CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - This summer the price of gold hit an all-time high. Though it’s dropped slightly, many people are still trading in their unwanted gold for cash. But with jewelry shops, pawn shops and websites, opportunities are endless on where to sell your unwanted gold. Not to mention that many businesses tout testimonies, guarantees, and claim they will give you the most bang for your buck. So where do you begin?

There are so many different outlets of where to sell your gold, it’s a bit overwhelming. KCRG-TV9 tagged along with Christine Whitlock, of Lone Tree, as she went in to get offers for her unwanted gold. “I just don’t wear them anymore so the money would be nice,” said Whitlock. KCRG-TV9 also brought along jewelry to have valued at three different local businesses. Though fairly similar appraisals were received from each place, KCRG-TV9 learned some ways on how you can get the most cash.

“I’m hoping a couple hundred dollars would be nice but you just never know,” said Whitlock. Many businesses use a similar method of calculating your pay out. They base it off the weight, karat, and the price of gold that day. Some places offer a bit more for a trade or valuable stones. “When people come in to our store, we typically offer them 70 percent of their refined gold value, and if they do want to trade then we give them another 20 percent,” said Ken Siegel, Owner of Siegel’s Jewelry in Cedar Rapids. “If the jewelry is something that can be resold, sometimes we will pay more for it, or if it’s a diamond,” said Ron Pettit, owner of Ron’s Coins in Cedar Rapids.

Some businesses might offer you less based on how much you bring in. “If somebody just comes in with one ring, sometimes we pay a little bit less than if someone comes in with a big handful, because we have to hang on to it and we have certain amount of weight to send in to the smelters at one time,” said Pettit.

Whitlock had a box full of heavy pieces and was offered a decent pay out. “I was offered almost 22 hundred dollars for all the gold so that was definitely a surprise,” said Whitlock. KCRG-TV9 bought a small pair of 14 karat gold earrings at a department store. The original price was $129.99, but KCRG-TV9 bought them 70% off for $42. When it came time to sell them for the gold, the highest offer KCRG-TV9 received was $10. “The markup on jewelry is tremendous, so the retail price is normally double if not triple what the wholesale cost is on that piece of jewelry,” said Pettit. “The companies that put out these products can basically mark them anything they want to originally,” said Siegel.

Some local jewelry shops told KCRG-TV9 they include labor, designer and demand when marking the retail price of jewelry. So what you pay for the piece, or the price your insurance company puts on it, is typically much higher then the value of your scrap gold.”The appraisals are pretty much for insurance purposes so usually the amounts are higher than what they paid for the piece of jewelry,” said Pettit.

At the three shops KCRG-TV9 went to, The Gold Estate, Ron’s Coins, and Siegel’s Jewelry, KCRG-TV9 received fairly similar, on the spot, offers. If you decide to sell your jewelry through a website sometimes it can take at least 2 weeks before you find out. That’s why it may be worth trying local businesses first. Not only do you watch them handle your gold, you might also walk out with more cash in your pocket. “We check online and of the mail orders that say they are the best and give the best reputation are usually giving anywhere from 10 to 20 percent less than what we do,” said Siegel. “You are dealing with somebody locally and you have trust. You are doing it face to face and it should be a lot more comfortable for the person selling it,” said Pettit.

KCRG-TV9 did talk to some people who have had good luck selling gold through a website. It might be helpful to monitor the price of gold before you sell and shop around. You can find the daily price of gold here: http://www.kitco.com/market/.

For more information about the businesses KCRG-TV9 interviewed:

http://ronscoins.net/

http://www.diamondsrforever.com/

http://www.thegoldestate.com/locations.php