<p>A friend and I were talking about our old gold jewelry. I have a couple of chain necklaces that I forgot I had and will probably never wear. What have you done with old gold jewelry? Not the sentimental ones. Would you consider selling? Or have you?</p>
<p>Sold several pieces without sentimental value - that we don’t wear - a couple of years ago. We thought gold was at a great price then (around $1200/oz). Sold to a local dealer, recommended by a friend whom we thus knew to be trustworthy. </p>
<p>Brought a nice small chunk of change into our coffers :), and we didn’t have a lot of jewelry. Those with a lot of jewelry can net a really nice figure.</p>
<p>Expect that the reputable dealer will - sort through your things (1) pointing out any where the gemstone itself might be worth too much to sell for gold weight (where it isn’t the gem(s) just get weighed in with the gold) (2) pointing out any which might have “antique” value for you to think about (3) separating by carat weight (different value/oz for each) and eliminating any that are not solid gold. Will then quote you a figure and you can decide whether you want to sell some/all/none.</p>
<p>At least that was my experience.</p>
<p>I get a chuckle with the late night TV gold buyer ads where you dump all your gold in an envelope, mail it to them, and then wait at home for them to send you a check–I’d be a little concerned about getting the gold shaft!</p>
<p>^I agree, not a smart idea.</p>
<p>I sold a few pieces I never wear to a local jeweler I’ve known and done business with for years. Got much more than I thought I would - a nice surprise!</p>
<p>Some consumer organization, not sure which, tested various ways of selling gold and found the “send it to us and we’ll send you a check” folks to be the worst by far, seriously undervaluing the items. Others ranged widely. It’s probably best to shop around a bit.</p>
<p>I took some jewelry to two places last month to see which gave me the best price. The first was a higher end pawn shop. I didn’t know they existed. The second was an upscale jeweler with whom I have done business. I got about $300.00 more from the pawn shop. I had a couple of old rings and a white/yellow gold necklace that was fairly heavy. I got about $1400 in total.</p>
<p>Can some one comment on how do they test the gold content in a jewelry? and why there is such a variation of buying price in gold?</p>
<p>Most gold pieces are marked so that’s easy. The selling price depends greatly on the karat weight, the offering price of the particular dealer, and whether it’s being sold as a piece of jewelry or for remelt. As cartera said, saleable jewelry is generally worth more so you might want to take it to a jeweler or good pawn shop first. It’s perfectly okay to say that you want to think over their offer and will get back to them in a few days.</p>
<p>And be sure to check the market value of gold on the day that you bring it to sell. It does fluctuate. We did that and then estimated the weight of what we had so that we would have a rough idea of its worth. Some of the stuff that we brought in was not gold so we ended up with about half the bulk that we started out with. Still got 268 dollars! The best surprise was the crushed ring setting that my H had found on the beach with a metal detector years ago. It was sold 10 carat.</p>
<p>sk8rmom, my gold was sold for scrap at the pawn shop. I found that there is more value in melting it down than in selling it for its value as jewelry, unless it is a very valuable estate piece. The necklace I sold was purchased for over $2000k in the 90s. The value today is in scrap. I could not find any jewelry store interested in buying the necklace or what was an expensive emerald/diamond ring. I could have sold on consignment, but my take would have been no where near the value of scrap gold. </p>
<p>There would need to be a large market fluctuation to affect the price you get for scrap.</p>
<p>I have done this twice in the past few months, both at reputable local jewelers (neither of which runs “we buy gold!!” ads). The first time, I sold orphaned earrings and got around $75. A few weeks ago, I had to get a strand of pearls restrung, so brought with me a 14K gold chain that was sentimental because I got it for my 30th bday from my then boyfriend (now H), but haven’t worn forever because it got crimped years ago. The jeweler confirmed that the gold chain really could not be repaired. Quote on the day I dropped off the pearls was $139. I decided to wait. On the day I picked up the pearls, quote was $147. Sold. Paid for the pearls repair, and now will go towards paying for something new that I can actually wear. It feels kind of weird to give up this stuff, but it isn’t doing anyone any good just sitting in a drawer.</p>
<p>I have never liked yellow gold, so it is easy for me to get rid of it since I never wear it. I only wish I had liked it more when I was younger so I would have more to get rid of. I was a silver fan in my youth.</p>