Want to sell gold?  You are not alone.  But, are you an educated gold seller?  In these economic times, there are two types of people considering selling gold jewelry – people who need cash and people who want to take advantage of the opportunity to sell gold jewelry they no longer want or wear at historic high gold prices.  With all the media attention gold has received in the last three years, one would think consumers would be better informed about gold value, yet that is not the experience of some gold buyers.

“What is interesting to me,” said Mary Hamilton, a customer service manager at , an online – and brick and mortar – cash for gold buyer GoldFellow®, “is how few people really understand the value of their gold.  Many people I speak with who want to sell gold either think their gold jewelry is worth much less than it is actually worth – or they have an inflated dollar amount in their heads they would like to receive which has no relationship to the actual karat and weight of their items.  Both of these types of gold sellers are more common than gold sellers who understand gold purity and pennyweight pricing.”

Hamilton went on to describe a recent transaction which illustrates her point.  A woman decided to sell gold using GoldFellow®’s free insured FedEx® shipping which the company automatically insures up to $1,000.  At that time, the gold price was in the high $1,300’s per troy ounce of fine (24K) gold.  The woman told Hamilton over the phone the amount of cash for gold she was expecting was a “couple of hundred dollars” for the charm bracelet, chain, rings and earrings she sent GoldFellow®.  She admitted she never considered calling the company to request additional insurance over the $1,000 as she didn’t imagine her gold would be worth anything close to that.

“I was afraid this woman was going to cry when I told her we would pay her nearly $2,100.00,” explains Hamilton.  “She was an elderly lady living in an assisted living.  Her daughter encouraged her to sell some of the gold jewelry she wasn’t wearing to have more money for fun things like day cruises and dining out.  She was so surprised at how much gold cash she received – and was so grateful.”

When considering where to sell gold, consumers need to be aware that Gold buyers purchase gold jewelry as scrap gold – gold that is to be melted – not polished and resold – by karat and weight.  The prices paid by gold buyers – whether they are online precious metals dealers, refiners, jewelry stores, gold party companies or pawn shops – are based upon the purity of the gold as denoted by karat, the weight of the item and the gold price.  From there, gold prices paid – either by troy gram or pennyweight – vary according to dealer costs and the profit made on the transaction.  Because of this, there is a wider range of pricing for the same one pennyweight of 14 karat gold, for instance, than most consumers would expect.  So, when a consumer wants to sell gold, they are best off educating themselves about gold value and doing some gold price shopping before selecting a cash for gold buyer.

That’s certainly the recommendation of GoldFellow.com founder, Michael Gusky who is often interviewed by news media outlets for information about the best way for consumers to sell gold.  Gusky is widely recognized as an expert and consumer advocate in the precious metals industry.  His company, GoldFellow®, has been recognized by CBS Morning News as a BBB recommended gold buyer.  GoldFellow® has been recognized by the Better Business Bureau and has an A+ Rating with no complaints against it.