Avoid Surprise At The Gold Buyer's Office By Remembering These Three Things


If you're selling gold for the first time, the entire process can seem a bit non-intuitive, and that's to be expected. That said, you don't want to be taken by surprise when you're actually in the gold buyer's office. The basic process, where you bring the gold to the buyer, and the buyer evaluates it and then pays you (or refuses the gold and tells you why), is easy to understand. But how the buyer reached their decision is not so easy to follow if you aren't familiar with gold and gold jewelry.

Gold Jewelry Can Combine Solid and Non-solid Gold

Gold jewelry can be solid gold, gold-plated, gold vermeil, or gold-filled. Vermeil and gold-filled have more gold than gold-plated items, but all three are treated essentially the same as far as selling the jewelry is concerned. (Note: Gold-filled is not actually filled with gold; it's a thicker form of plating with a more durable structure.) In other words, those three are not really sellable for gold content. Solid gold is the real stuff, at least in an alloy form that is represented with a karat number, such as 18-karat gold. That's the stuff you want to sell.

However, gold jewelry can combine different types in one piece. You might have a gold-filled pendant on a 10-karat gold chain or a 10-karat charm on a 14-karat chain. You could have a piece that has a clasp with a 14-karat quality stamp on it only to find that the chain attached to the clasp is gold-plated.

What that means for you as a seller is that the buyer could refuse a piece because most of it is gold-filled or gold vermeil, for example. Or, maybe you calculated what you'd get based on the 14-karat mark on the clasp only to receive less because it turned out the chain wasn't 14-karat.

Buyers Do Not Pay You the Exact Price of Gold

Buyers don't give you the exact price of gold when they buy your jewelry or coins. Even if you present a 24-karat Canadian Maple Leaf coin, you don't get the 24-karat price; you get that price minus a percentage. The percentage varies, with refineries offering the most. You can find refineries with a buying unit, but more than likely the gold buyers you see will not be associated with one. They will in turn sell the gold to a refinery themselves and get a higher percentage of the per-ounce price of gold.

The Price of Gold Can Go Down

Don't base your decision to sell gold on today's price unless you're planning to sell today. Gold prices can drop. While the price overall through the years has soared, it's had some ups and downs that meant people didn't get those very high prices because they waited too long to sell. If you have gold you want to sell and think the current price is what you want, don't hesitate if you're sure about selling.

For more information about selling to a gold buyer, contact a local business.

About Me

Shopping For Nice Jewelry

After my wife delivered a healthy, happy baby boy, I realized that it was time to invest in a nice push present. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure where to shop for nice jewelry, since everything I had ever purchased her came from costume jewelry stores. However, I knew that I needed to get her something special. I looked all over for the right gift, and I was able to find an absolutely stunning pair of diamond earrings. This blog is all about shopping for nice jewelry, especially if you are a beginner. You will learn about style choices, diamond clarity, and even jewelry terms - so that you feel like a pro.

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