How much is your old gold worth?
Gold has long been a symbol of wealth that has served as a haven for investors during times of economic instability. However, gold has also climbed to record highs in recent years, making now a great time to liquidate if you’re in need of some extra cash. The cost of gold, like most investments is determined by supply and demand, tending to rise during war time or other times of financial uncertainty.
If you’re seriously considering getting cash for gold jewelry that you own, you need to be well informed on the current price of gold. It can be hard to separate legit cash for gold online offers from outright scams. There are pyramid schemes, advance fee fraud and counterfeit gold coin operations on the internet that can fool those who allow themselves to exercise greed over common sense. If an offer sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!
In recent years direct-to-consumer mail-in refineries have become a popular and convenient way to get money in exchange for gold. You just sign up for a delivery kit by supplying your name, mailing address, phone number and email and then kit is sent to you. You put your gold in the mailer and send it away, in a week or so you get a check for the appraised value of your gold. Yes, this does sound scary but legitimate businesses using this model give you a 12 day window in which you can return the check and get your gold back. This is a hassle free way to sell your gold, but you need to know the value of your gold first.
How to sell gold jewelry
Before you decide to sell gold jewelry for cash, the first step is to find out what the karat value is. Karats range from 10k all the way up to 24k; most jewelry is typically 18k. Here are the steps to get find out what your gold is worth:
1. Check the jewelry for an inscription noting the karat value.
2. Check the newspaper for the price of gold, usually quoted as so many dollars per troy ounce; a troy ounce equals 31.1 grams.
3. Get the weight of your gold in grams if possible or multiply each ounce of gold by 28.35 to get the gram amount (i.e. 3 ounces of gold equals 85.05 grams).
4. Divide the price of gold by 31.1 to find out the price per gram, so if gold is currently worth $975/ounce you need to divide 975 by 31.1 to learn that gold costs 31.35 per gram.
5. Divide the karat amount of your jewelry by 24 (the purest form of gold available), so if your old gold is 18 karats divided by 24 equals a .75 purity value.
6. Multiply the purity value of your gold by the amount per gram and then by the total amount of grams to determine the scrap gold value. In our example of .75 purity x 31.35 cost per gram means that the gold is worth 23.51 per gram, multiplied by the total grams of 85.05 means that the jewelry is worth $1999.53; not bad if you want to sell gold scrap that you don’t even wear anymore!
Now that you know how to sell gold, it’s much easier to find a seller that you can trust. Reputable scrap gold buyers should price your jewelry in a similar manner, be wary if you’re offered much more than market value for your gold. The best deals tend to come from wholesalers that deal directly with the gold refinery compared to your local jewelry store.
Lastly, it never hurts to make sure that the merchant is in good standing with the Better Business Bureau.
So what are you waiting for? You can sell gold rings that you never wear and get a lot of money in the process. Whether you wish to sell jewelry online or in your neighborhood, you now have what it takes to get good value for the gold that you own.
