Selling old rings etc

Sorry, Nepitty, I have no experience of selling any valuable/antique/much-loved items. However, over a couple of years we regularly receive advertising from two companies that travel around the country to various centres and who buy gold, silver, pewter, etc. Then recently they informed of a date and location near to our town and made a point of informing how the price of gold was currently very high.

I decided to finally let go of some gold items, lots broken, which belonged to late Mum, MiL, me etc., Things which were never worn, outdated, never looked at but I was interested in whether they had any actual value.

We agreed (DH and I) that if the set-up seemed odd or the price offered not worth the visit, that we would leave. We were just curious to see how this might work. Outside the hotel, I imagined a queue of people waiting and so my H was 'volunteered' to go and investigate. I sat in the car and he was in the hotel for over an hour.

He came back to the car, finally. It was lunchtime and there had been no queue! He said that the guy was really nice but that everything had taken forever to test, evaluate, weigh, document, prepare paperwork for. The guy explained that although he had papers to prove where he worked, how he worked etc., if he was ever stopped by the Douanes/Customs or the Police, he would always have to account for every item, where he had bought it, how much he had paid for it, etc., His life, he said was all about paperwork. (Well, it is France!)

Make me laugh, I said. You had a lengthy chat, lots of 'admin', coffee etc., but did he actually buy anything? My DH simply handed me a cheque for £1200 (in Euros). I almost fell off the seat!

Seriously, this was just old stuff that was never looked at, just clutter, really. And we never imagined that it would be worth very much. You can imagine how shocked and pleased we were. I think we must have smiled for the entire day.

Georgesgran yes it’s worrying I know she’s not been seen for some months I hope she’s ok but I know she had said she was ill

I think I would start with any reputable jewellers you have in your town, or know of.
Some do buy as well as sell. But not all.

Then I would look or ask around for a reputable business that has been in the business for many years.

No, not really BB but there was a thread earlier this year naming some missing posters and several GNs feared the worst as BL said she had a serious/terminal(?) illness and had the means whereby she wouldn’t end up in residential care.
Perhaps I’ve made 2+2=5, but heard nothing to the contrary.

I sold some old jewellery to a small independent jewellery who sold new and antique jewellery. I felt I got a fair price.
Unless jewellery is a bit special you often unfortunately get the gold value.

Georgesgran do we know for sure if BigLouis is no longer with us I often wonder about her

I don’t like Vintage Cash Cow and wouldn’t recommend it
I did deal with them a good while back and wasn’t at all satisfied with their payment and totally my fault you can refuse but I was grieving and didn’t
I really wish I had though I don’t feel their payment was fair at all

Georgesgran

A lot of complaints about Cash Cow, so personally speaking, I’d stick with a face to face transaction somewhere local.

I spoke to the guy who runs a local antique/bric a brac shop and he says not to use VCC. But then I suppose he would say that and sometimes it’s better to take the easiest option. Especially if something is just sitting in a drawer and you don’t really want it.

I think that posted BL? is no longer in this World Maremia

I took some jewellery and silver items to an antique jewellery shop. They offered a fair price and we shook on it. I later saw the items for sale in their window and they took ages to sell. Obviously, they'd taken a bit of a chance buying my items.
My Grandad always said that when selling anything, leave a profit for the next man.

There used to be a GN who was very experienced in the antiques trade, but haven't seen her for a while. This thread might tempt her.

I had a really good service from Cash 4 gold. They rang me the day after I posted it off with a fair price. I accepted and the money was in my account the same day.

I have sold scrap gold, many towns have somewhere that will buy it, they usually offer the scrap gold rate at the time you take it in.

A lot of complaints about Cash Cow, so personally speaking, I’d stick with a face to face transaction somewhere local.

It all depends on what your area has to offer, some have antique shops that may be interested in the nicer rings but it will depend on the stone & setting , other places may have one of the Gold stores/ jewellers that buy gold where you can get a price and they pay you cash there and then he will need ID. There is also a firm called Vintage Cash Cow that will send you an envelope / box you post your jewellery to them and they contact with a price within 24 hours of receipt, if you agree the cash will be paid into your bank account on the same day, if not the items are returned.

I’ve sold quite a lot of unwanted yellow gold recently. I don’t wear it, nor do the DDs, so it was just languishing in the safe. I looked up the current price for buying/selling gold on various sites (it changes 2x a day) then, after weighing my items at home, to get a rough idea, I approached a famous pawnbrokers and was offered a reasonable price. There was no pressure, but I also took my items into an antique jewellers, who offered me £75 more. I left him my valuations, as they were very descriptive of the items, which he said he’d re-sell, not send for melting down.
I did consider taking them to auction, but had they only realised the gold price, I’d have lost out, having to pay the auction house commission.