In hard economic times, people begin to be resourceful in finding extra money. They may sell items on eBay or have a yard sale. One great idea is to go through your old gold jewelry and learn how to turn your gold jewelry into cash. Scrap gold is any piece of gold that you no longer want. It may be broken, too small, or just in the jewelry box for years and you don’t even remember how you got it long ago. If you are not using the gold items, and not wearing them, you probably should get rid of them. To begin, go through all your old jewelry and dishes, looking for items that may be gold. Remember, very little is pure 24 karat gold. Pure gold is not frequently used because it is very soft and moldable. Usually, it is mixed with other substances for hardness. For example, jewelry in Europe is generally 18 karat gold, or three quarter pure. Most jewelry will range from 10 karat, to 12 karat, and 14 karat gold.

When you look at the daily price for an ounce of gold, divide that price by the type of gold you have. If gold is $900 per ounce on the market, your 12 karat may be worth roughly half of that amount. Then, divide the ounce into pennyweights, or grams, the smallest portion of an ounce that is used for calculations. You can find the price of gold easily on the internet news websites, such as www.cnbc.com, or other gold price websites. Be sure to include broken jewelry, because unless it is a precious personal heirloom, it will probably cost more to fix it than you want to pay. If you have a broken gold chain, just sell it and think about buying a new one. Some styles may be out of date, and that is another good reason to sell off the old and buy something new. Or, just keep the cash.

Where to Sell Used Gold Jewelry

When you get everything you want to sell together, then it is time to find the place that is best to sell it. There are many options here. Most people have seen television ads for companies that will buy scrap gold. You have to mail in your pieces, they give you a quote and then you decide whether to take the offer. A couple of considerations here include whether you trust the mail system to handle your valuables. You may want to be sure insurance is included in shipping, but if you do not know the worth of your items, that can be a problem to figure out. Also, if the company you are sending to offers free shipping, you can be sure that the costs of shipping come out somewhere else. So, there are possibly better local options in your town.

One place to turn your gold into cash is at a local pawn shop. Some pawn shops buy gold, and also silver. Do not be afraid of going into a pawn shop. It can be a lot of fun to see what is for sale inside, and the people running the pawn shops are usually quite friendly. They will weigh your pieces right in front of you, and give you an offer based on current market prices. Here is the problem, however. You may find a different offer at different pawn shops or precious metals buyers. So, you need to shop around and get a couple quotes. But, do this all on the same day, because prices fluctuate, and the dealer may offer you a different figure even when you return the same day.

Remember that scrap metal buyers only pay based on the weight of the metal. They will not pay for any gems that are part of the jewelry, or the condition of the jewelry. They may, in fact, resell your jewelry and not scrap the item if it is in good shape, because they can get more money for it. If you are trading in for a new piece, your monetary value may be more than if you are just selling it for scrap metal. Another thing to consider is that your gold jewelry may have other parts than gold that will be subtracted from the overall weight. A gold watch has a timing movement that is not gold, and the dealer will subtract an estimated weight for that away from the watch weight.

Your gold chain may bring in $20, but you may have paid $80 for it as new jewelry. Items that frequently are sold to turn scrap gold into cash include class rings, gold chains, broken jewelry, items with gems that are missing, dental gold, and watches. You can turn sell your gold jewelry easily, but it may not be as much as you expected.