8 Best Places to Sell Gold Online (And Locally)
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Whether you have gold coins or some gold jewelry, there are several places to sell gold online.
Knowing what your gold is worth and where to sell it is an important part of getting your money’s worth when selling gold.
Where To Sell Gold Online
Once you’ve decided to sell your gold, there are plenty of places that you can go to get cash for your gold. Take the time to shop around to find the best deal.
Here are the best places to sell gold for the most money.
1. Alloy
Trustpilot: 4.9 out of 5
Another one of our favorite places to sell gold is Alloy. Simply request a free appraisal kit and follow the step-by-step instructions. The kit includes free, insured shipping.
The appraisal offered is a free cash offer. Therefore, they offer an upfront offer with no hidden fees. They even provide a video of the appraisal so you understand how they reached the appraisal amount.
If you’re seeking a safe and efficient way to sell your gold, look no further than Alloy, the premier online marketplace for precious metals.
2. Express Gold Cash
Trustpilot: 4.9 out of 5
You can sell gold coins, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings to Express Gold Cash. The company will send you a prepaid FedEx shipping box that’s insured up to a maximum of $5,000.
Once your gold arrives, Express Gold Cash will send you an offer. If you accept, they will place your check in the mail within 24 hours.
3. SellYourGold.com
Trustpilot: 4.8 out of 5
Like other sellers, SellYourGold.com will send you a free mailer that you can use to ship your metals through FedEx. The mailer comes with $1,000 in insurance. But you can ask for the coverage to be increased to as much as $25,000.
Once the company receives your items, you’ll get paid within 24 hours. You can request payment through a direct deposit or PayPal.
4. Cash for Gold USA
Trustpilot: 4.3 out of 5
Cash for Gold USA is one of the oldest internet-based buyers of gold in the United States. Its website is simple, featuring an easy-to-use calculator that helps you determine the actual melt value of your gold.
Cash for Gold USA will give you a free shipping label that you can use to send your gold to them. They also have a price match guarantee. If you get a better deal from a competitor, they will match it.
You can request payment by check, bank wire, or PayPal, and you can get paid in as few as 24 hours after your gold arrives.
Learn More: Is Cash For Gold USA Legit?
5. Luriya
Yelp: 3.9 out of 5
Luriya is based in Manhattan, New York, and takes sales through the mail or in person at its store. You can schedule an appointment for an in-person transaction or request a prepaid mailer to ship your precious metals.
Items Luriya purchases:
- Watches
- Jewelry
- Gold coins
- Diamonds
- Gems
By default, Luriya offers insurance for up to $1,000 when shipping, but it can increase that to as much as $1 million, making Luriya an appealing choice for those who want to ship a large quantity of gold for sale.
Related: 10 Best Places to Sell Coins Online
Where to Sell Your Gold Locally
6. Pawn Shops
Pawn shops frequently purchase gold jewelry, so you can try bringing your metal to a local pawn shop to sell.
However, pawn shops are not often equipped to measure the purity of gold accurately and cannot make the best offer.
As a result, you should know the real value of your gold before trying to make a sale at a pawn shop. And, if the offer you get isn’t good enough, don’t be afraid to refuse to complete the sale.
7. Local Precious Metals Dealers
If you live near a precious metals dealer, you can sell them your gold. These gold buyers have experience determining the authenticity of precious metals and assessing their true worth.
With a reputable dealer, you have a good chance of getting a good deal and the convenience of making a sale in person.
8. Local Jewelers
Some jewelers are willing to buy precious metals, so you can visit your local jeweler if you want to make a sale.
If you’re selling gold jewelry, the jeweler can also tell you whether it is worth more than the value of the metal it contains, making sure you get a good deal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some of the most common questions about gold.
What Is Gold Worth?
Gold is a precious metal, but it’s also a commonly traded commodity. The market price for gold changes every single day.
To know what gold is worth, you’ll have to look up that day’s prices. You can easily do this at goldprice.org.
Why is Gold so Valuable?
It may seem strange that gold is so expensive. It looks nice, but why is there a broad agreement that gold should be costly?
History
One reason for gold’s high value is its history. Gold has been a common system of money throughout human history. Many currencies, including the US dollar, originally had their value tied to the value of gold.
At one point, you could even redeem your paper currency for gold with the government.
As paper currencies have experienced inflation, deflation, and wild volatility, gold has retained its value.
While its price changes, many people see it as a stable asset and hedge against uncertainty. This perception and the fact that gold has been so popular for so long help give it value.
Scarcity
The law of supply and demand dictates that the price of scarce things be relatively high. Gold is a limited resource. There’s only so much of it, and it’s hard to find more.
The days of gold rushes and panning for gold are over, so most gold is extracted through expensive mining operations.
This limited supply and the difficulty of mining more gold make gold valuable.
Common Uses of Gold
Beyond making pretty jewelry, gold has several industrial uses, so there will be a consistent demand for it. Gold is commonly used in electronics, computers, medical devices, and dental implants.
Gold’s scarcity, combined with its needs, means there will always be demand. Thus, there will always be a gold market.
How Can I Tell If My Gold Is Real?
Before you try to sell your gold, you’ll want to know if it’s real. If you’re expecting a payday from selling gold, only to find that you don’t have actual gold to sell, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
There are a few ways to determine whether your gold is real or fake.
One is to look for markings on the gold. Authentic gold jewelry is often marked with purity, usually on its clasps or the inner part of rings. It will be between 1 and 999 or 0K and 24K.
As a bonus, these markings indicate the purity of the gold, from 0 to 99.9%, or 0 karats to 24 karats.
These markings may be accompanied by a GF, GP, or GEP, which stands for gold-filled, gold-plated, or gold electroplate.
Another method is to see if your gold floats. Authentic gold is quite heavy, so it will quickly sink into a bowl of water. If it floats, it is an imitation or fake gold.
Real gold is not magnetic. If you have a powerful magnet, see if it attracts your gold. If it does, the gold is impure or false. However, you’ll need a strong magnet for this test. Most kitchen magnets won’t be enough.
Can I Sell My Gold Jewelry?
Yes, it’s possible to sell gold jewelry. The first thing you need to decide if you choose to sell jewelry is whether you’re trying to sell it as jewelry or as gold, which will impact your options when looking for a buyer.
If you want to sell your gold jewelry as jewelry, you’ll want to look to jewelers, pawn shops, or a way to sell to other consumers, such as through eBay or Craigslist.
If the jewelry is old, you might also have luck selling it to a person or shop that focuses on antique goods.
Why Do People Invest in Gold?
People invest in gold for various reasons. Gold has a lot of history behind it. It has been valuable for a long time and was frequently used as a currency, which gives it value.
Gold is also seen as a stable store of wealth. When currency values fluctuate, many investors buy gold to ride out the uncertainty.
It has also gotten easier to buy and sell gold. Before, you needed to purchase and store physical gold.
When you sell your investment, you must ship or transport it to the buyer. Today, you can buy securities that track the value of gold without holding physical gold yourself.
What Is a Troy Ounce?
A troy ounce is a particular unit of weight that the precious metal industry uses. That means that gold is typically weighed, bought, and sold in troy ounces.
The Troy weight system originated in 15th-century England. In the troy weight system, 24 grains comprise a pennyweight, and 20 pennyweights equal one ounce. Twelve troy ounces equals one troy pound.
One troy ounce equals roughly 31.1 grams or 1.097 regular ounces. When making rough approximations, you can assume that a troy ounce is 10% heavier than a regular ounce.
That means that if you have one regular ounce of gold, you have .91 troy ounces of gold.
How to Get The Most Money For Your Gold
If you are selling gold, you want to ensure you get the most value from the sale.
To give yourself the best chance of getting a good deal, you should follow these steps:
Estimate Your Gold’s Value
Before doing anything else, estimate the value of your gold. However, this can be a bit complicated because you have to account for its purity and changing value.
To start, sort your gold by purity, grouping each karat level. Once you’ve organized everything, weigh each group on its own, then multiply the weight you get by the purity of gold it contains.
You can put together a table like this to help with the process:
| Karats | Ounces | Purity | Weight of Gold in Ounces |
| 24 | 2 | 99.9% | 1.998 |
| 22 | 0 | 91.6% | 0 |
| 20 | 1 | 83.3% | .833 |
| 18 | 1 | 75% | .75 |
| 14 | 4 | 58.3% | 2.332 |
| 12 | 8 | 50% | 4 |
| 6 | 16 | 25% | 4 |
| TOTAL: | 13.913 |
Once you know how much pure gold you have, you can multiply the weight by the current value of gold.
While you’ll have trouble getting the full value of your gold from most buyers, this will give you a ballpark measure of the price you should get.
For example, if you have 14 ounces of gold and gold is selling for $1,300 per ounce, you’ll know that your metal is worth $18,200.
If you get an offer for $4,000, you’ll know it’s a bad deal. If the offer is for $16,000, it’s much more reasonable.
Summary
Gold is one of the world’s most popular precious metals, which means many businesses are interested in buying your gold.
If you are interested in selling gold, make an effort to ensure you’re paid what it’s worth.