If your jewelry box is a jumble of jewelry you no longer wear, you can turn those trinkets into a car payment, a vacation, a bathroom makeover, whatever you value.
To get the most out of your unwanted jewelry, you need to know how much the jewelry is worth and where you should sell it. you also need to know yourself. “How much effort do you want to put into selling your jewelry?” asked Martin Fuller of Martin Fuller Appraisals in McLean, Va., who is a Master Gemologist and Senior Certified Appraiser. “It’s a balance of what your time is worth and what you could get back by selling your jewelry.”
To really know the value of what you’re selling, you should get an appraisal from a member of the American Society of Appraisers, the International Society of Appraisers, or the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers. members of all three groups have to adhere to standards and ethics. valuations range from $150 to $350 per hour. To give you an idea, a simple diamond ring can take about an hour to evaluate, while one with multiple diamonds and an elaborate setting can take more than three hours. Some appraisers charge per item, but under no circumstances should an appraiser charge you a percentage of the item’s value.
Some people reason that they can skip the appraisal if they think their jewelry isn’t worth much. If you’re absolutely sure that what you have isn’t valuable, you can go ahead and shop around, but be careful. “Many times I have taken very expensive jewelry out of a customer’s ‘costume’ pile and moved it into their fine jewelry pile,” Fuller said. A customer once brought Fuller a sapphire with an old appraisal attached that claimed it was worth $18,000. Fuller noticed some unusual features under his microscope and recommended advanced tests. Turns out it was a rare, untreated cashmere sapphire worth almost half a million dollars!
An appraiser can also tell you if your jewelry is best sold as-is or for scrap. some well-known designer jewelry is more valuable intact.
Once you have your appraisal in hand, keep in mind that it’s unlikely you’ll get that price. Appraisals, often done for insurance purposes, determine the retail replacement cost of your jewelry, not the resale price. so ask your appraiser if he or she can also give you a resale price estimate. With gold jewelry, an appraiser can tell you the “cast” price of your piece, which is the value of the precious metal it contains. Again, it is unlikely that you will get this price, because the buyer must take into account their own profit margin and the cost of extracting the gold. experts say that if you can get 70 to 80 percent of the melt value of your gold, that’s a fair price.
be careful if you want to sell your jewelry online. The Better Business Bureau receives many complaints about online shoppers offering low prices, not returning jewelry if you decline their offer, or not sending payment for their items. I once collaborated with a master appraiser gemologist and sent exactly $350 worth of gold to three different online gold buyers. one offered us $206, another $90, and a third $66. when we turned down these offers, some of the companies made us better. this experiment shows the value of searching for the best offer and rejecting the initial offer. a website called where2sellgold.com has done similar experiments, with similar results.
If you choose to try an online jewelry or gold buyer, check their reputation with the Better Business Bureau. Also read the fine print on their website so you understand what you’re getting into. Look for things like how long you have to respond to an offer before the buyer considers it a done deal and how long it will take for the buyer to pay you. Please take photos of your jewelry before shipping. and send it insured with a delivery method that proves that the company received it.
Another option is to sell through an online consignment store. this can work well because people often pay more for jewelry than professionals. just make sure that the commission you have to pay doesn’t eat up any extra profit. One site that stands out is idonowidon’t, so named because it specializes in broken engagement diamond rings. The good thing about this site is that the money and jewelry are sent to the company for safekeeping. the jewels are appraised, the money is kept on deposit. once idonowidon’t has verified that all is well, the deal is done. the site charges a 15 percent commission. Other online submission sites include therealreal and snobswap, both of which say authenticity is guaranteed.
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Selling your jewelry in person at a local store may still be the best way to get the most out of it. You also have plenty of options here, including coin shops, pawn shops, consignment shops, and jewelry stores. The American Gem Society provides a list of local jewelers who buy jewelry. For example, in the Washington area, W.R. Chance Diamond Jewelers and Nelson Coleman Jewelers in Maryland advertise that they buy gold and other jewelry.
Regardless of the type of store you choose, you should get at least three quotes, and more for high-value items. “Get offers in writing,” Fuller said. “Then you will have an idea of what the market is willing to pay. tell them to get at least three offers for the family, so they know to put their best offer on paper.”
There is one last option: your appraiser may be willing to act as a middleman and help you sell your jewelry. or he or she can refer you to a broker. look for someone with years of experience and deep connections who will attract buyers to you. some brokers charge a flat fee. others charge 10 to 60 percent of the sales price, depending on the amount of work involved.
elisabeth leamy is a 13-time emmy award winner and consumer advocate for 25 years on shows like “good morning america” and “the dr. ounce show.” connect with her at leamy.com and @elisabethleamy .