What to Expect When Selling your Scrap Gold

While selling your scrap gold may give you extra money to invest into your small business, it’s not always easy. In fact, selling your unused gold can be a tricky experience if you’re not sure what to expect. Here are a handful of helpful, easy to digest tips on what to expect when you you’re selling scrap gold.

Just the other day I went to sell some gold, I figured it would make better use as cash than it would as a lump of neglected metal in the back of the dresser. A little over excited at the prospect of a small injection of money, I didn’t do much research before going. Okay, I shopped around, a very little bit, but I couldn’t shirk the feeling of seller’s remorse. Did I get ripped off? I really just wanted an opportunity to kick myself. Fortunately I didn’t have to. Here are some steps which I should have taken before selling which would have helped me sell with a bit more confidence. Who knows, maybe if I did these things I would have gotten a higher price.

Know exactly what you’re selling.

Do an estimated appraisal of each item. This sounds complicated but it’s really not. Take three things into account so you know the price of your gold scrap:

The karat rating of the item

How much gold is actually in that golden ring? A 10 karat ring contains 42% gold. This is what gold buyers are investing in, not the other 68% which makes up the rest of the ring. Buyers will take this into account first before starting to negotiate.

The weight of the item

Buyers pay for gold per gram. So 1 gram of a 10kt ring means it should sell for about 10 x 42% of the gold price per gram.

The current price of gold

The news updates us on this obvious one daily, and it is very obvious but deserves special mention because it’s the most important. The price of gold fluctuates, but not as erratically as other commodities, which is why investing in gold is usually a safe bet.

When I sold my gold, the rate of cash for gold in Melbourne at that time was 1,549.36 AUD. That’s about 1.50 a gram. 42% of that (for a ten karat ring) would have gotten me around 60 cents a gram. So a 10gram, 10kt ring should have had me negotiating between 6 and 7 dollars.

Now it doesn’t sound like much, but that’s for a single and humble 10kt ring. Necklaces or bracelets with greater weight and value will fetch more; and a lump of unused jewellery can fetch loads if you do it right.

Who is the best buyer?

The obvious choice would be to use reputable stores although they are not the only people around so it’s important that you scour. There are plenty of different scrap gold buyers who you can trust to give you a pretty good deal. If you’re unsure or you’re paranoid, you can check out the Better Business Bureau’s website for any complaints against the company.

How do they advertise?

The way in which a company advertises is a good reflection of their practices. The newspaper, business magazines, and respected websites are usually a good bet. Word of mouth is a good way to go about it as well, depending on the interests of the person telling you about the place, of course. If they advertise on late night TV or dodgy flyers and stickers littered all over the street, it’s best to avoid them.

When are they open?

Is it 24 hours? Well isn’t that convenient especially if you absolutely, suddenly need cash in the middle of the night. It’s a little dodgy isn’t it? Gold sellers who never close have a tendency to take advantage of people’s vices and vulnerabilities, and are generally not the best candidates for fair deals. I know this isn’t true for all of them, especially not the ones stationed outside of casinos.

What’s their reputation like?

It’s a good idea to search the web, look for articles and blogs, find reviews, and read stories of people’s encounters with scrap gold buyers. The best way of all is to ask the people in your neighbourhood if any of them can recommend a buyer that they can trust. You can try asking customers of the store what they think. There are literally hundreds of gold buyers who trade fairly, so you shouldn’t have a difficult time finding this information.

Lastly, shop around.

With these tips in mind you can get a better feel for each place you go into. Depending on how much gold you’re selling, the price per gram can make a huge change to the overall cash amount. Don’t settle for just a few differing prices. If you have a lot to sell, find as many buyers as you can and compare them.