With the state of the economy lately, one new phenomenon has been in the area or scrap gold. So exactly what is scrap gold? Basically gold scrap consists of anything a person or business wants to sell that has gold content. The most prevalent is unwanted gold jewelry, you’ve no doubt seen the plethora of commercials telling you to sell your scrap gold for top prices these days.
I purchase precious metals for a living and have been doing so for over 10 years and are scrap gold buyers. The majority of the material we purchase is from individuals who have unwanted or broken gold jewelry. They are selling this material for a variety of reasons, some need the extra money, some of it is broken or out of style, some has been inherited and people would prefer to have the money as there is no real emotional attachment.
Types Of Scrap Gold
Gold scrap in jewelry form can consist of any of the following items:
(Any karat i.e. 9k, 10k, 12k, 14k, 18k, 21k, 22k or 24k)
- Gold chains and necklaces
- Bracelets any karat size of condition good or broken
- Earrings pairs or singles any karat or condition
- Brooches
- Old Class Rings
- Gold Rings
- Wedding Bands
- Gold Pendants
- Gold Bangles
- Gold Watches (preferably with karat gold band as well)
Other Types Of Gold Scrap:
1. Dental gold such as filings, bridges, partial etc, if the dental gold is fairly yellow in colour it generally tends to be 66.5% gold content or 16 karat. Good quality dental gold will retain a good yellow colour without tarnishing and will feel heavy and solid when you lift it. The downside of dealing with dental gold? The worst thing is handling it when there is remaining tooth matter, root or porcelain remaining. Most individuals I deal with who have dental gold to sell are older clients for obvious reasons, the others include active and retired dentists as well as funeral home owners.
2. Electronic scrap, although items such as computer boards and cpu’s contain some gold overlay it takes kilograms of it to add up to a significant amount.
3. Gold Plated or Gold filled items i.e. Jewelry etc., again you need a significant amount of material (kilograms) to add up to substantial value.
4. Old Gold Coins can also be considered scrap, pretty much any recent modern day coin under 22 karat would be considered scrap and meltable, a shame sometimes but with the recent increase in gold prices they’re worth more melted than as coins.
5. Gold bars, any bar with a recognized refiners name would be bought as bullion but would be something more gold buyers should purchase.
6. Silver, of course gold is probably the most well known precious metal sought after from the general public but with the increases in metal prices, scrap silver is also be highly sought out. Jewelry, unwanted sterling silverware and even electrical contacts are items that are starting to fetch good prices with the spot price of silver edging higher. Many people, including myself feel silver is undervalued and I believe it will break the $50/ounce mark in the near future, I’d advise hanging on to your silver a little longer if you can.
The Price Of Scrap Gold
The price you can expect to sell your items for will be dependant on a number of factors. Firstly scrap gold prices are and should be a direct reflection of the price of gold on any given day.
Everyone wants to receive a fair value for their items but you need to be aware of a couple things. Major refineries do not deal with the public or individuals, this is where the middle men or scrap gold buyers come in. In the past the only place most people would think of to take their scrap gold jewelry would be to the pawn shop.
Historically pawn shops have paid a very small amount for people’s jewelry and are probably the worst place you could go to sell scrap gold jewelry.
Okay so now you know there are Refineries then Scrap Gold Dealers. Refineries will pay a scrap gold dealer approximately 96 to 98.5% of the actual gold content of the scrap. The average consumer will not be able to get this rate of return so accepting that fact is what you should do first.
So how do you get the best price when selling scrap gold? What you should do is compare the prices being paid by a variety of gold buyers, visit their websites, if they don’t list their prices move on, the reason they don t list price is they are not paying competitive rates.
Make sure their prices are current and have no conditions, I’ve seen many they have fine print stating you need a minimum of 100 grams to receive these rates, most people have smaller lots so they’ll receive much less. Also make sure they are listing their prices in grams and not pennyweight. Some companies try to fool you by listing their price in pennyweight or dwt which make their prices appear higher.
With the current influx of new competition in the scrap gold market it’s forced many reputable companies to raise their prices to remain competitive which is good for the consumer.
Watch out for cash for gold scams, I recently saw one national advertiser stating they were paying 30% more over the holiday season. I can’t help but think how low their prices must have been to begin with if you’re offering a 30% increase! Anyways this company has a very poor track record and has been feature on 60 minutes in a negative way, the owner was rude and arrogant in the interview, I guess it all comes down to advertising to the masses with them and having no conscience.
We have been operating in the cash for gold industry for over 10 years and pay some of the highest rates in the industry, as with any business we need to make a profit to survive and we pay 80% of the actual gold content for scrap gold jewelry.