I finally got around to selling an old gold necklace. Let's make this fun. Here's the picture below. It's a Cleopatra style necklace, 14K and 11.6 pennyweight, tri-colored gold. Can you guess how much I got?
Let's put it this way: I got less than I was hoping for, but then again, I didn't buy it. It was a gift from an old boyfriend, someone I don't care to remember, a good 25 years ago. As I recall (I was with him and picked it out at a local Mall) he said it was marked for $500 and he got it for $300. So i figured after all this time, it should be more than $300. I was hoping for $500.
I went to 5 local jewelers. One wasn't in the store that day and the woman wanted to keep the necklace until the following day. I declined. Another jeweler said he'd also need to keep it overnight to "test" the gold, even though I showed him where it was stamped 14K. (If it's just 10K gold, it's not stamped, only 14K and 18K is stamped.)
So i really just got 3 prices. The 1st one was the best: $228. The 2nd was $200 and the 3rd was $187.
This is the price i got, not for resale as is but for melting down. (2 of the jewelers said the style, yellow, rose and white gold, was "dated." Didn't know jewelery styles could go in or out of fashion, but i guess they do.)
I know I could have gotten more money if I'd tried to sell it myself, like on eBay, but I just don't feel like learning how to sell on eBay.
I figured that with the vast majority of "stuff" you buy, very few of it is ever redeemable for cash once you purchase it. Sure, you can sell stuff on eBay or at a tag sale, but you're likely getting .50 on the dollar, right?. It seems like only jewelery or antiques can be converted back into cold, hard cash, so i felt fortunate to be able to take a piece I rarely wear, that, sitting in my jewelry box would always be a target should my home ever be robbed, and get enough cash to pay for a month's worth of groceries. I value a month's worth of groceries more than yet another doo-dad necklace.
The store that gave me the best price was the one that looked most reputable and upscale from the outside.
Unfortunately, I really have no other jewelery to sell. I have a few pieces, a strand of old pearls and a gold heart with 3 rubies, from my grandmother, and i would never sell those. The rest of my jewelery is not necessarily gold, nor expensive.
Turning gold into cash
November 3rd, 2009 at 09:04 am
November 3rd, 2009 at 09:11 am
However, you did a great job looking for the best price. I don't know if you would have done better on ebay...have you seen how much jewelry is on there? It is hard to sift through the thousands of listings!!
When I sold a couple of gold rings they used a simple tool to tell them the amount of gold in the jewelry. I think it is wise you didn't leave it overnight with anyone!
Enjoy that cash!!
November 3rd, 2009 at 09:16 am
Yep, I voted--my first odd-year election! I feel proud that I'm finally involved enough in my community to vote every year, but ashamed that it took me 35 years to get to this point. It's nice--there are no lines, and you feel like your vote really makes a big difference. We had to vote for mayor, city council and one procedural amendment. I skipped voting on some of the other, smaller offices because I didn't know anything about the candidates and didn't want to mess things up.
November 3rd, 2009 at 09:28 am
November 3rd, 2009 at 09:37 am
We're not having an election in my neck of the woods, but I would have voted if we were.
November 3rd, 2009 at 09:39 am
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:23 am
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 am
November 3rd, 2009 at 02:11 pm