$$$ for Gold-Part 4

Happy Friday loveleigh's!

Today is Part 4 of my gold/jewelry selling journey. I decided to list the rest of the items on Craig's List. (I could do a whole post or series of posts on Craig's List....maybe in the future I will!) I had the prices Precious Metals & Gems had told me, so I figured I would try to get a bit more by selling it myself, and if I was unsuccessful, I could always go back and sell it to them.

Here is a comparison of what they would have bought it for compared to what I was able to sell it for:

3 Ladies Watches: $1 each ($3 total) - I sold them on Craig's List for $5 each ($15 total)-Made $13 more
Coins: $85 - I sold them on Craig's List for $104-Made $19 more
Pocket Watches: $120 - I sold them on Craig's List for $160 - Made $40 more

I ended up getting $72.00 more by selling some of the things myself and after everything was sold (gold, coins, all the watches) I had $779.00 cash!!! Not bad! Some of the things were neat (like the pocket watches), but I never would have used them and they would have just sat in a drawer, unused. I feel I did my research and got a good price and am happy with my decision!

So, in summary, if you have gold or old jewelry you are wanting to sell:

1. Know what you have. You don't want to sell off a family heirloom or sell something you think is just costume jewelry when it is actually real (or vice versa). If you aren't sure if something is real or not, take it to a trusted jeweler (I took some of my things to Helzberg Diamonds) and they can help you with this.

2. Remember, the price of gold changes day by day, so that will affect the price you will receive for selling yours.

3. Do your research. The internet can be very helpful for this; just make sure you look at several different (and reputable) sites. Then, take your gold and/or jewelry to get an estimate-go to several different places (at least 3) so you can compare. Jewelry stores (especially local ones) are going to be your best bet as opposed to "Cash for Gold" type places. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions!

4. Remember, no matter where you take your things they are going to make a profit. That's just how business works. Once you go to your different chosen places, try selling some of the things yourself, especially if it's more than just "scrap" gold. (Craig's List or Ebay are great for this). Increase the highest price you received at the stores by 20-50% as a starting point (this is where prior research comes in handy as well). This leaves room for negotiation and you can always drop your price later. If your things don't sell on there, you can always take them back to the one of the stores and sell them.

5. Lastly, don't be afraid to walk away and think about it!
Come back next week and you can see what I decided to spend my cash on!

Have a loveleigh weekend!! :)

$$$ for Gold - Part 3

Hello loveleigh's!

Today is Part 3 of my Gold selling journey :) (You can go back and read Part 1 & Part 2 if you missed it.)

After I decided what I did and not not want to sell (I kept the ring with the small diamond and my Grandpa's wedding ring...more on that later!), I took all the items (gold jewelry, coins, watches & pocket watches) to a place called Precious Metals & Gems. They have been around for over 30 years and they buy AND sell all different kinds of jewelry, coins, etc. (not just gold). The guy who helped me was very nice and really helpful. He went through all the gold, separating the 10k from the 14k, then weighed them separately then gave me a price. He then looked at the wrist watches, pocket watches and coins and gave me prices on those as well. Total for everything? $688!

This gave me a starting point and an amount for comparison. Next, I went to a Cash for Gold place (a different one than I originally went to) that was just down the street from Precious Metals & Gems. From going in before and doing a little research online, I know these are NOT the best places to go. I mainly went here to see how Precious Metals & Gems compared. I just took in the gold (the watches and coins were not things they bought). At Precious Metals & Gems they offered me $430 for my gold. The Cash for Gold place offered me around $250. Almost $200 difference!!! The last place I went was to House of Diamonds, a locally owned jewelry store. A few days had passed and the price of gold had dropped a bit from when I took it to Precious Metals & Gems to House of Diamonds. House of Diamonds offered me $386 (again, just for the gold). However, after I told the owner that Precious Metals & Gems had offered me more (and the price they offered me), he decided to match that price plus $5 in hopes that the price of gold would go back up again. I decided to accept that offer and walked out with a check for $435!! I did end up going back to Precious Metals & Gems and sold 3 men's wrist watches (some of them were broke/not in good condition), a couple silver rings and a tiny, thin gold necklace for $80.

If you are thinking of selling gold or old jewelry, coins, etc. make sure you do your research. Take them to a few places, use the internet and compare! I, personally, would stay away from the Cash for Gold places and go to actual jewelry stores (and if they are locally owned, i.e. not a chain, that's even better!) Remember, no matter where you sell to, they are going to make some type of profit. That's just business. However, some places might only take 20 or 30% while other places are well over 50%. Don't be afraid to ask questions and don't be afraid to walk away and give it some thought!

Tomorrow, I will post the last part of my gold/jewelry selling journey (yes, there is a little more) :) Have a loveleigh day!! :)

$$$ for Gold-Part 2

Happy Friday loveleigh's! Yesterday I started talking about turning your old gold into cash. This past summer, I decided to look into it again. I went back through the cedar chest to see if there was anything else in there that might be of some value. I found some old wrist watches, pocket/hunter's case watches, silver dollars from the 1920's and some pins from WWII. Here are a few of the items:

My first stop was to Helzberg Diamonds. This is where my wedding set is from and I have always had a good experience every time I go in there and feel they are a trustworthy and reputable company. I took the rings in there, mainly just to see if I could find out a bit more about them. A few had stones, so I wanted to learn a little more about them. When you sell gold, they do not give you any money for the gemstones, just the gold, so make sure you take that into consideration. If you have gold that has diamonds or other gemstones in them, you might want to either remove the stones or sell the piece as jewelry rather than scrap. I took the rings in and found out one did have a diamond in it. It's not a big diamond, but I decided I definitely didn't want to sell it just for the gold.

After taking the jewelry to Helzberg's, I next had my Grandpa look through it (since it had been his wife's). Of the rings I had found, there was a white gold band in there. It looked like a wedding band, but I had no idea whose it had been. After showing the rings to my Grandpa, he told me this had been his original wedding ring from when he and my Grandma had gotten married! (He got remarried to a wonderful lady several years after my Grandma passed away, and had the diamonds from my Grandma's original wedding set remade into a ring for his right hand.)

So, my first piece of advice when selling (and this applies to selling anything really) is make sure you know what you have! Going to local stores, looking on the internet and asking relatives (if you have things that are old or have been in your family) are all great resources.

Come back for Part 3 for more of my gold selling journey :) Have a loveleigh weekend!!

$$$ For Gold-Part 1

Hello loveleigh's! Sorry for the delay in posting! When I started up this blog again, I did with the intent of posting often (maybe not every day, but fairly often) and I still intend to do that. However, I've had a cold/sinus infection for almost the past 2 weeks AND was planning a surprise party for my hubby who just turned 30 so those are my excuses :)

If you drive around you'll notice these cash for gold places everywhere. As we all know, the price of gold is at an all time historical high. You can go here where you are able to see the price of gold, day by day (or some of the early ones month by month), since 1970. It's actually pretty interesting to look at! (Or I think so at least - I'm sort of a numbers nerd) :) Just to give you an idea - back in January of 1970 the price of gold (per oz) was $34.94, 10 years ago in 2002 (when I graduated high school) it was $275-$345 (per oz) and this month it has been as high as $1,744 per oz!!!! Even going back just 4 or 5 years, it was still well under $1,000 per oz.

You've heard me mention several times on here things that were my Grandma's. About a year or two ago, I went through the cedar chest that my mom had inherited that had odds and ends in it. There were several gold rings in there (including her original wedding set, 25 year anniversary rings, and some really, really old wedding sets that we have no idea where they came from). The diamonds had been removed from her sets so it was pretty much just "junk" gold. I took all those rings and some old gold rings that I had as well to one of the cash for gold places (I believe there were 13 or 14 rings) and they offered me around $250. I decided to keep them and research a bit more.

Do you have any gold jewelry that you don't wear anymore or is broke, out of date, etc.? Tonight, go through your jewelry (or your Mom's jewelry...or your Grandma's jewelry....only with permission though!), then come back tomorrow for Part 2 of my post!

Also, I promise this DOES have to do with shopping, you'll just have to wait and see how :) Have a loveleigh night :)