know if we’re the right fit to buy your jewelry. We’ll respond within one business hour.
