Author Topic: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?  (Read 8265 times)

FerrumB5

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Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« on: March 02, 2016, 06:36:20 AM »
Hi Folks,
Need to sell 22k gold chain (4.28 grams) + may be 14k gold ring (small). Where to go for most profit? Big stores (Kay, Zales), smaller jewelry stores, those places that buy gold etc, or may be craigslist or even ebay?
Thanks!

mozar

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2016, 07:21:53 AM »
Do you have any Korean friends?  A former Korean friend of mine was able to get a lot more money for her mothers gold by going to a Korean place. She said that Koreans have a higher regard for gold. Ymmv.

MillenialMustache

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2016, 02:18:16 PM »
The "most money" would likely be Ebay, but unless you sell a lot on Ebay and are very familiar with it (I sell 40+ items a month and would not sell gold personally) I would not recommend selling something valuable like that. If you have a problem with the buyer or they claim it is fake, you may be out your money.

For gold, I would recommend a local store that regularly buys items. Take it to a couple of different places. I recently had a diamond ring and the first place offered me $400, the second place happened to offer $450, and when the third place asked what I wanted, I said $500 and they gave it to me. Good luck!

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2016, 02:41:20 PM »
A gold buyer will likely low ball you.

Melt value for your necklace is ~$150. Try to get as close to that as possible.

FerrumB5

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2016, 02:53:11 PM »
Thanks to all. Will try small local stores first.

lbmustache

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2016, 05:15:08 PM »
Do you have any Korean friends?  A former Korean friend of mine was able to get a lot more money for her mothers gold by going to a Korean place. She said that Koreans have a higher regard for gold. Ymmv.

Agree, or Indian places. They usually value 22k/24k gold moreso than other places.

frugaliknowit

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2016, 11:42:08 AM »
Try a few pawn shops.  Some are more interested in buying than others.  This will be reflected in the offer they give you.

Goldielocks

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2016, 03:19:18 PM »
Try a few pawn shops.  Some are more interested in buying than others.  This will be reflected in the offer they give you.
Pawnshops near me quoted a price about 1/2 what the gold smiths would provide as melt down value.  YMMV

FerrumB5

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2016, 03:46:30 PM »
Try a few pawn shops.  Some are more interested in buying than others.  This will be reflected in the offer they give you.
Pawnshops near me quoted a price about 1/2 what the gold smiths would provide as melt down value.  YMMV
1/2 ??? that is BS

Goldielocks

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2016, 06:08:33 PM »
Try a few pawn shops.  Some are more interested in buying than others.  This will be reflected in the offer they give you.
Pawnshops near me quoted a price about 1/2 what the gold smiths would provide as melt down value.  YMMV
1/2 ??? that is BS
Well, that is why I did not sell at the pawnshop, and almost went back to the gold smith's, then decided to hold it for a while longer.
The pawnshop said they did not care about the value of the gold, because they would only sell it as jewelry, and would only get a couple of hundred dollars for it as such (and the offer to me was much less).   

Even back then I had a good BS sniffer and thought that either they lie, or more likely this person knows nothing / has very poor business sense.    I am stubborn about only doing business with people that know the basics of their businesses.

Dicey

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #10 on: March 04, 2016, 09:59:12 PM »
I am stubborn about only doing business with people that know the basics of their businesses.
Hmmm, and how exactly do you determine which people know the basics of their business?

JAYSLOL

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #11 on: March 04, 2016, 11:12:52 PM »
If it's really nice, some auction houses can sell jewelry or other gold and silver items for more than spot price.  You have to pay a commission %, but the place I deal with only charges me commission on what nice items sell for above spot.  If you can find a place willing to do that it's the way I would go

Elle 8

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #12 on: March 05, 2016, 05:10:49 AM »
Full disclosure - I am not a jeweler or expert; just someone who has bought and sold some gold throughout the years.  In my experience, jewelry stores, gold buyers, etc will only pay 70% of melt, max, and probably closer to 50-60%.  To get more than that you'd need to sell directly to someone interested in the piece for personal use (eBay).  The middleman has to get their cut!  But melt (or a little less) is a good starting place to negotiate, and it will let them know you know what you're talking about so they won't try to screw you too bad.

Here is the calculation:

Current gold price (by ounce) times gold content (ie: 22K) divided by 24.  This gives you the melt value for an ounce of gold at the gold content you're dealing with (ie: 22K, 14K).  Then divide by 31.  This gives you the price per gram, then multiply by the gram weight of the piece.

Today gold is at $1259 an ounce so.....  1259*22/24 = $1154.08 (value of an ounce of 22K gold).  1154.08/31 = 37.23 (value of a gram of 22k gold).  $37.23 * 4.28 (weight of your piece) = $159.34 (today's gold melt value of your piece).  159.34 * .7 = 111.54.  So $111 would be what I would aim for if using a gold buying place, which is easier than finding a direct buyer.  Depending on how quickly I wanted to do this, I may accept as low as $80 (50% of melt).  It seems some of these places have strict calculations they use and won't go higher than, say, 50-60%.  Someone in their own business would have a little more leeway.

Here is an example of a 14K ring of 5 grams.  1259*14/24 = 734.42  734.42/31 = 23.69  23.69*5gr = 118.45 melt.  So about $60 (50% of melt) to $83 (70% of melt) is what I would expect to be offered for it.

Also, be aware, some places deal in pennyweight versus grams.  A pennyweight is 1.555 grams.  So your piece is 2.75 pennyweights.  If they talk about pennyweight, don't let it throw you.  The final dollars should come out the same.  I just go with my gram calculations and don't try to convert to pennyweight, so confusing!

Anyone in the business, or anyone who has consistently been able to get more than 70% (other than eBay), I'd love to hear about it.

Good luck!

BrickByBrick

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #13 on: March 05, 2016, 07:29:24 AM »
As others have said I personally have found to get the most out of it you have to connect directly with the end-buyer, so ebay/craigslist/classifieds/etc.  The problem, in my opinion, is that unless you have the time to learn about grading and testing gold jewelry, or you already have a background in it, it's quite a bit of work.  In the case of ebay, I found it to be pretty difficult to accurately describe every detail of a piece and any scratches/blemishes it may have.  The buyer may solely rely on pictures and not actually pay attention to the description.  Returns can be high but YMMV.  Constantly shipping jewelry like that can get expensive if you want to make sure it's properly insured, since you would need to buy additional insurance when shipping USPS Priority.

I ultimately found it a lot less work and stressful to just sell it to jewelers.  I talked to a few in my area and found one who was brutally honest about how the second hand jewelry market worked.  It was pretty eye-opening.  He told me the range of percentages he would give me for different types of jewelry/metals/stones.  He was AGS certified, which is like a national "ethics" board governing jeweler behavior.  I don't know if that's why he was very open about the process or if AGS truly means anything at all.

Anyway, it worked out to about 60-70% of melt value and a decent (though I don't recall at the moment the %) return on the diamonds/stones (usually low-end diamonds).  Certainly not the best - but I found it worthwhile since it no longer took up much of my time.

Goldielocks

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Re: Where to sell 22k gold chain - most profit?
« Reply #14 on: March 23, 2016, 10:36:08 PM »
I am stubborn about only doing business with people that know the basics of their businesses.
Hmmm, and how exactly do you determine which people know the basics of their business?

Ask an intermediate / basic question of the person in front of you, and when the answer is "just because"., "it's a rule"....  or something just wrong, well, then you know.  There are too many great small businesses with hard working owners that train their staff for me to spend my money at one that doesn't even try.