Q&A What's the best way to sell gold jewelry

Q. I have lots of gold jewelry I would like to sell. Should I try one of the
companies advertising on TV saying they’ll  buy old or broken gold jewelry?

A. Maybe not. When Consumer Reports Money Adviser compared what one of those companies offered for a gold band a couple of years ago with what a local jeweler and an on-line gold buyer would pay, the TV company paid a much lower price. Instead, take your gold to a reputable jeweler in your area for an appraisal. Note the carat of the metal, and ask the jeweler to tell you the weight in pennyweights or troy ounces. Use this online calculator to figure out the value based on the price of gold that day.Then quickly (because prices fluctuate) call several jewelry or coin stores and ask how much they pay for gold. Aim to get about 85 percent of what you calculated it’s worth.

Comments

[Erik Chin]

I was shopping around trying to sell my gold to a bunch of the online companies, I ended up using Empire Gold buyers since they had their prices online and spoke with me throughout the whole process. I was very satisfied and have referred friends. I decided to go with them since I was ripped off by another gold buying company who claimed to pay top dollar. Do your homework first but take a look at empire gold buyers.

[Daphne]

I used goldlords.com. I got $60.00 for three rings. I wasn't really satisfied with that but some of you seem to have been ripped off worse.

[Sell Gold]

I have used Empire Gold Buyers to sell my gold jewlery and have been very pleased with my payouts. They sent me my check for my old scrap gold and jewlery the same day and paid me very well. I would definitely work with them agaon as they have been in the business for a long time and are not siome fly by night middleman. When seeling your gold, you really need to looks for a company that has their own refinery like Empire does. Just my 2 cents...

[Jason]

I dealt with www.allamericangoldbuyers.com and had a wonderful experience. They sent me a video of evaluation and appraisal process. I knew exactly how they came up with my settlement amount. highly recommended.

[Dan Muller]

I think this is a very good article. I still have had good luck with selling gold to online stores, provided that they have good customer service (you can speak with an actual jeweler/gold buyer and not just a sales rep). I think just like the article says, the best places to buy gold are local jewelers, but there are some gold buying sites that are based on local jewelers buying gold nationally. My preferred place to sell gold is http://www.grandgoldbuyer.com. They are at least based on a local jeweler and pick up the phone when you call. They also seem very concerned about making you a long-time customer. I agree with other posts - stay away from cash4gold...I think goldfellow is an ok site.

[James Murray]

I'm not sure about any of the US places; but here in the UK I shopped around a bit at some local jewelers before using mygoldsold.co.uk to sell some old bracelets. I'd been recommended them by a friend who lives near them; the internet service was very good and quick (I got paid the next day!) and I got a much higher price than I'd been quoted on the high-street near me. Shame to read on here about people being ripped off, mainly in the US I notice?

[sck]

Has anyone www.golddistrict.com?

[k terpening]

I have a $2.5 1907 gold coin with a liberty head on the front. good condition. Where should I sell it and what is it worth?

[chipsndukes]

One of the most difficult things I have done online in a while has been trying to sell two gold rings.
There is so much false and misleading information out there, even masquerading as blogs or "reviews", one that I even temporarily fell for and ordered the packet...

Scott Grissom, above, posted about Augustus Gold, so I checked out their website. They seemed very straightforward, even if they did not promise the moon and the stars. After some more checking, I decided to try them.

Here are links to photos/scans that document the whole transaction:

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x168/chipsndukes/band.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x168/chipsndukes/insignia.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x168/chipsndukes/list.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x168/chipsndukes/report.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x168/chipsndukes/spot.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x168/chipsndukes/invoice.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x168/chipsndukes/check.jpg

The bottom line is that they called me on the phone, made sure I was happy with my offer, and most importantly, THEY DID WHAT THEY SAID! I think this is very important, especially in this particular business.

I wanted to also mention that I considered GoldBuyers, but after being treated like an idiot by their rep. after calling with some basic questions, I decided they didn't deserve my business.

I hope this helps some people find the right company to purchase their gold. My interest is to see honest sellers connected with honest buyers. If Augustus Gold performs with others as they have with me, they deserve to receive our business.

Chipsndukes

[Shan]

Avoid the scam site http://bestcashgold.com. I sent them a 14k gold necklace and they claimed it wasn't real and I have to send them money in order for them to return it. I plan to contact them and demand my jewelry back.

[Kong Moc]

www.USGoldBuyers.com is 100% reliable, safe & secured. I began doing business with them after reading an article on the Wall St. Journal and seeing them on ABC & CNN. What sets them apart from other competitors is that they are honest, reputable & efficient. I shopped around and they offered me the highest prices for my unwanted gold jewelry. Not only that, they were very courteous and nice...they're not scam artists! I support US Gold Buyers and will recommend them to anyone looking to sell their unwanted gold jewelry!

[CHERYL]

HAS ANYONE USED TOP DOLLAR FOR GOLD? IF SO, HOW DID IT GO? i AM LOOKING FOR VALUABLE INPUT.

[Bill]

I just tried a one of the newer but well know websites http://www.mygolddepot.com/ for selling my wife’s old crappy gold and sliver jewlery and let me tell you, what a pleasure! They were very responsive to an E-Mail I send w/ a question, but most important the sent me what I feel was an incredible payment of $322.00. I have used two other sites in the past and there payouts were pathetic, I would highly recommend this company using www.Mygolddepot.com...

Bill White.

[Mark Terry]

Well, I can only tell you my experience with online sites and even the local mall. I saw cash for gold on TV, then a few others, I did research online for the best feedback and kept coming up with http://www.USGoldRefining.com as the easiest to work with, the most fair, and they pay the most since they are a direct refiner.

I went to the mall to check on what I would get for 1/2 an ounce of gold, they told me $100. I tried calling online sites, but they wouldn't give me a price over the phone. I took a leap of faith and sent it to http://www.USGoldRefining. I received a check for $260 about 7 days later.

From experience, I like these guys. I received much more than the mall was going to give me. My advice is to work with a company you feel comfortable with. If you don't care what you are going to get paid, go to the mall or a pawn shop. If you want more money for your items, go to a direct refiner.

[Michael Myers]

What do you do about stones that are in the jewelry? I have a man's ring with a 3 carat diamond in it (fake). Do you take it out before you send in the ring, or do they pay you something for the stone, too?

[Ben]

I would strongly suggest checking out the Silver and Gold Exchange before selling gold or silver to ANYONE. I did a great deal of research, online and offline, and learned a lot about this business. I checked pawn shops, jewelers, "gold parties", hotel "buying events as well as the online buyers, including the "as seen on tv" guys. I found that the Silver and Gold Exchange paid more than anyone else I could find. I liked the fact that they post the prices they pay per gram (beware of the places that quote in pennyweight/DWT) on a live price chart at http://SilverAndGoldExchange.com I also checked out their Better Business Bureau report and found they have never had a single complaint as opposed to HUNDREDS of complaints some other companies have! I recommend them 100%

[Stephanie DiSario]

US Gold Buyers, Inc. are 100% legit! In the beginning, I was real skeptical about selling my gold jewelry because I heard about scams being runned by these online gold buying companies. But I checked around and US Gold Buyers pay the highest by far!

They offered me free shipping via FedEx and when they got my items, they called me back the same day with a price quote and I got a check within a few days!

I'm more than happy and pleased to have done business with USGB; they are safe, honest and fast!

Here's the link: http://www.usgoldbuyers.com/

~Steph

[ipod girl]

I wanted to know if anyone had experience selling the actual jewelry as gold jewelry, not gold for meltdown. How, where, and can you get more money? A lot of the previous comments seem like they are from people connected to the business they are praising.

[donna marie]

I want to Thank you all for the helpful information posted here. Based on your comments, I went to USGoldbuyers.com. I used the calculations on this site as well as others to get an idea of what offer I should get and I definitly got a fair price. Although they did deduct the cost of shipping my package ($24), based on the market price they came just $3 short of my figure, which wasn't bad. I too would recommend USGoldbuyers to anyone. Thanks again.

[Selling Gold]

Now being in the business I have dealt with a lot of online gold buyers and local pawn shops - my 2 cents - shop around for the best payout.

[Brian]

Anyone fool hearty enough to put their gold in an envelop and mail it off, without posted pricing, deserves to get ripped off. Feel free to just send it to me, I will send you a couple cents. There are some sites that seem to offer pricing. You should get over 50%, and you can probably get 85% locally. But the ones that don't site prices are paying 10%. www.augustusgold.com is one I found that posts prices. Let the dealers who don't post prices die a slow death, as users get savvy. And it is obvious those buyers are desperate for their next delivery and posting on this blog. Sinful.

[Kandi]

I too used www.SilverAndGoldExchange.com. They were awesome - I knew exactly what I'd get because their prices are posted on their website - and THEY PAID THE HIGHEST! You can't beat that!! They answered my questions fast, and then called me as soon as they got. Their customer service is amazing too....very, very helpful.

I won't use anybody else - these guys are totally reputable!!

[Terry Daley]

A few months ago I had 2 ounces of gold jewelry to sell, so I decided to order mailer packets from all the different companies. I figured I would take a closer look at each one's packet before making a decision. I ordered six different packets and was not at all surprised that the ones who advertise on TV got their packets to me the soonest. One of them took like 11 days. I had read good things here about Augustus Gold, but they didn't offer a packet, so I filled out their form on the website, but nothing. I found out you had to send it in and get paid back for your postage.
So I messed around for a while and didn't send anything to anybody, and the packets got thrown out with the rest of our junk mail. I went back to the Augustus website and they had changed it to free Fedex shipping with $1000 insurance, so I printed off the shipping label and dropped by Kinko's on my lunch hour the next day. In a few days a guy called me and asked if $558 was OK, and I said, "Absolutely!" and the guy told me they could send it straight to my bank account in 3-5 business days. I think my deal worked out pretty well- I'd skip all those companies sending out packets- it's a waste of time.

Terry D
Bentonville, AR

[Tammy Lockborn]

I found this place in Orlando Florida that will NOT rip you off.
I took all my gold to 4 differnt places in Orlando including jewelry stores , and A Gold 2 Cash Exchange paid the highest .
Very good customer service. They have a web site to check them out.
http://www.AGold2CashExchange.com anyone that would send your stuff in the mail and hope for the best is sure to get ripped off. Just look at all the bad press about the mail-in places.
Thanks Tammy

[zach]

Online gold buyers seem to be the best option right now.. Especially thegoldsuperstore.com. They pay the most and guarantee it. If some other company offered me more, they would offer 110%. They even give you free insured packing slips to send them your old jewelry. Worth it in my opinion with gold being worth so much right now.