Whether its jewelry, coins, or trinkets made of gold that you no longer have any use for, it may be possible to sell it as scrap gold to a refining company in exchange for some extra cash. But before packing up your valuable gold pieces and heading off to negotiate a deal, it's a good idea to take some prep steps that will ensure that you get fair compensation for your gold. Here are a few tips and tricks that should be easy to do before making a sale:
Calculate a Rough Value
Before having your gold assessed by the company you want to sell it to, it's important to determine a rough value for your gold, so you have an idea of what kind of offer you should receive. There are several ways to determine a rough value for your gold including the following:
- Organize your gold by karat weight by doing acid or skey tests.
- Use a jeweler's scale to weigh each gold piece personally.
- Convert the weight or your gold into troy ounces to determine a value.
All of these methods can be used in combination in order to gain in depth insight into how much your gold is worth and how much you may be able to expect when selling it. Keep in mind that you'll need to find out what the gold refining company you're working with is paying for gold in terms of weight in order to figure out how much you'll likely be offered.
Scrub a Dub-Dub
Before taking steps to determine the rough value of your gold, it's important to scrub it clean so that debris and settled dust isn't included when it comes to weighing your pieces or performing acid tests on them. Dust and debris that's hard to see with the naked eye can interfere the accuracy of the weighing process, because the weight of the gold itself is typically so light. When it comes to things like acid testing, any dust and debris on your gold may have an effect on the results of your tests, which may lead to misinterpreted valuation.
Extract All the Gems
More than likely, the gold refining company you're working with will not consider any gemstones, diamonds, or other accents attached to your gold when determining an offer to make you. Because of this, it's in your best interest to go ahead and remove all of the gems and diamonds on your gold jewelry before determining its rough value and having it assessed for sale. You can keep the gems and diamonds and sell them at a later time after they have appreciated more, or take them to a jewelry store at the same time of selling your gold to increase your overall profit at the time.
Keep the Usable Pieces
Any clasps that are attached to your gold pieces can be kept and reused for a variety of things, including fixing broken jewelry that you want to continue wearing. The backs of earrings may also come in handy at a later date. Anything that's removable and possibly useful in the future may be worth keeping in order to save money on repairs at a later time. Collecting clasps, clips, attachment links, and other pieces as you go through your gold may even yield you enough material to make a homemade piece of jewelry from scratch.
If you aren't sure whether or not you can use any removable pieces in the future, have them assessed separately from the gold you are certain you want to sell. This will allow you to decide whether or not the profit is worth parting with the pieces now or whether holding on to them will be more beneficial in the long run.
By taking these steps, you'll help ensure that an offer is made for the gold you want to sell that meets your profit expectations. For more information, contact a professional gold buying business, like Mid-States Recycling & Refining.
