How to Sell Your Old Gold Jewelry

In these tough economic times people are turning to more and more ways to bring in extra cash. Many people are discovering that they have an asset that they have overlooked and it's typically sitting in a box on top of your dresser. Old or damaged gold jewelry is suddenly a viable way to bring in some money.

Gold is at an almost record price right now which makes even the lightest of your old jewelry pieces valuable. But just how valuable and who is going to buy it. Hopefully we can explain a few steps that will allow you to make an informed and fair sale should you decide to sell your gold.

First inventory just what you have. Anything with gold content has value. If your jewelry has stones embedded in it see if you can get a jeweler to remove them as gold dealers are only going to give you a price on the gold content not the jewels. In fact in some pieces the stones may be worth more than the gold. You can take the loose stones to a jeweler and see if they have an interest buying them.

If you have a fair amount of gold jewelry you want to sell, get an appraisal first. You can't simply weigh the pieces and convert to carats as each piece is probably made up of a different gold content. 14 carat gold is the most popular for rings and other pieces because it is more durable than say 18 carat. It's more durable because it has more strengthening alloys in it consequently it has less gold content than an 18 carat piece.

Once you have an idea of what your gold is worth you can try two avenues to sell it. Convenience wise it's easier to take it to a jeweler but he or she will not be able to offer as much as a broker or a scrap shop. Pawn shops fall in the same category as the retail jeweler and perhaps will offer even less for your gold.

If you check the yellow pages or do an internet search you may find a scrap dealer or even a refiner in your area. This is where you are going to get the best deal because they are buying the gold content not the item's value as a piece of jewelry. Scrap buyers sell to refiners so if you can find a refiner that's where you should start.

Having the appraisal before hand makes negotiating the price significantly easier. The cost of that appraisal will be more than made up for in the higher purchase price you will receive for your gold jewelry.