Gold has been used for centuries as a form of money. Reading this article is a great idea if you want to maximize the potential gold offers you. Continue reading for sound investment advice.
Get a good education in precious metal pricing before you try to buy or sell gold. The values of precious metals fluctuate daily, so be certain you know the spot price before any transaction. Also be ready to pay increasingly higher percentages above melt values for any gold pieces that are fractional. These include 1/10, 1/2 and 1/4 ounce pieces.
Think about selling gold on the web. Visiting a broker to make a gold purchase is no longer required. Just visit a reliable website that will buy your gold. You will receive a kit that will allow you to mail your gold items off. If all is in working order, they’ll then pay you at their going rate.
Investigate the proposed delivery schedule when you are considering make a gold purchase. If a seller gives you anything other than immediate delivery, you need to have some kind of written contract or guarantee when your pieces are arriving. Make sure that a specific date is listed within this writing. Do not complete your order without this important information.
Verify the market price before selling your gold jewelry. That is going to help you figure out whether you are being offered a good deal. The majority of dealers will offer you market value for your gold, but some know that sellers just want to convert their items into cash quickly, and they take advantage of the buyers.
If you’ve been thinking about selling your gold to a mail-in company, take the time to read over their fine print before getting involved with them. Be certain you have a clear understanding of the timeline involved, and make certain your jewelry is insured. The final step is to take photos of your jewelry, just to be sure you can fight any future problems that may occur.
Know that anything that has gold in it is sellable to a gold dealer. You could, for instance, sell some broken jewelry, some tableware, gold coins or many other objects. In fact, a gold piece doesn’t have to be 100-percent gold to be worth something. It could be plated gold or it could be that just a portion of the item is made of gold. You can still get some decent money selling these items.
Before selling your old and broken gold items for cash, make it a point to visit at least 3 or 4 buyers. Prices paid will vary from shop to shop. Stores that are not near shopping malls may have lower overhead and are able to pay more.
When selling jewelry, it is important to decide whether it will be sold as jewelry or as gold. Most pawn shops and gold buyers will purchase your gold jewelry for melt value. Don’t let this hamper you, because you’ll find the right buyer eventually.
Make sure that you know the current market value of your gold before selling it. This price can be found on a number of websites. When going to buy the jewelry, you should not have to pay higher than 8% markup over the spot price. Paying that price would simply be unfair to you.
If you don’t want to worry about storing, shipping and insuring your gold, consider buying GoldMoney instead. You will own some actual gold, but it won’t be in your possession. You will simply establish and account, deposit fund and receive the value of your account in gold. The gold resides in a bank. From there, you can sell it or do a number of other things with it.
Know what you’ve really got. Many things look like solid gold but are not. In many cases, additional metals have been mixed with the gold to strengthen it. This makes the value lower. This is also true of items that are just plated. If you don’t know exactly what you have, consider an appraisal.
You can easily test whether a gold piece of jewelry is real by using a simple magnet. If the piece is real gold, the magnet will not be attracted to it. Sometimes the clasp of a piece is solid, however the rest will be plated. This method is good test for that.
Check with the BBB before you sell gold to a dealer, jewelry store, gold buyer, etc. The BBB listing should include basic data about the company, along with details about any complaints made against them. Take a close look at complaints, and look to see if resolution was achieved. If there are many unresolved complaints, or a huge number of overall complaints, think about giving your business to someone else.
Break up your gold into karat values when you intend to sell it. The karats determine the value and you may not get what you’re entitled to when you cash in your gold. Higher karat value translates to higher value overall.
Have a plan in place before you begin investing in gold. Gold might be a great investment, but it’s also a very volatile one. You will get a better return on your investment if you have some clear expectations and choose an investment adapted to your needs.
Most people know gold is a smart investment. However, many do not realize how gold can protect them during difficult financial times. You should understand how to successfully use gold to build your wealth after reading this article.