Thinking of selling an 18k gold and ruby ring on e bay

barnaclebill

Thinking of selling an 18k gold and ruby ring on e bay, the ring has quite a heavy structure holding 25 small rubies fanned out like leaves with a small diamond swirl in the centre. The weight of the gold would be worth about £400.00, I have looked on e bay but unable to find anything even remotely similar plus none of the rings I see are being auctioned but are all buy it now or best offer so I am unsure of how much to post it for, it was bought new in 1987 for about £1000.00 in Hong Kong. Any way to work out a fair price?

soolin

barnaclebill said:

Thinking of selling an 18k gold and ruby ring on e bay, the ring has quite a heavy structure holding 25 small rubies fanned out like leaves with a small diamond swirl in the centre. The weight of the gold would be worth about £400.00, I have looked on e bay but unable to find anything even remotely similar plus none of the rings I see are being auctioned but are all buy it now or best offer so I am unsure of how much to post it for, it was bought new in 1987 for about £1000.00 in Hong Kong. Any way to work out a fair price?

You might be better with an auction, let it find it's own price but don't start too low. Do you have any documentation with it for the rubies? Also make sure you try and get as clear a stamp of the hallmark as you can.

Alternatively it might be better to try a local jeweller first to see if there is any interest- as it will be far less risk to you .

barnaclebill

The shop in Hong Kong was the maker, the hallmark is the shops initials and 18k and 750, I was given a guarantee with the details of the rubies. In 2012 the ring was repaired by Northern Goldsmiths when my wifes finger had swollen and it wad to be cut off and one ruby replaced, they made no mention that the ring was not as stamped. I have been told in the past that jewellers will usually only offer quite a low price, even lower than the gold value but I will try just to see.

pbartlett

your local jeweller will give you a valuation 'for insurance purposes' for a modest fee

November2

Please do not sell this on Ebay! There are certain items professional scammers target and jewellery is one of them.  You will most likely receive a message after sale stating item was missing from envelope. You will then have one hell of a time trying to sort it out with Ebay/police etc.  Just do some homework when selling it, visit several jewellers including well know high street ones and see what they say and advise.  There are also shops which will sell the item for you taking a commission.

bris

Scammers dream purchase, likely to attract a higher than expected price because they have no intention of paying for it, well they will but it will be charged back.

Stick to a face to face sale Gumtree etc or cash on collection for something like this.

mgdavid

The, to me at any rate, obvious place to sell your ring would be one of the many specialist auctioneers who  nowadays work online - the catalogue is there for all to see for a week or two in advance and the auctions themselves are streamed live to the net thus obtaining widespread buyer coverage.

pbartlett

What price do you plan to put it on at? Compare that with your selling limit.

barnaclebill

Thanks for all the answers, most of which confirmed my fears of using e bay for this, in the end took it to a jewelers shop that sells unusual items and got £200 more than the gold only value.

Brywalker

barnaclebill said:

Thanks for all the answers, most of which confirmed my fears of using e bay for this, in the end took it to a jewelers shop that sells unusual items and got £200 more than the gold only value.

Good move and nice result.