Your thoughts on Old Gold jewelry

I've seen the commercial hundreds of times about putting your old gold jewelry in their trusty little mailer and they supposedly send you a check for it. My 9 y.o. son has more sense than that!!! He told me "Mom, someone will steal that in a heartbeat" LOL
Any ideas on what to do with junk jewelry that you haven't worn in years, besides going to a pawn shop lol!!!

TIA, Susan

Sometimes a local jeweler will do custom work in trade for jewelry you don't use. I don't trust them, either. And if they did do what they say, who's to know you're getting fair value.

I would go to a local jeweler and ask for a "junk" appraisal; how much gold can be salvaged opposed to a possible resale value as is. He may charge a small fee for the service.

Last I heard gold was selling for over $950 per ounce. To make this easier let's assume you have about an ounce. Whomever is buying will probably offer only $300 citing the cost of salvaging the small amount of gold as the reason for the low offer. It may cost a bunch to get set up to smelt out the gold but I imagine someone who has been in the business for years has paid for the set up many times over with profits.

I would be reluctant, at best, to mail the pieces away. Once it's in the hands of the Post Office it's out of yours and you have no leverage. The place you mail it to can write a check for $100 and be legally covered. Even if you don't cash the check you won't get the jewelry back. It's already been melted down. I'd find someone local or within a half day's drive who will purchase it. If the price is too low you can leave with it.

Other choices? Sell it on ebay. Consign it to a local auctioneer. If it's really "costume" jewelry hang onto it and let your granddaughters play dress up with it some day.

I wanted to have my old diamond ring made into a necklace for my daughter (years ago) they looked at the setting and said they would buy the gold and credit me that amount towards the necklace. I ended up getting the necklace almost free.

I see that there are signs now at stores saying what day they are buying gold. That may be the way to go. Todays prices are so much higher, you may be surprized by the offer.

The ounce of gold referred to is a Troy ounce of fine gold i.e. 99.999% or almost 24 karat. Dealers will give you a selling/buying price of market price for the likes of a one-ounce American Gold Eagle, a one-ounce South African Gold Krugerrand or a one-ounce Canadian Gold Maple Leaf or the Credit Suisse gold bars that are guaranteed as .9999 pure.
Gold jewelry here are mostly 14 karat gold, compared to 18 karat to 22 karat found in European and Asian jewelry.
Since 14 karat gold has such a tiny amount of gold it will not fetch much. Good luck in your decision.

I fell for one of their ads..sent some things to them, nothing I would have hated to lose...they sent me a check for $12.53, I sent the check right back, and I did get what I had sent them, returned....

This message was edited Jul 31, 2008 11:29 AM

At least you got your things back. I was wondering what they would pay. Now I know.

I didn't send them much..a setting for a necklace, that the stone was removed from, an gold chain that had broken, and a small sapphire..but I think it was worth more than $12.00!

You would think that, huh? LOL The sapphire itself would be more than that.

Dragging this up again. I decided I had nothing to lose. I found some old jewelry of my mother's and sent it in. My calculations had the price at $50-$60. I was close. I got a check for $47.50. Since they were pieces that no one wanted and didn't have sentimental value, I figure I came out ahead. Most of the pieces were silver and one gold coin worth nothing in the coin market. I didn't have to pay for shipping, either, which, to me, is a plus. Or, maybe I did and they subtracted the cost from my check. At least, I can pay a bill with the $$$.

I know a lady who wanted to do something with her wedding ring when she divorced, so she took it to a jeweler and he made it into a gold nugget charm with the diamond in the middle, it was very pretty.

That's probably why you didn't get $50, because they charged you shipping. You just got rid of a bunch of jewelry you really didn't care about in the first place, plus you can pay a bill! That's a bonus right there.

I have my engagement band and Dave's old wedding ring from his previous marriage I need to take to a jeweler, been saying that for about 5 years now lol! I guess now's the time??