Selling Gold Jewelry in NYC (New York, York: buying, price, shop)

[galee]

I am wondering if you can help me. I'd like to sell some gold jewelry and coins in NYC, and I want to find a reputable buyer. Can you recommend some stores to me? I am hesitant to go to 47th Street without getting any recommendations.

Also any advice would be much appreciated. This is the first time I've ever done this.

[bluedog2]

Originally Posted by galee

I am wondering if you can help me. I'd like to sell some gold jewelry and coins in NYC, and I want to find a reputable buyer. Can you recommend some stores to me? I am hesitant to go to 47th Street without getting any recommendations.

Also any advice would be much appreciated. This is the first time I've ever done this.

There is no such thing as a reputable gold or jewelry buyer . If you are lucky you will get the spot price of the intrinsic gold value and that's about it. Other than spot gold or sterling value, jewely depreciates by about 90% the minute you buy it. It's worse than buying a new car und turning on the ignition and driving it 10 ft.

Say you bought a ring for $1,000 retail and want to sell it. Well,some shyster dealer will be able to sell it used for $500 but he will only give you $100. He will make 400 you will make 100. Jewelry is one of the biggest scams there is and it doesn't matter whether you buy from Tiffany or your local pawn shop. The underlying business model is the same, only the shopping atmosphere is different.

You can easily research coins online to find out if they have any numismatic value above possible gold or silver content but then you will only get about 1/3 of the value from a dealer.
Better off selling coins yourself on the internet once you figure out what they are worth.

[galee]

bluedog2 -- Thank you for your response. Not what I wanted to hear, but good advice nonetheless.

[Cida]

I'd be thrilled to make some recommendations. It's something that I've put a lot of work into, and I'm happy to share what I've learned. It'll take me a day or two until I can check my lists, though. In the meantime, can I ask, are the coins particularly rare, are they gold, and are they American or foreign? No matter what, you should count on going to several places to compare. Is the jewelry particularly big and expensive, or just the kind of thing that any of us might wear?

[Cida]

It's a bad sign that you didn't return, but I'll make my addition anyway, for others in the future.

Keep in mind that you don't necessarily need to know who's reputable, because what you should be doing is checking several people. I have to say that although I've really done the rounds, I never found one stand-out person, as I'd expected, no one who consistantly offered the best price.

So you should walk your items around to at least three places. Also, keep in mind that the price offered isn't necessarily an indicator of the person's honesty. There can be other factors, such as overhead. Or if he likes you. Or if he thinks you'll return. Or if he wants your gold as jewelry, or will just melt it down.

Here are some places that were good enough that I'd return to shop them again:

Gold Standard, 21 West 47th (also buy ordinary coins, like old quarters)

New York Buyers, 29 West 47th

Namat, 36 West 47th and/or 72 West 47th

U. S. Gold Buyers, 62 West 47th

Global Gold, 7 West 47th

Alpha & Omega, 1196 Sixth Avenue

Weitz, 73 West 47th