the boomer live

Gold has been rocketing in price over the past few years, it is currently at  $988.00.  If you have old gold jewelry laying around that you no longer use, now may be a good time to turn it into cash.   The Wall Street Journal had an article by Ann Zimmerman that details what she did to turn some of her old bling into new green $$$$.

I have excerpted part of the story below.  As you will see there are a great range of prices but the company in New York seemed to have given the best deal.

“”My answer arrived in the weekend newspaper, where I noticed a loud, four-page ad screaming, “BUYING 7 DAYS ONLY — INSTANT CASH FOR ALL.” A group of 25 independent buyers was setting up shop in a local Dallas hotel, buying diamonds and gold and select antiques.

I took my bag of jewelry and headed to the hotel, where I met Harrisburg, Pa., antiques jeweler Rodger McKinley. He told me he travels 30 weeks a year buying gold. He resells some pieces and melts down the rest.

From Mr. McKinley I learned I had exactly 60 penny weights, or three ounces, of gold jewelry, which included one five-penny, 18-karat bracelet, with the rest 14-karat. He offered me $750. I was ecstatic — until I began to wonder if a 50% discount was the going rate. That day gold was selling for $902 an ounce. Three ounces of my jewelry at 58% of the market price would come to $1,569. I knew Mr. McKinley deserved to make a profit, but how much was fair?

I decided to keep looking. My next stop was the Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange Inc., a huge store that sells used jewelry and watches on its premises and in online auctions. A jeweler there looked at my four pieces through a jeweler’s loupe, weighed them, and then offered me $600. No good.

Next, I turned to the Internet and found a Dallas gold broker and wholesale jeweler who offered me $730 over the phone after I gave him my weights and karats. I told him I’d already received a $750 quote when gold was at $902, and prices had gone up to $939 that day. “Oh, I didn’t realize it was that high,” he explained hastily. “I’ll go as much as $1,000 then.”

Overnight Jewelry

Not good enough. I went back to the Internet and found a gold broker in the heart of Manhattan’s diamond district, U.S. Gold Buyers, which buys and refines precious metals. A customer-service representative said the company pays 96% of the spot price for five ounces or more and on a sliding scale for lower weights. I could overnight my jewelry at the company’s expense, and a representative would give me a quote the next day. If I declined the offer, the jewelry would be sent back at no charge to me. If I accepted, I could expect a payment to be processed within 24 hours. I could choose a wire transfer, or have the money sent via PayPal or by postal mail.

As reassurance that the company could be trusted, she gave me the company’s license number with the Better Business Bureau and the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs.

Using the company’s Federal Express account, I sent off the loot, and the next day a salesman called with a quote just as gold hit its new $949-an-ounce high. U.S. Gold Buyers’ offer: $1,570.17.

Sold. My check arrived the following Tuesday.

I would advise checking into any company you might be planning to use.