If
you want to sell your old gold jewelry or coins to help home budget don't
expect to get the full market value for an ounce of gold that you hear so much
about.
Buyers
must take some piece of profit and you'll get a portion of the scrap value, not
the market value, for your gold. Buyers melt the gold down, and they are not
interested in artisanship or style of the jewelry you try to sell. Another
important thing is that dealers must pay a smelter, someone who melts the gold,
up to 30 percent of the value to refine the precious metal, after that comes
buyer's profit.
Also,
remember, some gold items are purer -- and more valuable -- than others are.
Pure gold is considered 24 karat, or 24k. Think of it as a 24-slice pie -- each
slice a single karat. Therefore, a necklace that has an ounce of 10k gold has
less than half the gold of a necklace with an ounce of 24k gold.
