Selling Gold: In Fact, Totally Worth It

Mr. T stands to make millions with his collection.
Then again, was any of it actually gold?

My own inherent distrust of media fads and panic-driven quick fixes made me reluctant to even consider selling gold since I was positive I was going to be, well, ripped off. With a new semester starting and a hefty textbook fee looming, however, I found myself rifling through my own jewelry box looking for some help. I was able to turn two chains, a set of earrings, and a bracelet into $200, though I did learn a couple things along the way.

Should you sell your gold?

Even though the price for gold is amazingly high right now, selling gold may not be the right choice for you. When I dug through my jewelry, I was keeping some things in mind: when was the last time I wore this and will I ever wear this again? Most of the gold I sold was knotted up chains and otherwise lovely gifts that just weren't quite my style. There's no need to sell your grandmother's engagement ring. Anything you think you might regret selling is not worth its weight in gold—seriously.

Do you actually have gold?

There are a few ways to tell whether your gold is real. Most real gold jewelry has the karat weight printed somewhere on the piece. Karat weight appears as a number followed by k, such as “14K” meaning that it is a 14 karat gold piece. Some companies use the gold percentage number, such as 583, meaning that the gold piece is 58.3% gold (the equivalent to 14K). Other common stamps to see are 10K, which also appears as 417, and 12K (500). Anything labeled as “gold filled” or GF is plated, and most places will not buy this jewelry. Earrings have their karat weight printed in ridiculously tiny lettering on their posts. Most of the time, if the makers go to the trouble to do that, the whole earring is gold. For bracelets and necklaces, the stamp is usually on the clasp.

Where is the best place to go to sell gold?

I tried a few different places when I decided to sell my gold. The major chain jewelry stores were not interested at all. I then went to a small independent jewelry store that gave me a quote for $160. They also looked at all the stamped pieces to make sure they were gold, and told me one of my chains was a fake (because the stamp read K14, not 14K). At two local pawn shops, I was quoted under $100. While jewelers can melt and use the gold, the amount of gold a pawn shop must take in to make a profit is astronomical, so this might be a place you can skip. I then went to another larger but still independently owned store that gave me $206 ($206!!!) for my gold and tested the “fake” chain using a machine that read the conductivity of the metal, and it turned out to be real. A final store that had several independent locations in our area quoted me at $130.

My quick tips for selling gold

Shop around. I got twice as much just by checking out another store half a mile across town. Skip the big chain stores and pawn shops. ALWAYS have each store look at the karat stamps and test your gold electrically before selling your gold; I almost lost out on $50 because one store made a very expensive mistake.