Evaluating and Selling Jewelry

So Aunt Petunia has just kicked the bucket, and she left you a small treasure-trove of

shiny objects that you think are gold, diamonds, and priceless heirlooms. The question

is, how can you tell what’s profitable and what isn’t worth the trouble? Well here we go

with a primer on gold, silver, platinum, and diamonds, how to identify them, and what

you can get for them.

I’ve been working in the pawn broking industry for a bit now, and as part of my everyday

job I have to evaluate and price jewelry. With that in mind, I’ll be giving you an idea of

what you can expect from pawn shops, as well as reasonable charges when selling

privately.

(You’ll also learn how much you may have gotten ripped off when you bought your

girlfriend that “gold” necklace last Christmas.)

Precious Metals: What they’re worth to the world

The mainstay of the jewelry industry is precious metals: gold, silver, and platinum being

the most popular. All have their own benefits and all have their respective drawbacks.

Before we start, you should know that many websites, sellers, and buyers price metals

by the Troy Ounce, and I’ll be referring to value by the gram, since most jewelry isn’t

going to weigh more than a few grams. For ease of reference: 1 Troy Ounce = 31.109

grams.

Silver

Silver is a beautiful metal, strong for settings and full pieces alike, and is relatively

cheap compared to the other metals. A quick way of identifying silver is to look along the

inside of a ring, or along the clasp/end of a necklace or bracelet. What you’re looking for

is a little number like “.925″ or “.999.” This is the percentage of silver versus other

metals that are in your item. Sterling silver, one of the most common types, is made up

of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper.

Current prices for silver are at about $0.18 per gram. I would expect to sell a weighty

silver chain necklace (about 30 grams) for about $10 if you’re being fair. Since we know

that stores aren’t fair, you can usually get away with selling them for about 2.5 to 3 times

that amount. As a pawn broker I tend to avoid buying silver at all, mainly because I can’t

sell it as readily, and also because I can’t give the customer enough money to make it

worth their while.

Gold

Ah yes, gold. Traditional or white, gold is the most common and popular of the precious

metals for most jewelry. Gold is weighed and valued by a system of karats, with 24

karats being pure gold, and is abbreviated after the value number as “K.” Most people

know that you can buy jewelry in 10K, 14K, 18K, and sometimes the full 24K (though

this is rare).

Gold is a very soft metal, so other metals are added into any jewelry of less than 24K,

and typical alloys include zinc, silver, and copper. When you’re trying to identify how

much gold you’ve got in a piece, you’re going to follow the same guidelines as when

checking silver, only this time you’re looking for a 10K, 14K, or similar on the item. If you

see certain letters after this value, such as EP, GEP, or P, it means that the item is gold

plated and not solid.

Currently gold is at a high and valued at about $24 per gram, with predictions of rising

again in the future. The price assumes you have a 24K piece though, so a little math is

required to find the value of your ring/necklace/etc. To find the market value of your item,

use the following equation:

Market Value = (karats / 24) x ($24) x (weight in grams)

In this case, a 10K gold ring weighing 3.0 grams would be worth: (10/24) x ($24) x (3.0)

= $29.95. So for that ring you’d be looking at market value of about thirty bucks.

Platinum

Platinum is an incredibly strong metal, very hard to work, but very good for jewelry that’s

going to be put to the test. It’s often used as the setting in gold and silver jewelry to hold

diamonds and other valuable stones. The price of platinum fluctuates often for a few

reasons: it’s hard to work, hard to find, and Russia.

Wait. Russia? Yep, the good old Russians. Since the largest producer of platinum in

the world is the Russian Federation, even the slightest rumors about fluctuating prices

over there will send our prices into spirals up or down over here. And no one can seem

to get them to let us in on their market information, so we’re stuck in half a guessing

game.

You can identify this precious metal by again looking on the inside of your ring, or near

the clasps of your necklace/bracelets. What we’re looking for this time is a little more

complicated. Since Platinum can be made up of a few different metals from the

platinum group, these pieces are going to be marked with a number, followed by an

abbreviation for platinum such as Pt or Plat, then either followed by the abbreviation for

another group metal, or a number and the abbreviation. This can continue up to three or

four times depending on how many different platinum group metals are in your item.

For instance, if you have a ring that is 85% platinum and 15% iridium, then you could

see any of these markings:

850 Pt 150 Ir

85 Plat Irid

850 Plat Irid

Or really any combination of the above to indicate how much platinum is in the

ring/bracelet/whatever. Right now, as long as the item is at least 56% platinum it is

usually considered good, and sometimes as low as 50% is acceptable.

The current prices for platinum are at about $46-47 per gram. Yeah, it’s a whole lot of

cash for this quality metal. Expect to be charged out the butt to buy anything made

entirely or partially of platinum, and expect to be able to charge quite a bit in turn. A solid

women’s ring (3 grams avg.) could net you up to $150 at cost, 3 to 4 times that at profit

sale.

Diamonds

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and the arch enemy of a guys wallet. There are so

many different cuts and designs that this rare stone may come in that it would take

another article in itself to go into sufficient details for identification and accurate pricing.

Here are a few quick guidelines, though, on what you can expect to sell and buy them

for.

In a pawn shop you’re not going to get much for a diamond. I tend to buy them by a

point, where one point is equal to .01 carats, and I only give $1-2 per point. This is a

pretty common way of buying them and you’ll usually get your item priced based on the

diamond quality and the precious metal content. So if you have a 3.0 gram 14K ring with

a 1 carat diamond in the middle, you’re looking at about (14/24) x ($24) x (3.0) = $42,

plus $100 in points for a total of about $142. Expect a pawn shop to sell that same ring

for about 4-5 times that much.

The easiest way to identify a diamond is to use a diamond tester, which is like a small

electrode that you push onto the diamond surface. It reads green for diamond or orange

for not, and it makes an annoying beep if you touch metal. I wouldn’t recommend getting

one though, unless you’re going to be doing some frequent buying, selling, and testing,

because this little baby can run you $90 or more. For a one time batch of selling, try

calling local pawn shops and jewelers and ask if they can do some identification for

you. Usually it’s free, but you might have to shell out a few dollars to get a lot of stuff

tested at once.

Selling Your Jewelry: A few thoughts

There are a few places you can find to sell your jewelry, and you’re going to find different

results from each one.

Jewelers and Gold Buyers

There are shops out there that specialize in buying and recasting fold jewelry. Check

your local yellow pages or the internet for jewelers, gold sellers/buyers, or precious

metal wholesalers. Also check around your local jewelry shops and pawn shops to see

if they have contact information for someone who buys gold and other metals at market

value. My store, for instance, has someone who buys all our scrap gold once per

month, and we’ve managed over $3000 in one trip!

The trick here is to make contact and see what happens. It’ll take some searching, but

there is usually someone in the area willing to buy your gold. Be prepared to travel and

meet the potential buyer somewhere, and it wouldn’t hurt to have measurements of

weight for all your items beforehand. Or take a small scale, whichever. You’ll have to

work out the details with your buyer.

Online Selling

Online marketplaces such as eBay usually hold the best chances of selling your pieces

at a decent price because so many buyers have access to your listings. The trick to

finding a buyer and selling your goods for a decent price online is in writing the

advertisement. A few tips:

Include clear pictures

use different angles to display the whole item

Mark items clearly if they are in a collage

Be specific in your ads, with as much concise detail as possible

For precious metals always include weight, color, karats, and composition (platinum,

silver).

include sizes for rings and lengths for bracelets/necklaces

Private Selling

Private selling through classified ads in your local paper, Craig’s List for your state, or

local publications can allow you to charge a little more for the right buyer, but usually

these ads cost money to place.

The biggest issue you’ll run into using this method is usually length of the ad, except on

Craig’s List. You’ll need to be very short and to the point to save space and money, and

always assume your reader is too lazy to read illustrious and artistic details about the

item. A good ad for a ring may read:

LYG ring, 14K, one .5 carat dia in center; size 5; $100 obo.

That 46 character ad could run you $0.46 to $2, but it’s well worth it for the $100 sale at

the end.

Don’t overlook friends and family either when you’re selling. There may be a cousin or

old roommate out there that could really use a gold necklace, diamond ring, or silver

bracelet for the upcoming holidays, and buying from you would probably be cheaper

than from a store (unless you’re that kind of friend). As a rule, try not to price gouge

anyone you’ll have to spend holidays with.

Pawn Shops

Now I work at a pawn shop and far be it from me to tell you not to use them. They

provide immediate cash for almost any item and they’re relatively easy to find. The thing

you need to remember however, is pawn shops sell items very cheap, and in order to

do that they have to buy them very cheap as well. If you see a ring exactly like yours

going for $100 in the case, expect to only get $15-20 for it when you sell it.

If you’re okay with selling that cheap, which usually results from getting the item for free,

then go ahead and use your local pawn brokers. A good shop will tell you up front if they

can’t give you as much as you want, and many will recommend you sell using one of

the methods above instead. Unscrupulous brokers (and there are a few!), will lie and

tell you the item isn’t worth anything, then turn around and sell it for a lot more than they

paid for it. A good rule of thumb is this: if the place is uncomfortable and the broker

gives you the shudders, go somewhere else. Trust your gut, it’s a good judge of

character.

Costume Jewelry

The main issue you’re going to run into with costume jewelry is this: it’s fake. Very fake.

Fake, fake, fake, fake, fake. Instead of gold or silver you’re going to have steel,

aluminum, nickel, tin, or any other cheap colored substitute. Diamonds will be cubic

zirconias and other precious stones will be colored glass. It’s going to be impossible to

make a great profit off costume jewelry unless you’re unethical and willing to lie, but I’m

not about to tell you how to do that!

Sell the costume jewelry in sets and make sure it’s clear that’s what you’re selling.

Never market costume pieces as real, as it can result in angry customers and some

sites/papers will ban you from advertising if you get enough fraud complaints (usually

only one or two). A good time to sell costume jewelry is around Halloween, and try

putting together nice costumes to sell as a set. Use that fake, but pretty, tiara to set off a

duchess or little girl’s princess costume. If you have some sewing skills this can be a

great way to make extra cash around September and October.

The main point is this: don’t lie to sell your fake stuff. Make it worth buying instead!

Closing Thoughts

I’ve gone over how to identify and sell the most common precious metals and

diamonds, and I hope you learned something valuable from reading about it. I’ll leave

you with a few thoughts as you go out into the world a little more sell-saavy.

First, precious metals fluctuate and their values rise and fall often. Take this into

account and always check market prices before selling or buying.

Second, there are many options for getting rid of your old jewelry, but not every method

works for every person. Experiment, talk to people, and research your options before

jumping into a decision.

I hope you enjoyed this article and found it useful. If you have any questions or requests

for other articles, please feel free to send them my way!

Source by Chris Aitken

Evaluating and Selling Jewelry