Jewellery valuation for sale

fifthofwhisky

I have some jewellery that I'm considering to sell to raise funds for a project (not in a big hurry) and just wondered if anyone has suggestions for getting the best price. Mainly platinum items including a Tiffany high grade diamond ring. Thanks for any suggestions.  

[Deleted User]

My suggestion on where to take it for a valuation would be to take it to a high class jeweller where you'll receive a valuation document.

My suggestion on where to sell the items would be an equally high class jewellers that sells 2nd hand/vintage/antique items, high class jewellery pawnbrokers and/or high class auction house.

Years ago i used the auction method.

TELLIT01

Check the cost of valuation with a number of jewellers before getting the valuation done.  One 'high class' local jeweller charges a percentage of the value of the items and others charge a flat fee.  Two concerns I have with the percentage charge are that (1) you don't know the cost and if an item is worth considerably more than expected that can lead to a hefty bill and (2) it's in their own financial interest to put a higher valuation on an item. 

Regarding surprising valuations, my wife bought an opal bracelet abroad for about £100, when valued about 5 years later the figure was just under £1000.  That is insurance valuation.

theoretica

You don't need a valuation to sell - you want to ask if they would make you an offer.  Try jewellers who sell such things second hand.

Anything that is metal without stones will probable sell for the metal price- easy to work out with scales.  Many stones won't add much to this value.

chrisw

I wouldn't bother getting a valuation, it doesn't really have a great correlation with what you'll get for it trading it in second hand.

As above, take it round a few places that deal with second hand or vintage jewellery but, with a few exceptions such as a famous brand, its value is likely to be its scrap value

FreeBear

Had some vintage jewellery valued a few years back - The report came back and it amounted to little more than the scrap value of the metal plus a few pound for the stones. A valuation for insurance purposes had placed a value some ten times higher.

fifthofwhisky

Thanks. A few buyers/resellers I talked with are talking it down (surprise) offering low % of cost, and no doubt would have it in the shop window for more than double.
 

Gastines3

Worth remembering that at Auction ,both buyer and seller have a fee plus VAT to deal with. So obviously there is a 40%plus difference in what you get and what the buyer pays. Quite a shock to those unaware that both parties pay.Also many Auction houses charge Lotting/Photo etc.etc. Cash offers means cash in hand today not waiting a month or more for the remainder of your sales amount.

Sandtree

fifthofwhisky said:

Thanks. A few buyers/resellers I talked with are talking it down (surprise) offering low % of cost, and no doubt would have it in the shop window for more than double.

Double the price is the minimum that most companies aim at for the stock they buy, many will aim for more than that.

Unfortunately Tiffany doesn't hold its price anywhere near as well as the likes of Cartier. They tend to offer more than scrap because of the branding but their original sales price will be well above normal high street options that are sold at little more than scrap.

Clearly you too can try and sell directly to the end customer but this will potentially take much more time and creates the risk of issues when you send the goods (eg allegations of being fake etc).

theoretica

If you aren't in a hurry https://bloomsburymanor.com/pages/sell-with-our-concierge-service

koalakoala

Look at Cooksongold. Had excellent prices from them in the past