How to Sell Your Jewelry for Cash
Jewelry is a fairly common holiday gift, but as with other types of gifts, it isn’t necessarily something you want to keep forever. You may also need a little extra money right now, and digging through your jewelry box is a good place to start looking for things to sell. But should you go to a gold dealer or a pawnshop? How do you know if you provided a good price or make sure you don’t get robbed? Here’s how to get the best prices for your shiny products.
Manage your expectations
Before you get too carried away with raking in money, it is very important to justify your expectations with reality . You may have a heirloom diamond necklace that belongs to your eccentric great-aunt Mimsi, but for everyone you sell to, it’s just a necklace (and that diamond might not even be real). As Howard Rubin of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers explains to the LA Times, it is very rare for a used piece to sell for a price close to its purchase price.
Rubin also notes that the piece will not sell even close to the assessed value for insurance purposes. These estimates are based on the retail cost of a replacement product and represent the profit to the manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer. The actual amount you receive for your jewelry will depend on many different factors, including beauty, rarity, where you bought it, and the materials the item is made from. Ruby warns that you should never try to sell jewelry that you really like, unless you are desperate; the profit you will get will be minimal and it will be much more expensive to replace it later. Most people who want to buy your used jewelry are trying to make a profit themselves, so keep that in mind.
Rate your work
To determine the approximate cost of your piece, you need to look at it objectively. For example, Anne and Michael J. Gable, professional jewelry shoppers at Angie’s List blog, suggest that you look at your product as if it were a used car:
… when you are evaluating a used car, you need to know the make, model, year and mileage. It’s the same with a diamond — you need to know the carat weight, color, clarity, and cut to determine its value.
You can get a feel for how much your item might be worth by looking for similar items in completed eBay auctions or by looking at prices for other people’s used jewelry with similar specifications. Add a discount to what you see as your buyer will be looking to make a profit.
However, you may be uncomfortable trying to do this yourself, so it is recommended that you consult a qualified appraiser . However, if you’re not trying to sell royal jewels, Neil Beaty, owner of the American Gem Registry, believes that you don’t have to pay a professional. Deborah L. Jacobs of Forbes explains :
If you are low on funds and the diamond is probably worth less than $ 2,000, have a free diamond appraisal done by a professional diamond buyer or even a pawnshop. Visit two or three stores for different opinions; in the end, you will have a clear idea of the characteristics and condition of your stone.
According to Beaty, an appraisal is the ideal time to ask questions about selling your product in different markets and under specific circumstances. A good appraiser knows the current market trends and can give you an idea of how much money you will actually get from your merchandise, so ask as many questions as possible. If you are persistent with them, they may well match you and give you a rough estimate that you can keep in mind. You can easily find qualified appraisers on the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers website . Once you find a few closest to you, be sure to double check their reviews online and see how they feel about the Better Business Bureau so you know you are not falling for the trap.
Prepare it for sale
Depending on where you sell it, restoring the jewelry can be critical when it comes to getting a decent price. Sometimes all a musty old relic needs is a little scrubbing to make it sparkle again. Good Housekeeping’s Christina Peterson recommends using a little lukewarm water and dish soap to bring back the shine. Use a soft bristled toothbrush to gently clean the item (a hard toothbrush can scratch gold and some gems), then air dry. If an item needs a little more cleaning power, you can also make a homemade jewelry cleaner with salt, baking soda, and dish soap. In some cases, a decent bath with denture cleaner , vodka, or some Windex can help. (Bonus tip: if you ever get a ring stuck on your finger, the little Windex will take care of that too.)
However, if you do not feel comfortable cleaning the product yourself, Arden’s Jewelers in Sacramento, California recommends that you seek professional help:
Some jewelry stores even take it away for free. Warning: Improper cleaning can damage or even destroy jewelry. If you don’t know how to clean a jewelry or gem, let the professionals do it … Never clean gold or gemstones with chlorine. Ammonia-based cleaners are used in the jewelry industry, but they can damage some gemstones. Try to avoid them. The best cleaning advice is to know for sure which cleaning products are best for your jewelry and do it carefully.
If your item is in need of repair, Arden’s says it’s best if you leave it to the professionals as well. You can damage the item even more if you don’t know what you are doing, which will greatly affect its value. If you just want this item to be usable again for personal use, by all means, go crazy. However, if you are determined to sell it, let a professional take a look first.
Sell to a jeweler or pawnshop
While you are trying to get an estimate of your product from jewelers and pawnshops, it is worth considering the suggestions they can make to you. Local jewelers are more likely to offer you the best price because they will see you as a potential buyer, Rubin said. Reciprocity is a powerful force. Of course, if they don’t usually buy old jewelry, they may just offer you store credit, which may or may not be ideal for you.
Alternatively, Beaty suggests that jewelers try to sell your jewelry to you. However, this has its ups and downs:
You can get a better price than selling to an industry insider because the diamond will be sold to the public, but the dealer will take a 25-40% commission. If you choose this option, never miss the opportunity to get reliable dealer recommendations …
Moneylenders can be insane when it comes to making a pretty decent deal. They are unlikely to give you anything close to what you get in jewelry stores or online, but they can work as a last resort if you are well versed in these establishments . Pawnshops have one advantage over all other options – this is speed. If you need money very quickly, this is your best bet.
Sell for scrap
Selling jewelry for scrap price is another way to make quick money. This means that you only sell it for the cost of the materials it is made of, and it will most likely be disassembled and melted down into ingots later on. It is also the easiest way to sell your jewelry. All you have to do is show up at the gold shop with the items or mail them in, and they will usually make you an offer right away. Bob Frick of Kiplinger gives a quick rundown of how much profit you can see depending on the current market conditions:
When you sell gold coins or bars, you should expect to receive between 90% and 95% of the current market value. But with gold jewelry, you will probably only get 70% to 80% of the cost of smelting. The difference reflects the dealer’s profit plus the cost of smelting and refining your gold and converting it into new gold jewelry or bullion.
However, before you do this, you need to know what type of waste you are working with. Steve Gillman of The Penny Hoarder invites you to bring your gold and silver items to your local coin store or metal buyer just for a first estimate. Whether you decide to actually sell there or not, they will be willing to do an appraisal because they want to buy your stuff. But even if they make you an offer, you can still look at the stores to see which store will offer you the best deal. Gillman notes that you can do the same with online shoppers, but if you turn down their initial offer, the postage to send your items back is your responsibility.
If you are looking to determine the value of your scrap yourself, the American Gem Society offers a few simple steps to help you do just that:
- Check out today’s spot value in the newspaper or on the Internet. This will be quoted in dollars per ounce.
- Determine the weight of the item. Both dwt and grams are used in trading. Convert spot gold to deadweight or gram.
- 20 dwt = 31 grams = 1 troy ounce
- Rate the cleanliness of the item. 14 carat (14 carat) gold is pure 0.585 gold. 18K = 0.750 or 75% So if you have 10dwt of 14K gold at $ 435 an ounce:
- 10dwt X.585 X $ 21.75 = $ 127.23
- Now about the variable part. The purchaser will only pay a percentage of this amount due to processing costs and overheads associated with collecting enough gold for sale at the refinery. They also speculate on the future value of gold, which may be less than today’s value. Expect to be offered less than 50%.
You can also check the gold price on the goldprice.org website and get a decent estimate of how many bars are actually in your gold or silver jewelry using the gold bar melt cost calculator . With the sale of individual diamonds, things get much more complicated. Forbes’ Deborah Jacobs explains :
… selling a diamond can be a big headache. Unlike gold, which has a quantifiable smelting value, the resale prices of rough diamonds do not have a single objective measure, making it easy for inexperienced sellers to get confused and confused.
It is not advisable to sell a loose diamond without knowing more about it. As you might expect, the quick and easy method rarely gives you the best price. If you have time, you are probably better off going through several evaluations and trying to sell your jewelry as real jewelry and not as scrap metal.
Sell online
Selling jewelry online is a lot like selling anything else , but you need to take some precautions. If you manage to sell your item at auction or through advertising, the transaction can be complicated. Selling jewelry on eBay can be effective, especially if you already have a good reputation as a seller. However, after the sale, there is a period during which both the buyer and the seller must trust each other and hope that the rest of the transaction continues and no one tries to make a quick transaction. If you are selling on a classified advertising site such as Craigslist or the Facebook Marketplace, you will have to meet with the buyer in person, which comes with certain risks.
For the safest route for both you and your jewelry, services such as “ I do now, I don’t ” make it easy. You put your jewelry up for auction, as you would normally at auctions like eBay (most often diamond engagement rings that are not stuck). Once you find a buyer, both you and the buyer send everything to the staff at I Do Now I Don’t. They make sure everything is in order (your item is legitimate, they paid in full, etc.) and then they ship things to where they belong so they don’t cheat anyone. However, if you do decide to sell online, it is still recommended that you go through several evaluations so that you know the reasonable price at which you can sell it.
This story was originally published in November 2015 and updated on December 16, 2020 to add additional context and a new header image, and to align content with the current style of Lifehacker.