In a financial bind and got some scrap gold lying around? Sell it. In trying times it is more common than not that those with fat jewellery boxes and excesses from more prosperous times are going to sell it.
Whether you want to sell your gold to pay rent or buy a shiny new bauble, this gold selling guide is for you. And we are not just talking about gold jewellery, either –although that is typically the go-to when it comes to selling gold at a pawn shop or the like. We’re also talking about gold fillings, nuggets, gold bars, bits, pieces, and other forms of scrap gold.
When to buy and sell Gold
It is commonly known that in order to get the best bid on your gold scraps, sell it in times of economic turmoil. The value of gold tends to be higher when the economy has fallen flat or worse. The time to buy gold is during times of financial security. Needless to say, buying gold bullion bars is a smart thing to do during prosperous times.
How to sell scrap Gold
1. Organize your gold into groups of karats
The reason people are to separate their gold by karat is because not all gold is created equal. Some gold has a much higher value than other gold.
Pieces of gold are typically labelled with the number of karats built into it; if it isn’t or you can’t make out the digits of your gold’s karat value, take it to a reputable gold dealer. Being sure of your gold’s proper karat will maximise the amount of cash for gold in Melbourne.
2. Perform an acid test
If you are unsure whether your gold is actually gold, you might want to do an acid test. An acid test is generally done with nitric acid and a test stone. In a nutshell, if you rub your gold with the stone that comes with gold testing kits, it will rub off some gold.
And then when you apply the nitric acid to it, it will react in one way or the other; fake gold will change colour with nitric acid, whereas real gold will remain unchanged.
3. Gold coins
Gold coins come with their own caveat; the value marked on the coin may actually be higher than the gold itself. Using an imaginary example, let’s say you have a gold coin that is marked as a $2 coin. The gold within the coin itself might actually be less than $2. Making the marked value of the coin higher than the gold it contains and vice versa.
4. Gold weight
Once you are confident you know the karat of your gold, weigh it. You could purchase a jeweller’s scale for this; however a digital food scale is capable of doing the job as well. If your scale only measures ounces you will need to convert the value to grams. 1 ounce translates into 28.3495231 grams. Divide and multiply that number accordingly!
5. The math of Gold value
The value of gold changes regularly as mentioned earlier; in good times it’s cheaper than that of bad economic times. So with that in mind, consult an online gold calculator and be sure to specify the amount of gold you have in grams.
When it comes to buying and selling gold, it doesn’t always have to boil down to trust. You’ve got the ability to weigh your gold yourself. You can get second and third opinions.
When you do allow a gold dealer to handle your gold, keep an eye on their fingers and never let them leave the room with your gold. Many gold dealers are known to have fast and sticky fingers and there are many reported cases of gold dealers taking gold to the back and swapping your gold out for gold of a lesser value. So even if you’re dealing with a reputable vendor, in the words of Fox Mulder –trust no one.