Best place to sell old jewelry?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Recently I was given a woman's 14k gold wedding ring set as a donation to my Marathon fundraising efforts. While I know enough to know that those web sites like cash4gold and the like are total scams and should be avoided in favor of just about anything else, I'm not sure what that anything else should be.

Does anyone have recommendations for the best places to go to deal with such things? If specifics are relevant, the band has a braid pattern and the other ring has what appear to be two small diamond chips flanking a purple gem (amethyst maybe?). I haven't the slightest idea what the value might be.

(PS: If anyone else wants to donate their ex's jewelry, you are most welcome to, though direct credit card contributions on the web site are much easier. :)

Comments

[ron_newman]

I tagged this post 'jewelry'. People have asked your question before, but gotten only minimal responses. I don't know how reliable the responses are, but have a look:

http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1181467.html
http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/430117.html

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

D'oh! I didn't even think of that. Thanks for the links -- I fail.

The more recent post did have one specific recommendation, though, so that's worth trying. I even have to be down by there tomorrow afternoon, so maybe I can stop by then.

[ron_newman]

The last such post is two years old, so I see no harm in asking again.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

LOL my answer was the same then as it is now!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

And clearly this time around, people are more into discussing it. :)

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

I don't know the answer, but I would be very curious to find out (please post when you do?)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Right now my fungible plan is to try 333 Washington St in Boston, which contains a specifically recommended jeweler as well as (so the internet tells me) several others. Will update as events warrant. :)

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I have a jeweler there: Florin Ghita on the 5th floor (right in front of the elevator). He and his son Virgil are very fair and scrupulously honest. I trust them with everything. Tell them Coco sent you! :-)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yep, I was totally going off your comment in the last post. :)

Thanks!

[medyani.livejournal.com]

Firestone and Parson's in the back bay (on Newbury) provides appraisals, but there is usually a fee. You might start by going to a couple of pawnbrokers and getting an on-the-spot offer that will at least give you low-end ball park figure(s), then you can decide if it is worth paying an appraiser and selling to an antique (or simply used) jewelry store.

[motive-nuance.livejournal.com]

The NY Times did a video blog piece (http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/10/30/nyregion/1247465450890/city-critic-need-cash-sell-your-gold.html) on this recently.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

A local pawnbroker or consignment shop would be my first stop - Empire Loan, on Washington, could easily be a good place to stop by if you want to compare it to the places at 333, which if I recall correctly is the diamond and jeweler's building, chock-full of buy/sell joints.

Your best price is probably going to come from finding someone to buy it directly, somewhere like Craigslist or Ebay, but that's going to require more time, effort, patience, and luck...

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The other problem with Ebay is that between them and then Paypal, the fees are so excessive these days that a significant percentage is lost right there. It's particularly evil to get the double-zing given that Ebay owns Paypal.

But indeed, I was hoping somebody might have a particular pawnbroker to recommend.

[perich.livejournal.com]

The "junk store" on Elm Street (I don't know what else to call them) between Sligo and Cristo's Pizza posts the price they'll pay for gold every day on a whiteboard near the door.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good eye! I will definitely check with the jeweler above before selling, but I might as well stop into the nearest option for comparison's sake.

[ron_newman]

You mean La Chic Boutique ? I'm wondering why they have to close when it rains. (The web page currently says "CLosed on Wed Feb 24th Weather.")

Here's an old post about the store.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's weird, but useful to know so that I don't bother today, anyway.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Maybe they drive in from somewhere where there was massive snow predicted?

[artguychris.livejournal.com]

I recently sold a pile of silver coins. La Chic was paying more $/oz than a few other buyers I found. Still no where near the 90-95% of spot price that Snoopymel mentions below.

[trouble4hire.livejournal.com]

There's a consignment store in Harvard square that sells jewelry. You might see what you could get through them. It's called Second Time Around.

Hey!

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

My permanent jewelry is a wedding ring with two small diamonds flanking a purple gem and a braided ring on the other hand. I am somewhat troubled by your having acquired some alternate-dimension-me's jewelry!

Re: Hey!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Clearly this is a sign that you should donate them to my cause! 8)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

If Kitty Haas Jewelry is still in the Porter Exchange, you might go see her. If she can't buy it, she might give you a lead. (Though I haven't been there in a while, so call first)

[upsidown.livejournal.com]

She's still there, I was by recently.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

I doubt she is buying new jewelry though, since she's planning on closing the store May 1st. :(

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I've purchased several lovely pieces from her. But I knew she had to retire eventually. She had a great run in that store.

[ed4444.livejournal.com]

JJ Teaparty on Bromfield St in Boston is a reputable buyer.

For items that are just gold, it's not hard to estimate what a fair price should be. 14k means 14/24th pure gold. You can find the current gold spot price online (goldprice.org). Right now it's $1096 per ounce, so 14k gold should sell for $639 per ounce. Weigh the 14k gold and you will get an estimated value. You can expect to get 90-95% of the spot price from an honest buyer.

Gems complicate the matter, because they make it hard to weigh the gold alone, and grading the value of gems is not as simple as just weighing them.

[snoopymel.livejournal.com]

Call me lady. Let's talk. I know appraisers. That's where you start...

[snoopymel.livejournal.com]

BTW, please DO NOT sell it until you get a fair appraisal for it's value. Especially to a consignment store - although I love them dearly - they are not the best places to sell fine jewelry.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I don't have your number, but fyi, the jewelry itself is not really nice enough for anyone to pay much on consignment, imho. I think whatever value it has it in the metal. So far, the offers have varied by quite a bit, but next stop is the highly-recommended place above. if they go into my target range, I'm just gonna take it.

If I have jewelry to sell that is actually work something *as jewelry* I will definitely go through you. Thanks for the tips!

[ron_newman]

If you haven't sold it yet, read this article in today's Globe.

Rogers Jewelry

[petra petrova (from livejournal.com)]

Rogers Jewelry pays top dollar for old unwanted or broken jewelry. Check them out at http://www.rogersjewelry.com/rentabuck.html