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Has anyone had experience selling a class ring? I found a 1971 class ring from a Catholic academy in southern Virginia (not a “major name brand” school). Looking at the solds on ebay, the prices people are getting for random gold class rings aren’t bad. (This kind of surprises me — are the buyers people who went to these schools, or do the buyers just want the gold?)
Looks like they go for more than $100, typically.
Any advice about how to do this? I can approximate the ring size and include the basics in the listing. But should I go to a jeweler and ask them for any further info they can give me about the ring? (Don’t want to bother with this if I don’t have to!)
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If it’s vintage put that in the title, I would note any inscriptions or maker’s markings, carat, and color stone. Approx size and weight it giving a gram weight.
Many buy them for the gold, some don’t and may ask for shank width, band width. But I would think that would be all you need besides some good close ups.
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I don’t have any experience with class rings, but I would venture to guess that most of the buyers are people who went to those schools, collect class rings, want to give a gift to someone, etc. I didn’t calculate the cost of gold times the probable weight of the ring, but I’ll guess that the rings are selling for more than just the gold weight.
What information do you want to get from a jeweler? If you are concerned about whether the ring is really gold or not, you can buy a testing kit off eBay. Here is a link to one I bought recently. Something similar was recently recommended on this forum, and I purchased the one I wanted. I actually haven’t used it yet.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Test-Acid-Tester-Kit-10k-14k-18k-Silver-Testing-Stone-Christmas-Presents/370941332251?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649The fact that it isn’t a “name brand school” is actually a good thing. There will be less of them available, and you can set your price higher.
I think that what you have is pretty straight forward.
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I just looked at the price of gold and the purity of 10K, and now I see the Jay and Ryanne are correct (when are they not?). The rings are selling about for the weight in gold.
For example, this ring:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/JOSTENS-10K-WHITE-GOLD-RICHFIELD-HIGH-SCHOOL-INITIALS-PSS-1971-CLASS-RING-SZ-8-5/173128230348?hash=item284f3f25cc:g:ZsgAAOSwjIVab1A-The listing says that it is 12 grams. Current price of gold is about $43.40 and 10K is 41.7% purity. So, 12g x $43.40 x 0.417 = $217.17. The ring sold for $218.50 on auction.
Of course, part of that weight is the gem, which usually is not worth as much as the gold itself.
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Thanks very much for this wise input! I’m listing the ring — considering I found it at the bottom of a box of junk in my attic, if I can get $100 for it I will be thrilled. I’m hoping that my dinky little postage scale has a “grams” setting so I can weigh the ring myself, and not have to go to a jewelry store.
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Update on the class ring — It was really easy to sell. I highly recommend grabbing these if you ever see them cheap at thrift stores and elsewhere. (Or see if your relatives have any they want to give you!) I listed it at around $175 with “make offer” and very quickly got a bunch of offers in the low $100s. Clearly the buyers were after the gold and knew exactly what they wanted to pay. I sold it to the highest offer I got over the span of a couple of days. I’m kinda worried about a return, though, because he seems like a higher-maintenance buyer and I had to approximate the weight in grams because my cheap-o scale isn’t that precise. I may have under or over weighed it. This is all on me and I’ll happily take his return if it’s a weight issue. I did divulge in the listing that the weight is approximate. I should have brought it to the jewelry store to be weighed but I’m really busy with other stuff right now and just wanted to quickly flip it and move on. Anyway, class rings = good money and easy sales.
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Congrats. Great sale. I’ve never seen a class ring for sale. Usually the gold hounds snatch them up so they dont go cheap at auctions.
Just FYI: you can buy a very precise scale very cheaply online. Its good to have a scale that’s very precise if you plan to sell stuff like this.
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