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Where To Sell Gold 
How to Sell Scrap Gold

Gold! Gold! Gold!  From newspaper headlines in the 1800s to TV reality shows today, Gold continues to be a hot topic. And it should be. Even when the price dips, it's still worth hundreds of dollars more per ounce on an average day than it was even four years ago. So if you have it but want to sell it, you might be wondering where to sell gold and about your options.

Gold comes in many forms and there are several methods to get it. Some prospect and mine for nuggets, pickers, and flakes in gold-bearing streams or in underground tunnels, either as a hobby or as a business. Some miners would never think of selling the gold they’ve found, but for others, that’s exactly why they’re out there prospecting— to sell what they recover and make money from their hard work.

Some people inherit gold jewelry or coins. Some even find gold relics or old coins with a metal detector. With vintage and resale shops such a hot trend, many people "thrift" for items that are made of gold, sterling silver, and diamonds.

Gold is measured in karats - a unit of purity out of 24 - with each karat indicating 1/24th of the whole. Typically, gold jewelry in the USA is 10, 14, 18, 22 or 24k. If you're not sure how "good" the gold is that you own, using a scratch test, a gold testing kit or precious metal testing acids will confirm what karat gold you have.

No matter how you've come to be lucky enough to own real gold, you need to know Where to Sell Gold if your objective is to make money from it. You actually have several viable selling options depending on what kind of gold you have (unwanted or broken jewlery, beat up old coins, natural gold nuggets, etc.) and the time and money you have to spend in the selling process, and of course, what you are interested in doing. It is important to carefully and safely store what you’ve recovered until you're ready to sell. It’s best to keep your gold in a safety deposit box in the vault of your local bank, or purchase a safe for your home.

How to Sell Scrap Gold

Sell to a local pawn shop: A pawnbroker may know something about the value of your items, but they are in the loan and resale business so you cannot expect them to pay top dollar for your gold or any other item your sell to them. Pawn brokers aren't being greedy; they must pay low and sell high in order to stay in business. Many times pawn shops buy gold items to melt them down, so it doesn't matter the condition. Some pawn shops are in "grungy" parts of town and may not be reputable, so do some research first to be sure you are safe and dealing with a professional.

Sell Scrap Gold

Sell to a local jewelry store: A jeweler may wish to repair your broken jewelry and resell it, or perhaps "repurpose" your pieces into new creations, or perhaps just like a pawn broker they might melt your gold and not use it or resell it in its original form. Retail jewelers mark up jewelry significantly above the value of the precious metals and the labor/overhead involved in creating and selling the jewelry pieces, otherwise they wouldn't be able to stay in business. So again, they cannot pay top dollar for your gold, sterling silver, diamonds, etc. It is best to make an appointment in advance to have your jewelry evaluated or you could be standing in line while a jeweler helps other customers ahead of you.

gold refining

Send to a refinery: If you have a minimum of two ounces of any mesh size of natural gold, refineries might be the best solution. That might sound like a lot, but if you have recovered all sizes and shapes of gold over time, then sell it all at once, it's probably the most profitable method. Be sure you know exactly how much you have before you send it in. Every ounce of gold equates to 480 grains or 20 pennyweight or 31.104 grams so weigh it carefully on a quality digital scale. Refineries do not care if it's fine gold, pickers, nuggets, or a combination because they melt it all down and resell it by weight. They do not care about the size or shape of your original gold, they only care about the purity. A refiner will not pay you anything extra for beautiful specimens or nuggets, they will simply pay you for the inherent scrap value of your gold. Refineries pay around 95% of assay (gold purity test). That means you get 95% of whatever purity is determined (85% pure is pretty common), minus a refining fee. Search online for a list of refineries near you.

How to Sell Scrap Silver

Sell it on Ebay: Lots of people buy and sell gold and other precious metals on Ebay. Beautiful crystalline and leaf gold specimens, large nuggets, and pretty or unusual pieces of gold by itself or mixed with quartz are prized by collectors. Collectors buy prized pieces to add to their collections, and therefore, value the gold they buy differently than businesses that buy gold to resell it. Do your homework first, though, because there is a lot of competition on Ebay. And be sure that you understand all the fees Ebay charges you to list and sell items.

Cash for gold

Sell through the mail: Probably the fastest and simplest way if you do not have a lot of time or money is to get fast cash through the mail through a program like Cash for Gold. With the economic turmoil, there has never been a better time to cash in NOW on your gold materials and silver materials such as gold coins, silver coins, broken necklaces and bracelets, rings, earrings, dental gold, old gold watches, silver coins, sterling silver flatware, silver jewelry, diamonds in necklaces, rings, and bracelets.

Simply request a FREE USPS SAFEPAK by filling out a short form, ship your items when the SAFEPAK arrives at your home, and within 24 hours of Cash for Gold receiving items, you'll get a check. The value of your material will be based on the current price of gold and the weight and purity of your items. Satisfaction guaranteed or your items will be returned to you. Fast, simple, and profitable! You don't need to drive anywhere or make an appointment with anyone to have your items evaluated. Just mail them in and it's done. This could truly be the best answer to the question of Where to Sell Gold.

No matter what option you choose on Where to Sell Gold or silver, it is not realistic to expect to receive the same amount for your jewelry or other items that you paid in the store. No one is trying to cheat you, but these are retail prices. No business can both pay retail and sell at retail and stay in business.

Keep in mind that the brand, condition, beauty, or age of your items generally do not play any role in the items' value. Its simply the value of the precious metals that you will be paid for. Selling your scrap gold and scrap silver items is a great way to make extra money now for unwanted, ugly, broken items you don't use or want!