Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Getting the best price for gold jewelry


A reader e-mailed me a looooong time ago asking for recommendations for a place where she could sell her gold jewelry for a good price. I finally came across a good answer in the November issue of Shop Smart magazine.

First take the jewelry you are thinking of selling to a reputable appraiser. Get the karat of your pieces and ask for the weight in pennyweights or troy ounces.

Then use a calculator at the Dendritics Gemscales Museum to determine the value based on current gold prices. Prices fluctuate often so check them right before you go in to sell. Try to get 85 percent of that value when you go in to sell.

Expect to visit more than one jeweler to negotiate a good price. A good trick is to mention what one jeweler offered and ask another jeweler to beat that price.