Selling jewelry?

My wife came in last night with several rings her mom owned and said she wanted to sell them as she'd never wear them.

I know about selling gold, but how do you get more out of rings than just the gold value?

What about the stones?

probably a reputable jeweler

Unless the stones are something really special in size, cut, or clarity they really don't have much value. As far as gold, if you sell at a reputable buyer, you can expect to get about 80% of the melt weight of the metal. Weigh it beforehand and make sure whether they are quoting you a price in grams or pennyweight (dwt).

Or you can try selling it on eBay or Craigslist.

If they are reasonably sized stones and in general decent jewelry I would consider taking it to a proper appraiser to get an idea of market and replacement value rather than a jeweler. There seems to be a fairly lively market on ebay especially for older items - that's where my wife found the diamond engagement ring we ended up buying - and with a proper appraisal in hand it might be worth selling it on there yourself.

She wanted to get an appraisal and I was saying there was no reason to since they weren't doing the buying.

So you are saying just sell them on ebay is the best way?

A couple are hideous. They were specially designed by her father and he had no taste at all.

So what do you do with the stones, presuming you try to sell them off outside of ebay?

Bedazzle your phone with real jewels, or make a pimp cup

Some lady died and left her entire belongings to our church - we contacted an antique jewelry guy who told us the stuff was costume jewelry and worth $500-$750 for the pile.

A few jewelers estimated that it "might" be worth $10,000 but we would have to pay $2-$3,000 for them to appraise the jewelry first - with no guarantee's on that $10,000. WALK!

One jeweler finally liked the stuff and gave us $7,000 for the pile without an appraisal - Sold.

We figured the answer is to take it to 10 places and go with the best buyout.

Hmm, so you have a lot of jewelry to unload. Your timing is a little suspicious:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/02/19/swiss-airline-targeted-in-gigantic-diamond-heist-helvetic-brussels/1929759/

slefain wrote: Hmm, so you have a lot of jewelry to unload. Your timing is a little suspicious: http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/02/19/swiss-airline-targeted-in-gigantic-diamond-heist-helvetic-brussels/1929759/

QUICK! Someone tell me how to delete someone else's post!!!

There are active jewelry trading forums out there - my wife has had good experiences with diamondbistro.com in the past.

nderwater wrote: There are active jewelry trading forums out there - my wife has had good experiences with diamondbistro.com in the past.

Thanx, I had no idea, but then that's why I posted here, you guys seem to know everything.

Find a drunk in a bar and say" Hey buddy I have a hell of an opportunity for you"

Anyone have a reccomendation, other than above which looks helpful, for getting the most out of a GIA certified round stone and setting? Not in a big rush if it will maximize the return, but I don't want to hang on to this thing for any longer than I need to.

pilotbraden wrote: Find a drunk in a bar and say" Hey buddy I have a hell of an opportunity for you"

I'd almost bet that's how a couple of these pieces originated.

For his daughter he commissioned a mans style signet ring with ruby chipped stars of a constellation. Unfortunately the wrong constellation for Subie owners or we'd have a ready market.