Making money off your inherited gold

by Madhubanti Rudra

Just found out some yellow trinkets out of your family vault? If they happen to be too old fashioned for your sense of style, then why overcrowd your jewelry wardrobe unnecessarily? This is the high time you can make good profit out of your old gold. But you should take measured steps so that you are not fooled by the jewelers. The article sows you ways how you can make maximum profit.

Just found out some yellow trinkets out of your family vault? If they happen to be too old fashioned for your sense of style, then why overcrowd your jewelry wardrobe unnecessarily? This is the high time you can make good profit out of your old gold. But you should take measured steps so that you are not fooled by the jewelers. The article sows you ways how you can make maximum profit.

So you have got your hands on some of your granny’s vintage gold jewelries which don’t actually match your sense of style and you want them to earn some cash for you! So what will you do? Just sell off the old trinkets to seize some cool cash. Sneak a peek into the jewelry shops and you will get to see, hundreds like you are on a gold selling spree. And why not?

Since last year, the gold price has increased by leaps and bounds with the record high of $1,030.80 hit in mid-March. The trend teaches you one important lesson: this is the most opportune moment to sell off your inherited gold that you don’t use as trinkets and make a fortune out of it.

Now you definitely need to do your homework before you rush to the nearest jeweler. Before taking your precious gold to just any jewelry shop consider these points:

• To your buyers your jewelries are nothing but scrap metals and they will melt down the pieces to morsel. This means you have little chance to get back the trinkets even if you change your mind and want to keep them. So make your mind first before you decide to sell them off.
• The jewelers are the most intelligent creed who can easily mislead you and rip off your money. So choose a buyer with caution.
• When the jewelries are melted to scrap you will get nothing for the other metals present in the pieces. However, for the white gold, the rule is different; here the gold is mixed with platinum or other white metal belonging to platinum family and hence white gold always fetch you many times more resale value than the yellow gold.

But there are ways to outsmart the smart jewelers. Your gold jewelry pieces can earn you profit only when you are familiar with the fine prints of the trade. Here the tips to help you out in the process.

Seek appraisal from a neutral appraiser

• If you want to make profit, you must get your gold jewelries assessed by an appraiser or other jeweler other than the one currently buying your gold.
• Appraisal of each piece will cost you somewhere in between $30 to $35. If you have a number of pieces to assess, then it will be more prudent to hire an appraiser on hourly basis, an individual appraiser will charge you about $70 to $75 an hour.
• An appraiser can tell you best which of the pieces from your collection can fetch you good money and which can’t. The pieces that don’t sell for good right now can well rest inside your closet for few more years.
• The value figured out by the appraiser and the actual market price of your jewelries may vary in reality; but by getting them appraised, you get a good starting point in your bargain.
• It also helps you get the actual picture about the accurate weight and gold content of the pieces. Only the pieces curved out of 24-karat gold will fetch you considerable cash. So far as the pieces made from 10 karats or less or the gold plated pieces are concerned—you should not expect to resell them. However the pieces made with 18- or 14-karat gold-which means the pieces are made of 75% or 58% gold will fetch you fairly better value.

Stay alert on Market price

When you visit the jeweler’s shop go armed with the information about the latest gold price. To get information such as the last days’ closing price or the latest gold price in the international market, you can take help from the sites like gold-eagle.com or Kitco.com.

The pieces to sell and the pieces to keep

Some of your inherited gold pieces may appear out- of- place among your own collections. But don’t liquidate them just because of this; before selling them off as scraps, just look for the details—does it have a designer name inscribed in it? Is it a period piece carrying the unmistakable signature style of the time? Does the piece flaunt any exquisite gemstone? In these cases the piece can command 10 or 20 times more than its mere value as scrap metal. If you must liquidate it, then instead of any common jeweler, take them to an estate jeweler who will pay you the true value of a period piece. There are typical pieces you should consider selling such as pair less earring, broken chain and so on. They have no other value than scrap metal and so it is better to sell them off for good.

Deal with the reputed jewelers

When you decide to sell off your heirloom jewelries, don’t trust just any jeweler. You can trust a jeweler who has the affiliation with such trade group as the Jewelers of America. Membership to one of these trade groups is a guarantee of strict ethical sales standards. A Better Business Bureau membership is also a safeguard against fraud. To find out the jeweler on the basis of membership to any trade group, just look for the membership seal on the store’s window; the affiliate members generally flaunt their membership on their store’s window.

Shop around

Don’t jump at the decision right away. Shop around and compare the offers; the final sum offered by different jeweler, what made the jeweler determine the worth of your gold, what is the commission they are asking for and so on. You need not accept the offer of a jeweler who asks for the commission over 10%.The above mentioned tips are sure to fetch a good sum for your gold that you no longer use. But while in the gold market, keep your eyes open. As you know, the cons are more active in the places especially where high value transactions are involved. So make sure to carry your valuables with sufficient safeguards. Also don’t trust the jeweler who asks you to leave your jewelries for an appraisal. The usual practice is: receive the cash and handover your precious gold; in case anything happens other than this, leave the store at once.