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SELLING YOUR GOLD JEWELLERY – HELPFUL HINTS

Gold is at its highest price ever with prices over £600 ($1000) per troy ounce (31.1grams)  for most of 2009. This is almost double what it was five years ago.

If you have unwanted or broken gold jewellery you no longer wear this might be a good time to sell it.

WHERE CAN I SELL MY GOLD?
There are thousands of companies around the UK ready to buy, many of whom are advertising heavily. How do you choose where to sell?

Most of these companies are legitimate and will give you a fair price, but it is worth shopping around to get the best deal. You can do this by physically taking your jewellery to a number of outlets to see what they will offer, or by checking daily prices by telephone or online. An internet search engine will bring up hundreds of thousands of options and many sites clearly state the price they are paying today online.

COMPARING PRICES
The companies buying “scrap” gold are only interested in the GOLD content of your jewellery. 
Gold jewellery is made from an alloy  - a combination of gold and other much less expensive metals such as copper and zinc.  If your jewellery was bought in the UK it should have a hallmark unless it is very lightweight (under 1 gram for gold).  The hallmark guarantees the precious metal content of the item which is likely to be either 37.5% gold – if its 9ct, or 75% pure gold if its 18ct.  Those offering to buy gold will therefore offer a much higher price per gram for 18ct gold than for 9ct gold. 

To be sure you get the best price, check for the hallmark before you sell so you know what you are selling.
For more information about hallmarks and how to identify them click here.

Make sure you know the approximate weight of your jewellery because the amount of money you are offered is based on its weight, as well as the fineness or purity of the precious metal.

Price will vary from one buyer to another as they are offering different services and will therefore have different costs.
These costs may include free postage and free return if you are not satisfied with the price offered, high quality marketing materials to explain the service or luxurious retail premises and highly trained staff in prime locations.  Buyers will also incur transport, insurance, and other costs before they can sell the gold on to get their money back. And of course they are in business to make a profit!

OTHER OPTIONS
If you have pieces of jewellery with big gemstones, or special provenance such as an antique “designer” branded piece which is currently popular in the antiques trade you may be able to obtain a better price by selling the item second hand.  Visit your local pawnbroker, second hand jeweller or auction house and see what they will offer you. Again check out what you are selling as best you can before you go and don’t be embarrassed to walk away, or give yourself more time to think about an offer.
Remember they will have the cost of displaying, insuring and selling the piece and again they want to make a profit when they resell it so keep your expectations realistic.

INSURANCE VALUATIONS
Please note that if you have recently had your jewellery valued for insurance purposes by a company such as SafeGuard or your local registered valuer, this valuation has no bearing on what you can expect to SELL your jewellery for. Most jewellery valuations are based on average retail replacement price and give the price you could expect to pay to replace an item via a regular retail outlet if it is lost or stolen. This will inevitably be significantly higher than what you can expect to sell for, unless you sell to a private individual.

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