Selling a gold ring (collectors, pay, sell, companies)

[OhioNative]

Does anyone have advice for selling a gold Josten's class ring? Are those mail-in places reliable, or is a pawn shop better?

[metropolistraffic]

.. Mail in? Never ever ever do that.
I'd say go to a Pawn shop.

[freedom]

most cities have a gold coin and jewelry dealer, they will usually give you 75% of market value. ie...gold @ $1000.00 per oz. will get you $750.00 per oz.

It has dropped over $80.00 per oz. in the last wk. so those numbers are for an example..

freedom

[Skywings]

Also keep in mind that the "gold price" we see in the news is the price per ounce of GOLD BULLION, i.e. 24kt or "pure" gold. Most gold jewelry is either 14k (which is only 58.3% gold) or 18k (only 75% gold). Even for gold bullion coins such as American Eagles, most dealers are paying only 90% of the current price (perhaps as much as 93% if the coin in question is a Proof coin, thus more valuable to coin collectors).

Also, an "ounce" of a precious metal is not the same ounce that is used in everyday life. A precious-metal ounce is a "troy ounce" which has several equivalents but the one most often used is grams = about 373.2 grams to one troy ounce. There are 12 troy ounces to one troy pound, versus 16 'normal' ounces to what we call a pound, weightwise. A troy ounce = 1.097 'standard' (avoirdupois) ounces, so a troy ounce is actually a bit lighter.

So if you have a 14k gold ring that weighs, say 1 ounce on your electronic postal scale at home, you are not going to get 75% of the current market price of gold bullion for it. I suspect that many people who are thinking of selling their gold jewelry aren't aware of these differences. Most dealers and jewelers are going to just sell such items for scrap anyway. The best thing to be selling nowadays is gold bullion because at least that is already measured in troy ounces and has a direct connection to the bullion-market price.

[sonia5880]

I would try selling it to a pawnshop rather than risk mailing it away. What happens if it gets lost in the mail? You also don't know how much they are going to pay you for it and your already selling it to them by mailing it. At least with a pawnshop they will make you an offer and you could decide or go to another pawnshop for if you don't like their offer.

This online pawnshop explains how they determine what price they will give you for your scrap gold...

Gino's Pawn Shop | Your Local Pawn Broker in Boca Raton, Florida

I hope this helps

[induhvidual]

Weigh the ring.
The going price for scrap gold is $15.00 per gram for 14kt and $18.00 per gm for 18kt gold.

A pawn shop will probably give you pennies on the dollar.

The mailing companies will probably charge give your fair value but might charge a fee.

However, now that you know the value of your ring, try and negotiate a better price.

[70Ford]

Take it a to a jeweler and ask them if they could pound it into a solid gold Frisbee.

Man, that would be cool. I'd be all in the park, just flipping that Frisbee around. Chicks would think your so rich and cool. Kids would try and steal your frisbee. Dogs would learn to love the taste of gold.

I wonder if you really could have them make it into something else. I don't see why not. I don't wear jewelry, so I dunno.

[killer2021]

You also don't know if that ring is gold plated or just using fake gold. I am taking it that you didn't spend hundreds of dollars on this ring.

[Padgett2]

My memory may be faulty on this, but it seems to me that my class ring barely met the definition of gold. They had to be cheap so that as many of the graduating class as possible could buy them.