Selling Unwanted Gold

[titelines]

I have a couple gold jewelry items that I'd like to sell for cash. Has anyone done this, and would you mind tossing out a recommendation on a place to go? I've done some research but haven't really decided where to go.

I've never done it and am just looking for a fair price and a comfortable experience, without feeling like I'm being taken advantage of. Is a jewelry store better than a "The Gold Guys" kind of place?

Also, any tips I should know before walking into a place?

Thanks for any/all info you can provide!

[CAMAN]

If you have a fairly large amount watch the gold prices and when they seem like they have spiked, then call around in the morning to pawn shops, jewelry stores, and "The Gold Guys" and see what they are paying per penny weight of gold. Find the highest price and go there THE SAME DAY. Gold prices can fluctuate dramatically from day to day so going there the same day is a must. Also if you are willing, some jewelry stores and pawn shops will give you quite a bit more if you take an in-store credit rather than cash.

Also some places will give you a bump in price if you have over a certain amount so ask about that.

[JohnMickish]

My wife has done this and she has always taken her stuff to our jewelers, Consumer Direct Jewelers in Rosedale. The best thing you can do is call a few places and see if they will give you their gold price on the phone.

[nofishfisherman]

I've taken old silver dollars to the Gold Guys before and had no issues. Its a pretty easy deal. The prices are set by whatever the current market price is so its pretty much a set price that you can look up ahead of time. Of course it will depend on the gold content of your jewlery as well.

I know the silver dollars i brought in had little collector value (I made sure to check before hand) but I was paid the value of silver content. I walked out with a check for $400-500 for them.

[fivebucks]

Check out American Rare Coin also. They post their prices on their HSOforum.

[CAMAN]

I've taken old silver dollars to the Gold Guys before and had no issues. Its a pretty easy deal. The prices are set by whatever the current market price is so its pretty much a set price that you can look up ahead of time. Of course it will depend on the gold content of your jewlery as well.

I know the silver dollars i brought in had little collector value (I made sure to check before hand) but I was paid the value of silver content. I walked out with a check for $400-500 for them.

The issue with ONLY getting a quote from one place is they may not have updated there prices at the time you visited them. The gold guys do state they will beat any other quote, but that means you have to get a quote from somewhere else and physically bring it to them to get that price, so that usually amounts to time and gas wasted, and you probably would have come out ahead if you just got the money from the first place. But calling around is probably the quickest and cheapest way to find the best price available.

[Down Deep]

The current price of gold is listed on any webpage that tracks the financial markets. Of course the resellers are not going give you that price because they have to make a profit. Find out the current day price then call around. Not all gold jewelery is going to be melted down. The resellers recycle much of it for retail sale. That is where most of the jewelery that is for sale in the pawn shops comes from. This information comes from one of my fishing buddies who works for a pawn shop.

I've never used the Gold Guys, but they are usually located in Malls which have premimum overhead costs. That should tell you something.

[nofishfisherman]

Just being in the mall doesn't mean you won't get the best price from them. They can also make up for the increased overhead through higher volume of sales.

For sure call around and get a few quotes. My guess is you won't get them to quote you an exact value of your gold without looking at it first but you should get a pretty good idea. If them buy it from you just for the value of the gold I'm sure you won't see a huge difference from one shop to another but if anyone wants the jewelry as is you might get more from them.

Let us know what you find when calling around. I'd be interested to know if you are finding places are more or less in line with each other or if a better deal is to be had somewhere.

[delcecchi]

There was a news show covered this a while back. It was surprising how much the price paid varied between dealers. They should be able to quote you a price for 14Karat scrap.

There are calculators on line that will convert today's gold price to a price per gram or pennyweight. goldcalc was one (hope it is ok to post)

At today's price for gold, 14k is worth (you won't get paid this, the buyer has to have some margin) about 51.83 per pennyweight or 33.32 per gram based on gold at 1777.

[JohnMickish]

Keep in mind that the guys go off of the scrap gold price, not the raw gold price. Scrap is WAY less.

[titelines]

Thanks everyone. I really don't have much (about 1/2 oz.), so it shouldn't make too much difference if the prices between places aren't too different. I'll call around and see what I can find out. If it seems like every place is pretty equal, I'll probably end up going to the most convenient place. I'll post an update when I'm done.

Thanks again!

[delcecchi]

Thanks everyone. I really don't have much (about 1/2 oz.), so it shouldn't make too much difference if the prices between places aren't too different. I'll call around and see what I can find out. If it seems like every place is pretty equal, I'll probably end up going to the most convenient place. I'll post an update when I'm done.

Thanks again!

Half an ounce is 14 grams. If it is 14k, the value of the raw gold is like 450 bucks. You won't get that but you should get a good chunk of it. Some say anywhere between 70 and 95%. So there is about a $150 range there. Sounds like it is worth a few phone calls.

Think of it as a couple tanks of gas in the boat, or 5 pounds of leeches.

[fivebucks]

A half oz is 10 dwt (pennyweight) or 15.5 oz troy. American Rare Coin's HSOforum says they buy 14 kt at $37.16/dwt so that would amount to $371.60. This is basis gold at $1765 spot. Definately worth some phone calls and just ask what they pay for 14kt per pennyweight (dwt). I know people who sold there and after research that's where they went.

[Pherris]

Check out American Rare Coin also. They post their prices on their HSOforum.

.

+1

I have bought and sold a lot of gold to this company and can say with confidence you will get a fair price and great service.

[titelines]

Just an update: Called a few places yesterday and the prices seemed to be very similar. Ended up going to a spot near our home with two rings. Had a diamond extracted from one of them (I'm keeping it for a ring for my wife), which took some of the total weight away. One ring was 14k and the other was 10k. In all, it was a bit less than 1/2 oz., so I ended up getting just under $300.00.

All in all it was a pretty pleasant experience. Thanks everyone for all the input.

[delcecchi]

A half oz is 10 dwt (pennyweight) or 15.5 oz troy. American Rare Coin's HSOforum says they buy 14 kt at $37.16/dwt so that would amount to $371.60. This is basis gold at $1765 spot. Definately worth some phone calls and just ask what they pay for 14kt per pennyweight (dwt). I know people who sold there and after research that's where they went.

That looks like a pretty good price. I was walking by the place at the mall here in Rochester that buys gold, so I asked the guy standing in the doorway what they were paying for 14K, and he said 20, or maybe it was 22 per dwt.

So it pays to check around.