Understanding Jewelry Making Tools and Practices

2 Tips To Help You Get More From A Pawn Broker For Your Old Gold Jewelry

2 June 2016 by Roberta Vasquez

Selling old gold jewelry that you no longer want to a pawn broker is a great way to get some quick cash. If you're selling your old jewelry, you'll, of course, want to get as much as possible for it. Here are two tips to help you get more from a pawn broker for your gold necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

Separate Your More Pure Pieces from Your Less Pure Ones

The pawn broker will base their offer on the quality of your pieces, which is dependent on the number of karats they have. Gold jewelry is made from gold alloys, and not from pure gold, because gold is too soft of a metal. Mixing it with other metals to create a stronger alloy lets jewelry makers create more durable pieces that won't scratch and dent as much.

The purity of gold alloys is measured in karats. A single karat indicates 1/24 of the alloy is gold. A 12-karat necklace, thus, is half gold (12 / 24 = 0.50), while an 18-karat one is 75 percent gold (18 / 24 = 0.75). According to 4Facets.com, an alloy must be at least 10 karats to be called gold in the U.S., and 14-karat alloys are the most common type used for gold jewelry.

You can find out how many karats each piece you're selling is by checking for a hallmark. Hallmarks are tiny inscriptions that identify the gold content of a piece of gold jewelry. A two-digit hallmark, such as 10, 12, 14 or 18 indicates the number of karats. This system is used in the United States. A three-digit number expresses the gold content as a percentage. For instance, "750" would be 75.0 percent, or the equivalent of 18 karats. This system is used in countries outside the U.S.

In order to make sure you get as much as possible for your jewelry that has lots of gold, separate it out from your gold with lower grade alloys. If you organize your gold jewelry into different piles according to the number of karats each piece has, a pawn broker will be able to quickly take into account the purity of each piece. If you don't bother to separate out the higher quality items, they may lump all the pieces together and consider your best pieces alongside your lower-grade ones.

Know the Going Rate for Gold

The pawn broker will also take into account the current going rate for gold, as this impacts everything from the value of gold bars and coins to jewelry. They'll likely base your offer on the market price for scrap gold, so they can still break even if no one buys your jewelry by selling the pieces to a scrap gold recycler. At the time of writing, these were the going rates for scrap gold:

• $22.64 per gram for 14-karat gold
• $29.10 per gram for 18-karat gold
• $38.81 per gram for 24-karat (pure) gold

Knowing the current rate for scrap gold will give you a reference point to judge any offer by. You'll be well positioned to negotiate a higher offer if you're given an offer that's below the going rate for scrap gold. It will also help you recognize a generous offer that's above market value, should you receive such a good offer.

By doing your homework before taking your old gold jewelry to a pawn broker who buys gold, you can ensure you'll get as much as possible for it. It takes just a few minutes to organize your gold pieces and look up the going rate for gold. Depending on how much gold jewelry you have to sell, these simple steps could help you get you a little extra cash or a significantly higher offer.

Share