Sell Scrap Gold while Market Is Good
Gold prices are currently high, making it an excellent time to sell your broken jewelry and other scrap gold. However, you might have a hard time knowing whether or not you’re getting a fair price for your gold. Here’s a short guide to finding out how much you can sell scrap gold for.
Scrap value is the minimum value that gold should be sold for – the value of the gold itself. Before you sell your old jewelry or other gold items at this price, think about whether or not you could be getting a better price. After all, there are a number of factors that could bring the price up.
Good workmanship could get you a price that’s less than retail, but higher than scrap. Likewise, something that’s antique or bears a maker’s mark may be worth more, as well as any piece with gems set into it. They all have value outside the transaction, and should be removed from any gold piece that is only worthwhile as scrap. Sell precious stones to another dealer.
Once you have determined that the piece has no other value than scrap, you’ll need to know what karat it is. This ranges from eight karat to twenty-four karat, and will tell you what percentage is truly gold. Twenty-four karat gold is nearly pure, and eighteen karat is about seventy-five percent pure.
Eight karat gold is found mostly in Europe, and is too low in purity to be recognized as having much value in the US. This material is about a third gold, and sometimes may tarnish. Nine karat is thirty-seven and a half percent gold, and is found mostly in the UK. The minimum US standard is ten karat, at about forty-one percent gold. This material is chosen for its hard wearing qualities, as it’s harder than pure gold.
