Selling jewellery

Bowey123

I have been left some valuable jewellery in a will and would like to sell it.
Where am I likely to get the best price?
Gumtree, EBay, jewellery auction, selling to a jewellers?
I live in NW so I thought an auction in London perhaps rather than local?

grandadgolfer

If its mainly gold just find the best price for scrap which will probably be a jewellers dealing in scrap gold

diystarter7

Hi

Depdns what the jewellery is and its value.
Get an idea first from a couple of jewellers then sleep on it
and decide when and where you want to go next, test the water etc. 
At times, especially old jewellery is difficult to vlaue and an inexperienced person may wrongly value it at a lower price.

Good luck

theoretica

What is your appetite for risk?  If value is in the hundreds you might consider ebay/gumtree - but you would have to deal with potential scammers yourself, and genuine buyers might have the doubt of buying from someone without a track record.  If most of the value is in the metal then selling by weight may be the answer.  If the value is stones/designs than seeing if the local auction house deals in similar material or a jeweller would give you an offer would be my choice for something worth hundreds and just into thousands.  If the value is tens of thousands up you would probably want a specialist jewellery auction or perhaps a jeweller who deals in that specific style to sell on consignment.

Bowey123

Many thanks for this.
The values are in the thousands rather than hundreds.  So probably an auction then.  Do you tend to get better prices in London?  I was thinking that is where the money was?

soolin

Bowey123 said:

Many thanks for this.
The values are in the thousands rather than hundreds.  So probably an auction then.  Do you tend to get better prices in London?  I was thinking that is where the money was?

I buy at several auctions and London does not necessarily get the best prices as many professional buyers buy online now anyway and don’t visit the auction room. You  may also find the seller costs are higher so do factor that all in. If you do go down the auction route make sure you choose an auction house that offers online bidding via one of the 3rd party bidding sites like easylive auctions or saleroom.com . 

Unless you are absolutely sure what you have and how to stay safe I wouldn’t use eBay , gumtree and marketplace give you a little more control but I would make sure you know exactly what you are doing, don’t just offer the stuff blindly. 

As above though, gold items often go for scrap value so do the rounds of local jewellers first see if anyone will buy direct, you will probably get less than at auction but have no risks or costs to pay. An auction house could easily end up costing you a quarter or more of the hammer price. 

grandadgolfer

Bowey123 said:

Many thanks for this.
The values are in the thousands rather than hundreds.  So probably an auction then.  Do you tend to get better prices in London?  I was thinking that is where the money was?

If its just gold with no stones ie chains / bracelets etc dont bother with auction because you will pay a fortune in fees and most people buying it will only pay about 90% of its scrap value, plenty of places in London that will pay almost the full scrap value.
On the other hand if its full of nice value stones then auction may be the answer but still get a few prices from scrap gold dealers as they will pay good price for the stones,because 15%-20% auction fees will hurt.

soolin

I dabble in jewellery and it can also vary on the age and appearance of the item. True Art deco stuff goes well (although there is a lot of mid century being sold as art deco) , anything in Suffragette colours is worth auctioning as well it can fetch a lot. Mid century is a poor seller, it doesn't fit the modern taste at all and scrap value is a good place to start with it.

I assume it is all properly hallmarked , if not then it will be sold as yellow metal although some auction houses will test it and state 'tested as gold or silver' , that will also decrease the value. The stones can also be tested as well, a lot of early things had paste stones.

theoretica

Also to avoid disappointment, items can have extremely different sale values from replacement or insurance values. 

Bowey123

Some of the stuff is quite wearable. It’s just I am not a jewellery person.  Some if it is hideous but has probate value of £20k upwards.  Personally, despite the high probate value I think it some would be sold for scrap and someone would remodel. There is one particularly hideous ruby and diamond. spray brooch.  Value £35k. I think you could cut it up and make some small quite beautifully pendants if you knew what you were doing.  
there is another gold diamond ring. Still wearable now I think.  Value £20k. 

soolin

Bowey123 said:

Some of the stuff is quite wearable. It’s just I am not a jewellery person.  Some if it is hideous but has probate value of £20k upwards.  Personally, despite the high probate value I think it some would be sold for scrap and someone would remodel. There is one particularly hideous ruby and diamond. spray brooch.  Value £35k. I think you could cut it up and make some small quite beautifully pendants if you knew what you were doing.  
there is another gold diamond ring. Still wearable now I think.  Value £20k. 

With those sort of prices it suggests that the diamonds are where the money is , I haven’t seen a brooch or ring go anywhere near that for ages unless the diamond is of a really good size and clarity or one of the rare colours. It might be worth contacting a diamond dealer to sell the stones separately .