With all the cash for gold advertising you see these days, offering you a quick payment for your gold, you would think selling gold would be a pretty simple process. Well if you want to get anywhere near what your gold is actually worth it takes a bit more than just picking the first gold refiner you come across and sending them your gold in one of those convenient little mailing envelopes. The following article will explain how you can safely sell your gold for the highest amount possible.
There are many different kinds of gold that you can sell but most fall into two general categories:Â gold bullion or scrap gold. Gold jewelry, dental gold, electronic scrap, or anything that needs to be smelted down falls under the latter category. While gold bars, coins, ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund), and certificates would all fall under the former category. It is important to have these distinctions as each type has a different kind of buyer.
Although many people would tell you to hold onto your gold investment as prices are predicted to rise even higher in the next few years, no one can truly know the future. And with prices near record highs again, now is a good a time as any. Most people usually only sell gold bullion out of necessity anyway as short term investing in gold is made much easier through the use of ETFs .
Selling physical gold like bars or coins that are held directly by you (i.e. in your safe at home) or even indirectly (i.e. in a safety deposit box or bank vault) is a fairly simple procedure. There are many gold bullion dealers that buy and sell gold around the world. You just have to find one (either locally or online) that will pay you the full value of your gold. eBay can also be a good place to sell a small amount – you just have to be careful who you deal with.
You can find out how much your gold is worth by checking the current spot price of gold with a trusted financial resource like Kitco. The spot price is almost always quoted in troy ounce or per 100 grams. Since most bullion is either .995 or .999 purity (it should be stamped somewhere on the bar) you just have to multiply the spot price by the weight.
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Scrap gold can be a bit harder to sell than gold bullion for several different reasons but with the right information anyone can do it. Most people who sell this type of gold are going to be selling gold jewelry, or the like, and probably don’t have much experience.
The hardest part of selling scrap gold is figuring out how much your gold is worth. I would read this article on finding your gold’s value if you want to do it yourself. Otherwise you can bring your scrap gold to a pawnshop or jewelry store where they can test the gold’s purity and weight. The only downside is that you have to trust their estimate which may or may not be accurate.
Once you have an estimate it is just a matter of finding a buyer – which sounds easier than it is. Pawnshops, jewelry stores, gold dealers, and refiners are all a few of the different types of buyers to consider. Most cities will have at least one of these gold buyers, but if you want to get the most for your gold you will want to go with a gold refiner.
Gold refiners are very similar to gold dealers but they own their own refinery. So basically you cut out the middleman with refiners. They can be found online or through your local yellow pages. If you decide to go the online route make sure that the gold refiner you choose is reputable. A good way to tell is to look them up on the Better Business Bureau’s website and/or see if they are a member of the International Precious Metals Institute.
Just make sure that whoever you decide to go with will pay at least 90% or more of the current spot price of gold.  Most online refiners won’t even tell you upfront how much they pay, so you have to be particularly careful with them and make sure that you know how much your gold is really worth.
That’s all there is to it. Selling gold can be a bit confusing at first, but if you follow these simple guidelines even the beginner can sell their gold without getting ripped off.
Aaron has been a professional gold seller for over 10 years and is an editor of how to sell gold for cash where he teaches people how to avoid cash for gold scams.
