FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
 

1. What types of gold jewelry can I sell?

Almost anything! Gold rings, necklaces, brooches, watches, bracelets, buttons, cuff links, pendants, and all other gold jewelry are in demand. Even dental gold is accepted by many gold buyers, assuming it is separated from teeth.

2. What if my jewelry is broken or damaged?

The value of your jewelry is purely dependent on the gold weight and composition; gold buyers melt the gold down or sell it to refineries to do the same, so the physical condition will not affect pricing.

3. How is the value of my gold jewelry determined?

The two primary factors are weight and gold composition, expressed in terms of troy weight and karats. Each individual gold buyer pays a certain percentage of the current market value of gold, which is determined by market factors. Gold buyers offer a percentage of that value so they have padding against market fluctuations, which allows them to later profit from purchasing your gold jewelry.

4. How and when will I get paid for my gold jewelry?

In most cases you will be paid immediately by cash.

5. What is troy weight?

Troy weight sounds fancy, but it's simply the name of a measurement system you're probably already familiar with. Troy weight units are ounces and pounds, etc. Keep in mind that only the gold in your jewelry is weighed to determine its value. If you have non-precious metals, gemstones, or other materials in your jewelry, they will be separated from your piece before it is weighed.

6. How can I weigh my gold jewelry?

Start by removing any non-gold metals, gemstones, and other materials; then, weigh your gold on a sensitive scale that accurately measures ounces, such as postal scale, to determine how many ounces you have. Some gold buyers will remove your gemstones for you and return them.

7. What are karats?

Karats determine how pure your gold is; that is to say, karats are a representation of the percentage of gold in a given piece of jewelry. In its purest form, gold is a relatively soft metal; thus, it is typically mixed with alloys to make it stronger and more durable. Karats tell you how many parts of a given piece of gold are jewelry versus how many parts are alloy.

For example:

• 24 karat gold is 99.9% pure gold
• 18 karat gold is 75% gold (18 parts gold and 6 parts alloy)
• 12 karat gold is 50% gold (12 parts gold, 12 parts alloy)

6. How can I determine how many karats my gold jewelry is?

The vast majority of gold jewelry is stamped with hallmarks, or marks, that display what karat it is. Most countries require these stamps be applied at the time of manufacture. Thus, you'll see an expression of karats as “k,” “kt,” or even a three-digit number that represents its gold composition. For example, an 18 karat gold ring might be marked in any of the following ways:

• 18k
• 18kt
• .750
• 750

Old pieces and heavily-worn pieces of jewelry might be missing their marks, or they might be too worn to read. In these cases, experienced jewelers can often tell the karat value by the color – though it's not an exact science. To accurately determine gold karats, jewelers will perform an acid test by scraping off a tiny portion of the gold piece and then dripping a special acid on it; the resulting reaction will give a clear indication of the gold composition. Note that some markings are undesirable in the gold industry. A karat notation followed by a low fraction, for example 18k 1/20, tells you that the piece is only 1/20th gold composition. Markings such as GF, GP, GEP, and HGE have to do with gold-filling and gold-plating, in which cases the jewelry does not contain enough gold to be valuable. Finally, don't be fooled by markings for other precious metals; sterling silver, for example, can be marked 600, 800, or 925 – none of which represent gold.