Tag Archives: karats

Helping Our Clients Get the Best Price When They Sell Gold

Posted on by
Reply

Another Satisfied Customer

I met with a lady who had a few old 10KT gold rings, a small 14KT gold chain and some mismatched 14KT gold earrings. She had taken them to a “jewelry doctor” in a local mall and they had offered her $150 for the lot. After assessing and weighing her items, we were able to offer her $230 for the same items. She happily accepted this amount.

Our offer was about 63% of the spot price of gold (which is just about our average). That means the other place was offering about 40%. While that is still better than the Cash for Gold guys on late-night TV, it shows that even among local buyers there is a wide difference in the price offered for scrap gold. We offered half again as much. The bottom line: an extra $80 in her pocket.

Some people are reluctant to meet with us since we don’t have a store that we staff (and pay for). But this well illustrates the reason why we prefer to be a mobile gold buying operation. The person who ultimately pays for all that extra overhead is the client. We would rather give you the best possible price for your old gold.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I Want to Sell My Gold, But is it Real Gold, Gold Filled or Gold Plated?

Posted on by
Reply

We see a lot of jewelry in the course of our business, so we have developed an eye for what is real gold jewelry and what isn’t. How can the average person know whether the gold they want to sell is real, solid gold or something else?

First, pass a magnet over it. This isn’t foolproof, but if the item reacts to the magnet, it definitely isn’t solid gold jewelry. The exception is parts that need more strength, like clasps or springs or such. They might sometimes have a small amount of iron for strength.

Second, look for markings. Although this isn’t foolproof – we see a lot of fake gold  that says 14KT on it – it’s a good place to start. If it says something different than a number followed by K or KT, it might not be real.

For example, gold filled jewelry might say 14KT GF, or 14 GF. As another example, plated items will have a fraction in front – something like 1/10-14KT or 1/20-14KT. That simply means that there is gold plating rather than solid gold.

Another marking to look for is 925. That would indicate sterling silver, sometimes plated with gold.

Some older items may have the markings worn down, or might never have been marked at all. If in doubt, bring it along. A reputable gold buyer will test it for you and let you know what you’ve got. If it isn’t real gold, they should explain how they determined that to you and give the item back.

Popularity: 7% [?]

How many Karats do I have?

Posted on by
Reply

One of the most important details when you sell gold is the purity of you items. The purity of your gold is measured in Karats (marked as K or KT). 24 karats is pure gold, but you won’t find any jewelry that is made of 24 karat gold. It’s too soft to hold its shape, so it would constantly come loose and fall off.

10 KT and 14KT jewelry is very common in the U.S. We will see some 18KT gold jewelry, but that is usually the finer, pricier pieces. Not many of those are sold as scrap gold, unless they’re broken. In other countries, like India, Iran or Iraq for example, 20KT or 22KT gold is more common. I’ve even seen some Indian pieces marked as 23KT gold.

With a lot of common pieces, the karats are stamped on the clasp or the inside of a ring, but this is not always true. Especially with some older pieces, the only way to know what you have is to test.

Popularity: 2% [?]

What is a Fair Price for Old Gold?

Posted on by
Reply

When you decide to sell old gold jewelry, one of your chief concerns is to get a fair price. With the price of gold going higher every day, it would seem like you would be able to get a decent price for your scrap gold no matter where you go to sell it. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.

There are a couple of issues that you need to be aware of when you decide to sell your old gold. First, there are definite costs involved in recovering the gold from whatever piece it is currently in. Buying, refining and selling all have costs associated with them, and each company along the way needs to make a decent profit.

The key thought here is that they deserve a decent profit. According to a Consumer Reports investigation, some Internet gold buyers are paying as little as 11% of the spot price of gold for the items people are sending in. That’s indecent to the point of being scandalous. In their article, Consumer Reports suggested that 50% was a reasonable offer. To give you an idea of how low the Internet guys are, our offers start at 60%, with 63% being closer to the average we round up to. Basically, they will pay you one-sixth the amount a local gold buyer like South Kansas City Gold Buyer will.

Second, as the old saying goes, knowledge is power. Many gold buyers will try to cloud the issue by using obscure systems of measurements (like pennyweights) that no one but a jeweler can use or weigh. Others will give you a quote by Troy ounce (which is different than a regular ounce) or by the gram. To us, the clearest and most direct way to quote a price is by the percentage of the spot price we will pay. And anybody you call can do that, even if they won’t admit to it. That’s how all of us get the price per pennyweight, gram or Troy ounce. We use some percentage off the spot price. If a buyer won’t tell you what percentage they are paying, move on.

So when you comparison shop, compare apples to apples. Ask for the percentage they are paying. And get a fair price for your old gold.

Popularity: 8% [?]