Are you selling your gold?
With the high gold prices over the last couple years we have seen quite a few businesses get in the gold game. I have seen some companies selling gold and countless ads for companies who buy scrap gold and allow you to sell yours for cash. Just because I was curious about the gold selling process, I did a bit of research.
It turns out that selling gold should probably used as a last resort to get some extra cash, rather than a quick way to get rich. Even with gold prices being high, your gold jewelry will lose a lot of its value when sold to be melted down. Once it is melted all the value of the craftsmanship and design of the piece is lost. The only value is in the metal itself. From the figures I have seen selling your gold jewelry could cost you 75% of its retail value. It may be worth considering reselling the item as jewelry rather than for its melted value.
If you are going to be selling gold jewelry these are a few things to consider…
- Sell pieces that have little resale value (i.e. old class rings, earrings without a mate, and broken pieces).
- An appraisal may be expensive, but it will give you the most accurate information. Check out these sites for appraisers (National Association of Jewelry Appraisers and the American Society of Appraisers)
- Jewelry stores generally offer better prices than pawnshops.
- If you mail your gold to a company for cash, make sure the package will be insured.
Here a quick lesson about gold weights from MSN Money…
- The price of gold based on a troy ounce of 24-karat, or pure, gold. A troy ounce contains 31.1 grams, or 20 pennyweights. (You can find the current price for gold at Kitco or Goldprice.org.)
- Gold less than 24K is discounted proportionately: 18K is 75% pure gold, 14K is 58.3%, and 10K is 41.7% gold. Gold jewelry of 10K or more will have a karat stamp.
Have you sold any gold to be melted? Were you happy with the amount you got paid?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I recently did an interesting thing with my old gold items. Our church had a collection for a prayer chapel we’re trying to raise money to build. It was based on a section of the Bible (which I can’t seem to find right now) where God commands the Isrealites to bring their gold, silver, etc. to build the Temple.
It was a great way to get rid of some items I no longer used (like a ring from an old boyfriend – I’m married now!!!) and support the church at the same time
Recently, one of my small groups had a gold party and everyone donated 10% of their sales to the church. I thought this was a great idea, but I couldn’t attend. I ended up selling on an online site that has a great reputation (after doing a TON of research) and I still donated 10%. I think it is a great time to sell since gold prices are high and everyone needs some money. Our church is really having a tough time right now because everyone’s finances are tight so they aren’t donating enough. I hope our economy turns around soon! I am sure it will since we live in the best country in the world!