How to Sell Old Jewelry: A Quick Guide
Did you know that in the year 2020 alone that the jewelry industry was valued at around 18 billion USD? This number is only expected to rise as the years go on since it’s unlikely that jewelry will go out of fashion any time soon. However, there are just some pieces of jewelry that you might not like to wear, and that’s fine, but what should you do with them?
Selling them is the obvious choice, but selling old jewelry can be difficult if you’ve never done it before. How can you find the right place to sell your jewelry and how do you know if you’re getting the right price? How can you sell your jewelry collection fast and how can you get top dollar for it?
If you’re asking yourself these questions, you’re in the right place to find your answers. Let’s start off by exploring how much money you might get when selling your jewelry for extra cash.
How Much Money Can You Sell Your Jewelry For
You might want to sell your jewelry for one of many reasons. Maybe the style of jewelry you have is no longer in fashion. Maybe you never liked the design of the jewelry in the first place.
Whatever the case, you might think that you should be able to sell your unused jewelry for whatever you paid for it originally. However, this is far from the truth. The cash you’ll get for selling your jewelry depends more on the condition and demand of your jewelry than anything else.
For example, if you have a piece of jewelry that is a few decades old and no longer in style, not many people will be interested in buying (or wearing) it. Because of this, you can’t expect to get a lot of cash for jewelry in this situation, even if it’s in great condition. However, just because you have old jewelry doesn’t always mean that it won’t be worth a lot.
This is because some pieces of jewelry are timeless like gold hoop earrings or diamond rings. Beyond that, some people love the idea of owning vintage jewelry either to add to a collection or for style value. You also can’t forget about how the condition of your jewelry influences the price.
For example, you might have a ring that is of 18K gold or more. Because gold of higher karats is softer, that ring is likely to be covered in scratches and dents, especially if it was often worn in the past. Gemstones may also be scratched.
The more imperfections a piece of jewelry has, the less the price is going to be. So, you should only expect to get top dollar for your jewelry if it is in great condition and is still trendy.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Old Jewelry
When you want money for jewelry, especially if your jewelry isn’t in the best condition, you need to make your jewelry look especially good. To do this, it’s important to clean your jewelry before bringing it to any jewelry shop. No jeweler is going to be thrilled with the idea of buying a dirty or tarnished piece of jewelry.
However, be very careful when cleaning jewelry since some cleaners can easily damage certain metals. For the best results, you should clean your jewelry with warm water and soap rather than chemicals. Use a soft toothbrush to gently scrub away any dirty areas (a hard toothbrush might scratch the metal or gemstones).
Once your jewelry is clean, you should try to figure out how much your jewelry might be worth in its weight in silver or gold (or other precious metals). For instance, if you have a gold ring, that gold is going to be worth a certain price depending on its weight. If a jeweler tries to offer you less than the ring’s weight in gold, you might be in for a scam and should find another jeweler.
If your jewelry has gemstones on it, you’re in luck because often, pieces of jewelry are valued mainly by the gemstones. If you think that the stones on your jewelry are fake, you should always double-check. There have been plenty of cases where fake gemstones turn out to be real (and cases where real gemstones turn out to be fake).
Once you have all this information sorted out, where should you sell your jewelry?
Where You Should Be Selling Old Jewelry
Finding the best place to sell gold jewelry or any jewelry for that matter, can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for. A good piece of advice is to bring your jewelry to several different jewelry shops. This is because, more likely than not, different jewelers will tell you that your jewelry is worth different amounts of money.
The amount may not differ much from jeweler to jeweler as long as they’re reputable. However, some jewelers might be out to scam unsuspecting jewelry owners. Because of this, you should always check the reviews of jewelry shops to make sure they’re reputable.
There’s nothing worse than missing out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars because you sold your jewelry to the wrong person. If you think you might have an especially rare or expensive piece of jewelry, you might benefit from selling it at an auction. Professional auctioneers will be able to help you get the most money out of your old jewelry.
What You Need to Know About Selling Jewelry
By the end of this article, you should know all about how to go about selling old jewelry for the most money. Even if your jewelry isn’t in the best condition, you can still get a decent amount of money if you clean it up and sell it to the right person.
To learn more, don’t hesitate to explore the fashion section on our website.
