March 02, 2020 - Jewelry & Luxury Items
Or at least melted down and made into something new. But who wants to waste time doing that when you can you can sell your old 18 karat gold jewelry?
With Spring in the air, it’s time to clean out your jewelry box and scrap that old, unworn gold for cash.
Of course, it’s important to figure out the prices of 18k gold before you hand over your old jewelry to your nearest pawn shop.
The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure your gold is real.
To do this, you can use a magnifying glass to read the karat number on each piece. If that number is no longer legible, you’ll want to have it tested by a reputable dealer. (This is also a good idea to ensure that your jewelry is not just gold-plated).
Once you are certain that you have 18 karat gold on your hands, you can take the next steps to figure out how much it’s all worth.
Of course, the prices of 18k gold will differ from 24k gold because of its purity.
24k gold is 100% pure gold while anything below will be a gold and metal alloy. 18k gold is only 75% gold, therefore it will cost 75% of the stock price for pure gold.
A reliable gold buyer will only deduct up to a 15% margin of the current stock price. Using a gold calculator can help you determine your 18k gold ring value before you meet with a buyer.
Pure gold is sold by the (troy) ounce while karat gold is sold by the gram.
One troy ounce equals 13.1 grams. However, it’s not as simple as dividing grams into ounces. Keeping in mind that your 18k gold is only 75% pure gold, the weight of your piece will have to be multiplied by .750.
The dollar amount will also vary depending on the spot price.
Gold is in a state of perpetual flux. Its value rises and falls consistently throughout the day depending on supply and demand. Because of this, the value of your gold may be greater in the afternoon than it was in the morning.
To complete the formula for the per-gram value of your gold, you’ll need to determine its market, or spot price. All you have to do is check the internet for updates and you will find the variable to the formula.
Here’s what you have to do to figure out the price of your 18k gold:
Keep in mind that gold must go through an assaying process to determine its actual purity. This requires melting and separating a sample of the gold to weigh it once more to determine its melting price.
Now that you know how to calculate the prices of 18k gold you can sell your old jewelry with the confidence that you will be getting the best price.
The first step if finding a reliable buyer in your area, and we can help you with that.
David Stiebel is one of the cofounders of PawnGuru. David was educated at MIT, where he studied Math. He subsequently worked at Bain as a data scientist before starting PawnGuru in 2015. He started PawnGuru to build a better tool for pawn shops and consumers to connect.
More Articles