What to Ask When Selling Gold

If you're new to the idea of selling gold scrap jewelry for cash, you may be wondering how to start. This experience can feel quite daunting at first. How do you select the best used gold buyers? How do you know CT gold buyers are giving you a good price for your gold? Most people have no idea what their broken jewelry is worth or how much gold it contains. Here are the top ten questions you must ask any used gold buyer in CT before dealing with them:

1. How long have you been in business?

Whether you are selling your gold locally or sending it away, look for a company that has been in business for at least five years, as this is likely to indicate a reputable business. Many local businesses have been in business for decades, while few internet-based gold buyers have been around for more than a year or two.

2. How do you determine the price you'll pay?

A reputable used gold buyer in CT should be willing to explain the process to you and will make sure that you understand their pricing. Watch out for gold refiners such as those who advertise on TV who quote you a price without any information to justify it, as you may have been offered an unreasonably low price for the gold you're trying to sell.

3. What about gemstones and precious metals?

If the gold has any other components, especially precious metals or gemstones, be sure to ask if they've been included in the price. Local CT gold buyers will often pay for quality gemstones included in broken jewelry. On the other hand, many internet and TV-based gold buyers will not pay extra, or will even deduct their weight from the gold weight when determining how much to pay you for the gold. In this case, you'd want to remove the stones before selling your gold.

4. Do you pay extra for designer gold jewelry?

Most mail-in used gold buyers will not consider the design or maker of the piece when computing its value. Pawn shops and local jewelers, on the other hand, may decide to pay you based on the design of the jewelry, as they can resell it in their store rather than sending it away to be melted down into solid gold. The same goes for old gold coins - the value may lie in the coins themselves, not in their gold content. Ideally, you want to work with a CT gold buyer who can recognize such pieces, point them out to you, and be willing to pay you a premium for them.

5. How soon do I get paid?

Most local dealers, such as jewelers and pawn shops, will pay you the day you come in. Services advertising on the internet or TV must receive your gold in the mail, weight and process it, and then send you a check. This process can easily take several weeks or more.

6. Are you the refiner or a middleman?

This question can help you understand how much of a profit the used gold buyer in CT must make on the transaction. Middlemen sell to the gold refiners, and must offer you a slightly lower price in order to make a profit when selling the gold. On the other hand, these are the used gold buyers that are easiest to find, as they tend to include pawn shops, jewelry stores, and other local buyers of scrap gold in CT.

7. What is your physical address?

This is easy to determine for gold buyers with a local store, but surprisingly difficult for many internet-based companies, which may only publish the P.O. box where you send the package of gold. In the last few years, many gold buyers have sprung up from seemingly nowhere. Don't send your valuable gold jewelry off to someone who isn't willing to provide a physical address. If they disappear, you'll have no way to track them down. Instead, opt to sell through a local company that has been around for years.

8. What is your shipping insurance policy?

This question only applies to services that require you to mail your gold to them, but it is absolutely crucial. If something does happen in the mail, you're out of luck unless you have purchased shipping insurance. While you can decide to purchase this service on your own, some CT gold buying services will cover your package up to a stated amount, which may be anywhere from nothing to several thousand dollars. You may also want to ask about their internal policies to make sure that your gold does not get lost, stolen, or mixed with other packages before you are paid what it's worth.

9. How is the offer presented?

When selling gold to a local used CT gold buyer, you will typically receive an upfront offer after the employee has weighed your gold and calculated its value. For mail-away services, you may receive a check in the mail, after which time you have a period of usually about 10 to 12 days to refuse the offer. You're better off dealing with a company that promises to send their offer promptly, rather than waiting for weeks before you'll know how much they will pay for your used gold.

10. How much do they pay for gold per gram?

Any gold seller should be willing to tell you what they are paying for gram of 10K, 14K, 18K, and 24K gold according to today's market price. The amount of money your gold is worth depends on the gold purity (known as karat), weight in grams, and the daily spot gold price, which is determined on the open market. Just as the stock market goes up and down every day, so does the price of gold. Expect a used gold buyer to pay about 80-90% of the top value of your gold. Check the daily price online or in your newspaper before selling your gold so that you know if they're using a price that is too low.