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Interesting ideas. The upside makes investing the time to list it worth it. Thank you
I am helping a friend who had a teenage memory with this sweat shirt. They had hoped for $$, but as often happens special memories and item scarcity does not equal value. In our work its so important to be gentle with emotional attachments.
Thank you for the fast response.
Great info! Thank you for taking the time to help me! I will do more research based on your response.
Thank you for the fast response! Mine is not as nice as this Dutch tea caddy / flask, but this gives me a ballpark.
If you can get a little more advice it may help with next steps. Suggest asking approximate carat size. Diamonds value change dramatically on size and quality. If above .5 carat then it may be worth getting a written appraisal. An appraiser will charge per stone so with this one having 7 to 9 stones this be expensive. So hard to know how much to spend to evaluate versus selling as is and without specifics.
Perhaps the jewelry store could also say if the diamonds were damaged when run over by cars? While diamonds are hard, they can be fractured (that is how they are cut into their shapes).
Selling jewelry online also brings the challenge of pictures. To get the pics of hallmarks, defects and capture the beauty of the diamonds will take time and practice.
One final thought on price from the jewelry store. Jewelry stores get their stock wholesale so the price is much less than retail to pay for the high overhead of their stores. Also customers demand a much lower price when buying used jewelry. If the diamonds are small, then the typical scrap value would be small diamonds equal scrap gold price. One gram of 14K gold at todays scrap price is $36. You can get more than this on ebay, but if the diamonds are small it will not be as large as you hope.
I have not had any issues selling scrap gold / silver, high end costume, or fine jewelry under $500 on ebay. Above that I don’t have Ebay experience as I have the advantage of selling higher value items in cases we rent in an antique mall. The antique mall is more secure as not exposed to the potential ebay scammer. However, I dot get that many $500+ value items…
Ebay may be low risk for higher value items, but I just cant comment without the experience.
Just because the hallmark says 14k does not mean the gold or diamonds are real. Suggest you take it to two or more jewelry stores. They could tell you for free if the diamonds are real. Also, if they buy used jewelry they will give you a free quote – which may be low compared to Ebay resale but will give you a benchmark. Also, they could tell you what it would cost to buff out the scratches on the gold. However, if the diamonds are damaged, they wont be worth much.
I hope its a home run. If it is you might want to get a written appraisal (suggest GIA) which will give authenticity to your Ebay add. Even if gold scrap, large diamonds (1 ct and above) that are good grade will have more scrap value.
Fyi – for the last ten years, I have focused on resale of vintage costume and silver jewelry.
I agree with using a local jeweler for a few checks. Most are very willing to do this for customer good will as it only takes a few minutes of their time.
If you want a inexpensive diamond tester purchase a “Diamond Selector II”. It is OK, but I would not pay a lot for an expensive ring solely based on it. Plus – easy to use but negative it can be fooled by some stimulants.
FYI I primarily sell vintage costume jewelry but this also gives me the opportunity to purchase gems and diamonds. I use a more expensive presidium adamas diamond tester.
Prices for scrap gold vary greatly from jeweler to jeweler. Always best to know the value yourself. Suggest weighing it to .1 gram and using goldcalc.com to get 100 percent scrap value. Whoever you sell it to will not pay 100 percent scrap. You should be able to get 60 to 70 percent by visiting other jewelers and gold dealers in your area. If you don’t have an accurate scale just ask the dealer to give you gram weight. Note different kt needs weighed separately as 10k value is lower than 18k…
Selling gold on ebay may get you more but also has risk.
FYI I deal in a lot of vintage jewelry (mostly costume).
