Gold: Tips to Know Before You Sell

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The best tips to know before you sell your gold.

Know What You Have

You’ll often see solid gold jewelry denoted as a number followed by ‘k’ or ‘ct’. E.g., 9k gold or 9ct gold. This refers to the ‘purity’ of gold, which is expressed as carats (‘ct’) or karats (‘k’).

The purest form of gold you can get is 24k gold which is 100% pure gold. 24k gold is very yellow in color and soft in texture. As it’s too soft to practically use in jewelry, pure gold is often mixed (aka ‘alloyed’) with other metals to make it more durable. These gold alloys are what we refer to as ‘solid gold’ in jewelry.

Gold jewelry is rarely made from pure gold. Most jewelry in the United States is 10-, 14- or 18-karat gold that is comprised of gold and other alloys. When selling your gold, you will only get paid for the parts that are pure gold.

Read more in Westlake’s guide here.

Get an Appraisal

It is also a good idea to have antique or intricate jewelry appraised before selling it. Designer or antique jewelry could be worth more to sell as a finished piece than for its gold metal.

An appraisal is considered a document that describes an item, assesses its relative quality, and assigns a value to it. Descriptions usually cover the visible, measurable, and analyzable facts about the item (weight, materials, markings). Most jewelry appraisals also describe subjective features such as gem quality, rarity, and quality of the manufacture. 

Ready to sell your gold jewelry? Contact Westlake Gold today for a free consultation and jewelry cleaning.

Find a Reputable Buyer

Westlake Gold buys precious metals of gold, silver and platinum, watches, loose and mounted diamonds, and vintage jewelry. In addition to buying your scrap gold and silver, we also buy diamonds, name-brand jewelry, silver or gold coins, and timepieces such as Rolex, Cartier, Bvlgari, Roberto Coin, Van Cleef, and Arpel, and many more.

With over 15 years of experience, Westlake Gold can quickly determine what your items are worth and offer you the best price available. We pride ourselves on giving our customers excellent service, saving you time and money. Call us today for a free consultation and jewelry cleaning.

Know the Price of Gold

Keep up with the prices of gold by using our spot price checker tool.

We pay competitive pricing on your jewelry, broken and scrap gold or silver and diamonds. Come in or call today to let us evaluate and provide you a no-obligation, and more importantly, a “no pressure to sell” quote!

There is no “one” pricing when selling your gold and silver. We test and separate each item by karat. We weigh each karat grouping together to pay you at different rates based on the gold karat content. You won’t find us “under” karating your gold. We know that there are buyers that look at the items and give you a price without ever weighing or determining the karat content. We will never do that. Our prices change daily based on the current day’s “Spot” price determined on www.kitco.com, the industry’s “go to” site for up-to-date pricing.

Keep Expectations Realistic

For most people, selling gold jewelry will not make you rich on its own. It might, however, put some extra dollars in your pocket and allow for larger purchases for you and your estate.

Here are a few other common reasons people sell their gold:

  • Diversify investment portfolio
  • Pay for college tuition
  • To make a large purchase like a car or house
  • Medical bills
  • Trade or liquidate an investment

Ready to sell your gold jewelry? Contact Westlake Gold today for a free consultation and jewelry cleaning.

Photo by king kong on Unsplash

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Lynne A.

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Met with Joel to see if the silver and gold coins I found were worth anything. He was very nice and only one coin was worth a few bucks. He suggested just...

Lynne A. September 29, 2023
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Joel took time and patiently explained the value of my jewelry and how he calculated it. I believe I got a good, honest deal and I would highly recommend him.

Anne Andrews C. September 28, 2023
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I could not have been more pleased and satisfied with Joel at Westlake Gold. If you have spare jewelry and gold that you want to get top dollar for, this is the only place that you need to go. Do not go to downtown LA. Do not go to any jewelry store and especially do not go to a pawn shop! Joel is the only man that you need to see. He is professional, kind, and as sincere and honest as they come. He has a low overhead for his business and he is without question going to give you the best possible price for your valuables. I didn’t even know that some pieces that I had were worth more than I had expected… but Joel being as honest and sincere as they come made sure that I had what I needed and did with a gracious understanding and very friendly demeanor. After leaving this place, I was both impressed and so happy to see that there are still people out there that do care about others. Do not waste your time and go anywhere else… this is the man to see!!!

Steve Benezra September 20, 2023
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Very professional and detailed in their evaluation. I felt very comfortable.

Ali Farboud August 9, 2023
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The team at Westlake Gold was both kind and professional. Joel is very knowledgeable and fair - and I really enjoyed working with him on the sale of some estate jewelry. I highly recommend!

Dana Barrett July 10, 2023
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*Respectful, surprisingly great appraisal, very safe and honest.* Joel meets his customers in a clean and neat office inside of an office building, instead of many others in the area. This allows me to feel more comfortable to start with. He was very respectful, friendly, and courteous. The best part comes with the pricing. This was not my first time releasing old gold and jewelry, and I received way more than I thought I would have given my past experience with other jewelry buyers. Thank you, Joel. Wish I had met you in the past, but sure am happy I do now.

Birgitte Tan June 30, 2023
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I was very happy with the transaction and the money that he offered to us when I sold gold jewelry. He was very knowledgeable and kind to me and my...

Mithila U. June 2, 2023
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Great experience selling gold silver and jewelry. Joel is very skilled and explains the transaction.

Mike Kale May 19, 2023
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What a hidden treasure, pun intended. Overwhelmed with a large collection that I wasn't sure was costume or the real deal. impressed with how each piece was tested even the ones marked for authentication. professional and honest.

janie ahlberg May 14, 2023
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If you are looking for an honest appraisal and fair deal, this is the place to go! I walked in with what I thought was seven 1oz Canadian silver dollars worth $25 each, turns out they were 1oz Canadian platinum coins with worth $1,000+ each!! He operated with 100% integrity and patience with me. He took the time to educate me on coins. I will defiantly return!

John Strote May 12, 2023
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Highly recommend Westlake Gold. I had a bunch of estate jewelry to liquidate and I feel like I got a very fair price for my items. I definitely will return. Thank you!

Rana Mohr May 12, 2023
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I highly recommend Westlake Gold - Joel is very knowledgable about gold and diamonds and I loved his authenticity when giving me the information I needed. He’s very professional, and courteous. I’ll definitely be back in future!

hannah de boisblanc December 16, 2022
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Joel, thank you for your help with the silver we brought into your shop. You were very helpful and pleasant to work with.

Robin Johnson December 5, 2022
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Just met with Joel while taking care of selling my father's gold (after his passing). Joel was honest, fair, and professional. Highly recommend Westlake Gold.

Cathy Anderson August 2, 2022
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I highly recommend Westlake Village Gold! I took my Jewelry to several places,I receive the best price from Joel his customer service, Attention extremely detail. I knew the first few minutes of meeting him that you can trust this man, Definitely will be back.

Rebecca de la Torre September 14, 2020
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Joel always provide incredible customer service. Joel is very knowledgeable about gold and diamonds and is also very polite and I always enjoy my conversations with him when trying to sell him gold. I highly recommend working with Westlake Gold.

Patrick rohn September 10, 2020
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I bought two rings from Joel and was blown away by the experience. He is extremely honest, professional, and knowledgeable. He normally doesn't make jewelry sales to walk in customers, but just so happened to have exactly what we were looking for. And he even arranged to have our rings resized and polished. They are beautiful and exactly what we wanted.

Stephanie Bland March 30, 2020
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Very professional, knowledgeable and honest. More than fair, highly recommend.

Doug Weil January 9, 2020
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Joel is great at what he does. He helped me with valuing some coins I needed. If you need to find the value on any jewelry you must go here. Thank you so much for your help!

Probate Services Inc. November 2, 2017
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Joel was extremely knowledgable, professional, informative and expeditious in the overall process. I will be coming back if/when I have a need to sell silver, gold and/or jewelry!

Scott O'Malley July 14, 2016