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How to Sell Unwanted Jewelry for Maximum Profit

Jun 14, 2019

Knowing how to sell your jewelry is hard. Knowing how to sell it for maximum value is even harder. Knowing how to get maximum value while selling it on your own? Next to impossible.

Read our guide to selling unwanted jewelry to learn how to sell a piece of jewelry and get MAXIMUM VALUE. This article will outline how to…

  • Determine when to sell your jewelry
  • Know what you have
  • Prepare your jewelry for sale
  • Choose where to sell your jewelry

Let’s dig in!

When should you sell your jewelry?

Even beautiful jewelry sometimes no longer fills a need in your life. Whether that’s because of a painful memory, style change, or when you’d just rather have something else, there is absolutely no shame in selling jewelry.

Some good times or types of jewelry to sell include:

  • Estate jewelry: If you’ve inherited jewelry from a loved one, you might feel an obligation to hold onto the jewelry even if it doesn’t fit your personal style. While this is admirable, chances are the person who gave you the jewelry would rather you enjoy the money you made from selling the item on something you’d actually use or wear.
  • Jewelry from a past relationship or marriage: Broken hearts lead to bad memories. Even beloved jewelry can become a painful reminder of past times and make it even harder to move on. They can also lead to awkward conversations in new relationships.
  • You haven’t worn a piece in years: Chances are if you haven’t worn something in multiple seasons, then you won’t wear it in the future. This presents a good opportunity to trade in jewelry for something closer to your current style.

Identify what you have through a reputable source

For most people, jewelry identification is a tough nut to crack. Jewelry can be tricky like that — something that looks incredibly beautiful can be worth less than something that looks outdated or ugly to your eyes.

With the internet making more information available than ever before, it may seem like you can make this evaluation on your own. This is easier said than done. The nuances in material, quality, brand value, craftsmanship, and market trends are tough to evaluate if you’re not a professional.

You wouldn’t just research online how to change the brakes on your car, would you? You’d bring it to a mechanic!

Experienced and reputable jewelry buyers are trained to evaluate jewelry to give fair and honest prices to jewelry sellers just like yourself.

What goes into a jewelry buyer’s process for determining value?

  • Each jewelry item is evaluated individually and treated with the respect and care it deserves
  • Analysis of the designer and brand
  • Depending on the type of jewelry, we’ll evaluate using a set of guidelines. For instance, with diamonds we look at the 4Cs (Cut, Color,
  • Clarity, & Carat weight) to determine the value of your piece.
  • Analysis of the market demand and price for all materials in your jewelry

Learn more about our process for determining the value of your piece.

Don’t clean it!

It sounds like it makes sense: cleaning your jewelry makes it more presentable, thus valuable.

But when you work with an experienced jewelry buyer or collector, they’ll know what marks on your jewelry can just be cleaned and which ones are there for good. Cleaning won’t do much to affect the value. In fact, cleaning or repairing your jewelry can do more harm than good.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, the wrong cleaning solution or technique will actually do lasting damage to your jewelry, lowering or even destroying its value.

Determine where to sell your jewelry

The final piece of the puzzle is deciding where you’re going to sell your jewelry. This is an important one, as making the right decision in where to sell your jewelry could be the difference between getting scammed and making maximum profit.

While deciding where to sell your jewelry, consider…

  • The safety of where you’ll be selling your jewelry
  • The price you’ll get for your jewelry
  • How convenient it will be

While you want to maximize profit, you also want to limit the risk of being scammed and not have to go far out of your way to make the actual sale.

Options you should avoid

As stated above, you need to limit risk when determining a place to sell. You can’t make maximum profit if your jewelry is stolen from you. You also can’t make maximum profit if you aren’t getting your jewelry in front of lots of people who

Avoid the following buying options to ensure you are treated fairly and you get good value for your jewelry:

  • eBay: While you may see some items go for top dollar on eBay, this is more an exception than the rule. Often times, items will go weeks without selling or sell for way lower than market value due to the items just not being seen. There’s also a chance your buyer will dispute the authenticity, leading to you having to take back the item and pay out money for additional shipping costs.
  • Craigslist: The largest risk with Craigslist and other online classified sites is that you don’t know who you’ll be selling to. While this is true with eBay, with Craigslist, you’ll actually have to physically meet up with someone you don’t know. This is at best awkward, and at worst could lead to you being robbed.

Where should you sell your jewelry?

The best place to sell your jewelry is a reputable jewelry buyer who can give you a fair price for your jewelry in a safe and comforting environment.

Local jewelry buyers are trained and experienced in working with good people to sell their prized valuables. They give great prices and explain why your item is worth what they’re offering. You will never be left in the dark.

When you work with a local jeweler, you can expect:

  • A step-by-step explanation of why your jewelry is worth what they’re offering
  • Specialists who are trained to price your jewelry fairly
  • Staff who can answer your questions and speak to your concerns

Work with Samuelson’s Buyers to get the highest value for your jewelry

At Samuelson’s Buyers, we’ve been serving the Baltimore community for a century! We’re trusted in the community, offer great value, and specialize in developing relationships.

We want you to feel great when selling your jewelry. Contact us to find out more about our process and learn how you can get maximum value for your jewelry.

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