The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Reader Recommendations => Topic started by: La Bibliotecaria Feroz on May 18, 2017, 02:46:59 PM
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I have some old jewelry. I would rather have money. I am not sure how to go about this. Factors:
1. I cannot tell gold and sterling apart from cheaper materials. Some things I know are real, others I don't know.
2. Some of what I have is definitely small diamonds (the largest is 1/4 carat). Some might just be crystals. Again, I can't tell.
So, what steps should I take? I'm not sure where to even start. I'm not talking about that much stuff but I don't like having it lying around.
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Go to a reputable jewelry store that offers to buy. Have them test everything for you and tell you exactly what it is (i.e. 14k gold ring with 1/4 carat white diamond with a gold weight). Tell them you'll think about their offer prices. Go research how much similar items are actually selling for on Ebay. I personally sell any gold / silver stuff I find yardsaling on Ebay and have not had any issues myself with scammers, but please be aware that by selling this way you run the risk of a buyer scamming you. I know some people who sell jewelry on Craiglist but I'm too nervous about getting robbed to sell jewelry there.
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I should also note that just because something isn't precious metal doesn't mean its not valuable. If you have any bakelite jewlery (an early form of plastic) its worth a decent amount, as well as older costume jewelry. If you want to learn more you can google more about how to ID valuable costume jewelry.
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I have some old jewelry. I would rather have money. I am not sure how to go about this. Factors:
1. I cannot tell gold and sterling apart from cheaper materials. Some things I know are real, others I don't know.
2. Some of what I have is definitely small diamonds (the largest is 1/4 carat). Some might just be crystals. Again, I can't tell.
So, what steps should I take? I'm not sure where to even start. I'm not talking about that much stuff but I don't like having it lying around.
Same situation. It's inherited from family. I've been selling it on ebay for about 6 months. My best sellers have been gold college jewelry like rings and pins and sterling charm bracelets. Some of the jewelry goes back to the 30's. So far I've had one potential scam but I cancelled the sale rather than take the risk.
You can buy an inexpensive kit < $20 to detect gold and silver but mine is not that easy to use. You can also buy a jewelers head mount magnifier which is more powerful and easier to use that your phone camera's mag, also pretty cheap. I found metal content and jewelers marks that I would have missed otherwise with it.
My collection has been worth much less than I thought, judging by the sold listings of same items on ebay. Mostly dealers buy my old pieces and they figure their markup into a buy decision. Also jewelry is more time-consuming to photograph since presentation is part of the sale and buyer wants to see tiny details. This is more true for me since I don't want to bother with returns, so "no return" is posted on each listing. Once it leaves the house it cannot come back. The buyer can still return for a not-as-described reason but that has not happened to me with jewelry yet.