When to Buy or Sell Jewelry for a Fair Price
People around the world, for all of recorded history, have greatly valued jewelry and similar items made of precious metals and gems. Some items are coated with or even made entirely from the likes of gold, silver, and platinum, making them highly valuable and distinctive. Gems such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds may be put into jewelry or even the crowns of royalty, prized for their beauty, rarity, and expert craftsmanship. For much of history, jewelry has largely been exclusive to royalty, aristocratic families, and other upper-class families or groups. Jewelry can also be used to symbolize a person’s lineage, office, or religious status. Today, meanwhile, jewelry is well entrenched in the everyday market for most consumers, and many Americans are looking to buy or sell diamonds and jewelry. This is hardly new; jewelry has been used by everyday people and families since the 1800s at least, and many are family heirlooms. Mothers may pass down necklaces and earrings to their daughters, and fathers may pass along gold or silver coated wrist watches or pocket watches to their sons.
A Fair Price for Precious Items
Selling jewelry or looking for jewelry buyers is a matter of getting a fair price first. Gems, rings, necklaces, and anything plated in gold or silver may be highly valuable, and jewelry buyers should have experts on staff who can appraise an item’s value. Someone selling jewelry may also do this, especially if they are selling to people online rather than selling items to jewelry buyers such as major retailers. Jewelry buyers have experts on hand, but to sell your jewelry elsewhere, consider finding a third party. In this way, the seller does not rip themselves off by selling something for too low a value, and the buyer will pay only what an item is worth, nothing more.
How can the value of an item be determined? There is more than one way to make a ring or a silver plated item, and in fact these items vary widely in nature. Many jewelry buyers are looking for diamond rings, necklaces, earrings, and the like, but that’s not all. Gold and silver have been used to coat many different items around the world, from tea trays or teapots all the way to lighters, handheld mirrors, and statues or trophies. Rarely are these items made of pure gold or silver, though, since those metals are actually too soft in their pure forms to craft items. Rather, items may be coated in a top layer of gold or silver, and most often, silver is n fact an alloy. Sterling silver is about 92% silver and 7% copper in many cases, making it tougher for crafting an item.
How to appraise? An expert third party may be hired to inspect a silver or gold item for value, and they will consider the craftsmanship, metal purity, rarity and age of the item, and the condition of the gold or silver. Many such items are made by hand, and naturally, expert and professional craftsmanship in a gold or silver item raises its value. If the metal is in good condition and fairly pure, that too may bolster its value, as may the rarity of the item. A silver handheld mirror made with expert hands, that’s in good condition, may fetch a solid price. But a gold item made sloppily, and with stained or damaged gold, may suffer a reduction in value.
The owner of a silver or gold item, or jewelry, may visit an antiques trade show, where there will be many experts who can look over these items in person and determine their value. This is important before making a sale or a purchase. And if a person is shipping their gold or silver goods to a remote buyer, they should carefully package that item so that it will not become wet, chipped, dented, or scratched during delivery. Tough cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, padding, and more can help keep an item safe during delivery. If desired, someone selling their gold or silver items in person may package these items for an in-person buyer, so that buyer can take it home safely. Most buyers may be thankful and impressed by this extra level of care.
