Gold: Selling Tips
The two most important criteria in determining a piece of gold jewelry’s value are the purity of gold (karat) used in the jewelry and the weight. The price of a piece of jewelry also varies according to its sellability. The more sellable a piece is, the higher the price. That said, different buyers are likely to offer different amounts for your jewelry. California Loan & Jewelry prides itself on paying the most for your gold jewelry, often 30 percent more than competitors. And our experienced staff will walk you through the appraisal process so that you can understand exactly what you have and what it’s worth.
Avoid Fly-By-Night Gold Buyers
Go to a buyer with a permanent storefront. Someone who’s been at the same location for a while is much more likely to give you a better price and treat you with the kind of customer service you expect and deserve. The business philosophy at California Loan & Jewelry has been the same for over 100 years: treat people well and with integrity and they’ll keep coming back.
Shop Around
The best way to ensure you’re getting the most money for your gold is to visit several buyers in order to get at least two or three offers from which to choose.
Getting multiple offers is especially important if you’re thinking about selling to one of those traveling gold buyers who are only in town for a few days. Don’t be fooled by their big ads claiming that they pay the highest prices. They don’t hesitate to make outrageous claims, knowing they will be miles away in the next town before you realize you’ve been underpaid.
Another way to protect yourself is to make sure the potential buyer is licensed by the state of California to buy gold. Conversely, by law, they must ask you (the seller) for some form of government-issued identification. If they don’t, you’ll probably want to take your business elsewhere. You should also check with the Better Business Bureau to check the buyers’ rating and see if there are complaints against them.
Quality Matters
Before selling your jewelry, it’s important to know the karat value of the gold. Pure gold is too soft to be used in jewelry so it’s combined with other metals to create durability and enhance the color. Most gold in this country in 10, 14, 18 or 22 karat. The higher the karat value the more the jewelry is worth because there is simply more pure gold in it.
That’s why it’s important to never let jewelry of different karat values be weighed together. Buyers will sometimes weigh all of your jewelry together and offer you a price based on the lowest karat value, paying you less than the merchandise is really worth.
Weighing The Gold
The weight of gold also helps determine its value. If you’re going to weigh the gold yourself, keep in mind that gold is weighed using a different measurement standard. Most jewelers measure gold in grams, but some use a unit of measure called pennyweights. One pennyweight equals 1.555 grams. A Troy ounce, also used by jewelers and buyers, contains 31.1 grams or 20 pennyweights.
Before selling, find out how much your gold weighs. And before weighing your jewelry, be sure to separate the different karat values rather than weighing it all at once. If you don’t have an appropriate scale, take the gold to a professional jeweler to be weighed before collecting several offers.