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I think that's a bit of paranoia. I have sold over 1,000 items on eBay and over 100 on Craigslist and have never had ANY personal safety or fraud issues. You are safe to sell jewelry on eBay. You have to use good judgement, take good pictures, represent your item well, block out buyers with negatives, buy insurance when shipping, etc. but there is no reason to fear fraud or personal safety. eBay is generally where you'd get the best price
Craigslist wouldn't be my first choice for selling jewelry, but you usually get a good sense of people by emailing them back and forth, them giving you their phone number, meeting in a public place, having them pay cash, etc. If you decide to go this route, do not be scared by headlines in the newspaper.
Personally, before you do anything, I would figure out if the jewelry you wish to sell is going to be sold for scrap or if they are worth more because they are unique items or have a name (such as Tiffany). If they are unique, try to look them up on eBay and see what they are going for (completed items, average price).
I would also find a scale and weigh your items - you can go to the post office if you don't have one (taking into account any non gold or non silver parts of the jewelry). After finding out the weight, look on completed listings on eBay to see what scrap gold or silver is going for. Then go to some of those gold-buying places to get an estimate. If they are at least 70% of what they are selling for on eBay, then I think it's a fair deal (eBay takes 15% fees plus there is insurance cost, unknown factors if the buyer wants to return the item etc. so I think allowing a cost for that uncertainty is fair).
I would hunt around to a few different places to see who gives you the best price, and find one that is acceptable to you.
Ebay can be a giant risk because of false buyer claims. We buy and sell there but no jewelry.
All a buyer has to do is to swap your jewelry for something else and file a "not as described" claim. Ebay will almost always rule against you regardless of any proof you submit.
The buyer can send you back a rock and ebay will give them back their money. Don't do it.
You can also lose your item in transit and have a very hard time proving its value to get reimbursed by the carrier.
Craigslist is safer for sellers than buyers but sellers must beware of counterfeit cashier's checks, counterfeit money orders, or being robbed of their items. Buyers can easily be defrauded by false claims of materials or quality.
Really, jewelry is dangerous to sell and National Pawn does a nice job. Just get bids from several gold buyers before deciding where to sell.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,779 posts, read 15,793,171 times
Reputation: 10888
Quote:
Originally Posted by saturnfan
Ebay can be a giant risk because of false buyer claims. We buy and sell there but no jewelry.
All a buyer has to do is to swap your jewelry for something else and file a "not as described" claim. Ebay will almost always rule against you regardless of any proof you submit.
The buyer can send you back a rock and ebay will give them back their money. Don't do it.
You can also lose your item in transit and have a very hard time proving its value to get reimbursed by the carrier.
Craigslist is safer for sellers than buyers but sellers must beware of counterfeit cashier's checks, counterfeit money orders, or being robbed of their items. Buyers can easily be defrauded by false claims of materials or quality.
Really, jewelry is dangerous to sell and National Pawn does a nice job. Just get bids from several gold buyers before deciding where to sell.
But the buyer can swap out anything you sell and file "not as described." Jewelry is no different. The OP said she has some gold and silver to sell, not the Hope Diamond. We've sold sterling silver flatware, furs, watches and other valuable items with no problems. In over 10 years of selling, I've had exactly one item not be delivered (it actually was delivered, but was stolen after the fact from the apartment mailroom) and fewer than five "items not as desribed" or other. All of those were resolved to my and the buyer's satisfaction. Telling her to stay far, far away from eBay or CL is a bit alarmist. Taking pictures and buying insurance should be enough to get insurance paid if an item is lost in transit.
For Craigslist, you take CASH ONLY - problem solved for counterfeit checks/money orders.
Those venues are both very valid and very good options for selling and I would not advise people to stay far, far away from them, if they want top dollar.
But the buyer can swap out anything you sell and file "not as described." Jewelry is no different. The OP said she has some gold and silver to sell, not the Hope Diamond. We've sold sterling silver flatware, furs, watches and other valuable items with no problems. In over 10 years of selling, I've had exactly one item not be delivered (it actually was delivered, but was stolen after the fact from the apartment mailroom) and fewer than five "items not as desribed" or other. All of those were resolved to my and the buyer's satisfaction. Telling her to stay far, far away from eBay or CL is a bit alarmist. Taking pictures and buying insurance should be enough to get insurance paid if an item is lost in transit.
For Craigslist, you take CASH ONLY - problem solved for counterfeit checks/money orders.
Those venues are both very valid and very good options for selling and I would not advise people to stay far, far away from them, if they want top dollar.
We must agree to disagree here.
Having worked in credit card security, I'm very familiar with scams and ebay is quite risky. Seller protection will not save you from phony quality disputes, only bad payment source and unfounded non-delivery claims if you follow the rules about confirmations of receipt as required. Some categories such as electronics and jewelry tend to have more issues than the ones we use to dispose of unneeded items (not a business), collector dolls.
Many cases involving Craigslist ranging from counterfeit payment media to murder of the seller. I've sold some large items on Craigslist but played it as safe as possible.
I really recommend National Pawn. You get instant payment in Benjamins ($100 bills) and can take your gold to several other buyers before National Pawn. National on Capital has an attached jewelry store so can use items there and pay over melt value.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,779 posts, read 15,793,171 times
Reputation: 10888
Quote:
Originally Posted by saturnfan
Ebay can be a giant risk because of false buyer claims. We buy and sell there but no jewelry.
All a buyer has to do is to swap your jewelry for something else and file a "not as described" claim. Ebay will almost always rule against you regardless of any proof you submit.
The buyer can send you back a rock and ebay will give them back their money. Don't do it.
You can also lose your item in transit and have a very hard time proving its value to get reimbursed by the carrier.
Craigslist is safer for sellers than buyers but sellers must beware of counterfeit cashier's checks, counterfeit money orders, or being robbed of their items. Buyers can easily be defrauded by false claims of materials or quality.
Really, jewelry is dangerous to sell and National Pawn does a nice job. Just get bids from several gold buyers before deciding where to sell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saturnfan
We must agree to disagree here.
Having worked in credit card security, I'm very familiar with scams and ebay is quite risky. Seller protection will not save you from phony quality disputes, only bad payment source and unfounded non-delivery claims if you follow the rules about confirmations of receipt as required. Some categories such as electronics and jewelry tend to have more issues than the ones we use to dispose of unneeded items (not a business), collector dolls.
Many cases involving Craigslist ranging from counterfeit payment media to murder of the seller. I've sold some large items on Craigslist but played it as safe as possible.
I really recommend National Pawn. You get instant payment in Benjamins ($100 bills) and can take your gold to several other buyers before National Pawn. National on Capital has an attached jewelry store so can use items there and pay over melt value.
Better to get a bit less and be safe.
Everything we do has risk to it, but I think talking about cases involving murder and counterfeit payment on CL is a bit much. It's easy to avoid counterfeit payment by only accepting cash. And by meeting in a public place, the murder risk is miniscule. In fact, the murder risk would likely be higher going into a bad neighborhood where National Pawn is located.
Look, I'm not saying that eBay is the only place to sell. I would personally go to some gold and silver storefrongs and check their prices. Then compare it against eBay prices. If the price is not much less, then by all means sell it to the gold/silver place. But if they are paying less than 1/2 of what you can get on eBay, then I'd sell it on eBay. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
Haven't purchased jewelry there but my husband did buy some tools at great prices. They have a bit of everything and I hear they're pretty fair when they purchase from consumers
Haven't purchased jewelry there but my husband did buy some tools at great prices. They have a bit of everything and I hear they're pretty fair when they purchase from consumers
That's exactly how I feel about National Pawn.
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