Sunday, September 18, 2011

Selling Your Gold Jewelry -- Calculate the Value Before You Sell


Scrap gold or old jewelry may help you make it through "back to school." You only have one chance to sell your gold items, so make sure you have the knowledge to make a wise sale.

Do not sell to the companies that take a large advertisement in the local paper and set up in the motel. They won't be there next week when you realize you didn't get a good deal. Don't sell to companies that ask you to mail your gold to them without payment. In fact, don't sell to anyone until you have done your research.

Go to Kitco.com to check the price of gold for the day. The price you see is for a Troy ounce. A Troy ounce is 31.1 grams of gold, and you probably won't have a Troy ounce. A small piece of jewelry usually weighs about 3 grams.

Determine the karat or percentage of your gold. Look on the inside of rings or bracelets with a strong magnifier or a loupe to see the gold marks or markings. Pure gold is 24k, but is too soft for jewelry. 18k gold is .750 and 14k gold is .583. 10k gold is .417. Group your gold items by karat.

If you do not have an accurate gram scale, take your jewelry to a pawn shop and ask them how much they will give you for it. The first thing they do is weigh the items. Write down the weight in grams, and the offer. Try another pawn shop if you want, but do not sell your gold yet.

Calculate the actual value of your items. If you have 3.2 grams of gold that is 24k, and gold is $1,820 an ounce, the actual value is $187.26.

Consider this: 31.1 grams equal an ounce of gold, so at $1,820 an ounce a gram of 24k gold is $58.52, but

58.52 x .583 = 34.12 x 3.2 = 109.17.

If you have 3.2 grams of 14k gold, with the value of gold at $1,820 an ounce, your gold is valued at $109.17.

$58.52 a gram x .417 or 10k = $24.40 x 3.2 grams = $78.08

3.2 grams of 10k gold is $78.08 when gold is $1,820 an ounce.

You will not receive full price for your gold, but you can expect to receive 75 percent of actual value. Multiply the price by .75 to determine what you can expect to receive. $78.08 x .75 is $58.56.

Calculate 3.2 grams of 18k gold at $1,820 an ounce. At this price, a gram of gold is still the same or $58.52 a gram. 18k gold is .750 or $43.89 a gram x 3.2 or $140.45. You should receive about 75 percent of full price or $105.34.

Once you know the value of your gold, shop around and sell it locally if you can. Do not give in to sales tactics, and sell to the shop that pays cash on the spot. If you have jewelry with stones, make certain to find out if the stones are valuable before you sell the jewelry for scrap gold value.

Be a smart consumer by educating yourself about your gold jewelry before you sell it.

Our "Retirement Living Guide for Senior Citizens" can help you handle your money and be a wise consumer. You can read part of it for free at this website:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/77302

See you again soon!

Linda
cajunC