Selling gold at jewelry stores???? (pay, New York, business, wedding)

[family first]

So anyone know the do's and don't of selling off old jewelry? Have some 14k and 18k gold and was thinking of selling it at the local store. What is the general rule for measuring the gold and establishing a price for the sale? I have heard the store should measure in grams and then tell you their buying price per gram. Does anyone know what that price per gram is? Is this a total rip off by selling back to the stores? I don't have use for the jewelry but don't have to "give" it away either. Anyone know the story?

[myrc60]

Go to several gold stores for bids and go back to the one that offered the most. if you don't do this you are likely to lose money without knowing it.

Gold is selling now in the $1720/oz range. You can check prices here Live Gold Prices, World Gold Prices, Gold Prices

[Nor'Eastah]

The fact that so many jewelry stores, coin shops, etc are actively advertising (e.g. spending money) to get you to sell them your gold, silver, and diamonds should tell you something right there. They expect (are sure, actually) prices will rise and they will make a BIG profit. They are trying to lure you in to give up your valuable physical metals in exchange for worthless paper. They KNOW that what you're thinking is, 'gold is in a bubble' or 'gold is so high, it will just go down again'. That's what hack Dave Ramsey thinks -- or, at least what he broadcasts.

But the professionals are not fooled. If Ramsey can get more financially illiterate people into the shops to sell their physical metals, all the merrier. And what better time than just before the holidays, when folks need cash?

My advice is, think like the professionals. DO like the professionals. Acquire the metal yourself. Or at least, if you sell, vow to put that cash into bullion, and keep it. How do you think those people feel now, who sold their gold at those 'parties' that were all the rage a couple years ago, and "gave away" their gold when it was under $1,000?

Any day you can trade worthless paper for real gold is a good day. Think like a professional. When gold trades at over $5,000, you'll be glad you did!

[Briolat21]

If you are relatively good at math, you should be able to find out the conversions from grams to troy oz, etc.

Also, you can find out how pure 18K gold is (24K gold is basically 100% pure). I don't remember if its a straight ratio (i.e. 18/24 = 75%) or not.

Once you know relative purity of your gold (18K, 14k, etc.) and the conversion..

you should be able to weigh your gold on a kitchen scale and get a basic idea how much you have - and how much it should be worth.

I would not sell to a shop that is paying less than 95% of market. That gives them 5% profit for the trade.

So if you have 1oz of 24K (100% pure) gold -- and the market price (market price is easily found online) is $1775 -- I would not accept less than $1685.

5% profit is plenty, in my opinion.

And I know a dealer in town that pays that.

Some places you talk to pays *significantly* less. One place I talked to was only offering 70% of market!! *gak!*

Or - as some have suggested, hang onto it forever. Sure, it might lose value, then again, it might now.


Just take your time, do your research .. don't rush into the first jewelry/pawn shop you find.

(Actually reputable coin dealers are generally more knowledgeable pay better than jewelry shops)

[Bucky56477]

You can't just take a market price for gold and apply 95% to it and say that is what they should pay you for your scrap gold. There are many other costs involved for the business, also refineries don't pay 100% of market value either. The % a refinery gives a jewelry store typically is based on the ammount of material they recieve, also there are refining fees, assaying fees, stone removal fees sometimes, shipping, and insurance. So you can see that every store is going to have a different cost basis when it comes to buying gold. When you are going to sell gold in Raleigh the most important thing is that you do your homework and do business with a store you trust. There are alot of ethical stores out there but unfortunatly there are also alot of crooks out there.

[Tropical Trouble]

I took some of my jewelry (that I didn't ever wear) to a local jewelry store that buys gold and got a quote. Then I sent it off to someplace in NYC that I found on the Internet. I did plenty of research, checked the BBB for New York, etc. The online place in New York quoted about 25% more than my local business (which was very highly rated in a local newspaper article about selling gold). I accepted the NYC refinery's offer and I'm happy. For a few of the pieces I actually got more than I paid. The one thing I really lost money on was my ex's wedding ring Just showed me how much markup is on jewelry in the first place. I doubt I'd buy anything from a mall jewelry store (or Jared) ever again.

[howard555]

Originally Posted by family first

So anyone know the do's and don't of selling off old jewelry? Have some 14k and 18k gold and was thinking of selling it at the local store. What is the general rule for measuring the gold and establishing a price for the sale? I have heard the store should measure in grams and then tell you their buying price per gram. Does anyone know what that price per gram is? Is this a total rip off by selling back to the stores? I don't have use for the jewelry but don't have to "give" it away either. Anyone know the story?

I had a gold watch for sale.
I went to Brownlee Jewelers and was told it's condition was only worth a melt down, and they offered $40.
I then went to two pawn shops and the one with the highest offer was $75.00.
I then went to an independent jeweler and was paid $300 for the watch. I think, not sure, the shop owner wanted it for himself, because he put it on, before offering me a price.
It was not pure gold which is 24 karat. It may have been 10 karat.

I am very positive, if there was a low ball offer, and a crooked offer, it was from Brownlee.
If a pawn shop offers more than a jeweler, well, walk way from the jeweler.
I can not recommend Brownlee.