Need to make some extra money? Your unwanted, outdated gold jewelry can be converted into cash. There’s great demand for gold, and there are many opportunities to make money online:
How Much Are Gold and Silver Worth?
The value of precious metals changes from day to day, fluctuating along with the stock market. For this reason, some people invest in gold and silver, which is what drives the gold-buying economy. You can check the up-to-date prices and recent trends on APMEX.
In general, gold and platinum are worth significantly more than silver. A troy ounce of gold – or 31.1 grams – may be worth well over $1,000. However, don’t get too excited about the contents of your jewelry box; This value is for the weight of gold itself, not the other metals in the alloy.
Gold is a very soft metal, but it can’t be shaped into jewelry on its own. Instead, it’s mixed with other metals to create an alloy. You can identify the quantity of gold in an item by looking at its karat value. Each karat equals 1/24 of pure gold. Therefore, a 14-karat gold necklace would be 14 parts gold by weight and 10 parts of other metals. Therefore, when looking at the scrap value of your jewelry, you will need to consider the karat value and adjust the weight of the pieces accordingly. Gold buyers will use a formula to derive the actual value of your jewelry by weight.
Other precious metals are the same. Silver, for example, is also an alloy. The highest quality of silver, sterling, is 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent other metals. Lower purities of silver are available on the market as well.
How to Sell Gold and Silver Online
Traditionally, most people would sell their gold or silver jewelry to a pawnbroker, recycling center, or other location that specializes in precious metals. Although this is still an option, you may find it faster and easier to sell your gold online. However, you may not get the best value this way, so it’s best to consider your options.
Multiple websites exist for the purpose of buying gold at scrap value. Some buyers, like APMEX, specialize in gold and silver bullion, coins or bars. They buy in bulk and will usually only accept high-priced sales. If you’re looking to sell individual jewelry pieces that may not be worth much individually, you will want to sell to a middle-man.
These middle-man brokers will buy up quantities of precious metal alloys and, though chemical processes, melt down and purify them into pure metal that can be sold at a profit. These companies work as mail-in buyers: You package and ship the items you are selling, and they weigh them and assess the gold content after receipt. At that point, the money will be paid to you. Some common mail-in gold buyers include Cash4Gold, GoldKit, and GoldPaq.
These services are undoubtedly convenient, but they will usually pay less than the gold is worth in order to keep their profit margins high. You will usually get a better price by selling locally to a jewelry store.
Another option is to sell bulk lots of scrap jewelry privately to individuals through an online auction site like eBay. You may get a better price this way than if you sold to a gold-buying company. However, bear in mind that these sites often protect the rights of buyers more than sellers, so you will need to be extra-vigilant in protecting yourself from scam artists.
The Best Way to Make Money Selling Gold and Silver
If you have a quantity of unwanted jewelry or other precious metal items that you’re looking to turn into cash, a good first step may be to stop by a local jeweler and have the items measured and appraised. With that figure in mind, you can then shop around online to see if anyone is offering a better deal. Be sure to research the company that you choose before mailing off any items to ensure that there are no obvious red flags like negative consumer reviews.
Once you’ve found a site you’ve worked with successfully in the past, mailing out additional items becomes easier and quicker as you’ll be aware of the process. Keep an eye on the trends of gold and silver values so that you can sell when prices are at their highest, netting you the largest profit. In time, you may discover that you can turn a tidy profit by buying up other people’s unwanted jewelry and selling it in bulk yourself!
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