If you’ve heard about scrap gold before, it’s probably because you’ve driven by a jeweler or pawnshop marquee. “WE BUY SCRAP GOLD” sounds nice, but given how precious gold is, you may justifiably wonder what gold could be considered “scrap.”

Simply put, scrap gold is gold that is valued primarily for its metal content rather than its collectible, artistic, or functional value. However, it’s not garbage. So, let’s talk about what would count as scrap gold, what it might be worth, and how best you can sell yours.

What Counts as Scrap Gold?

Items that may be considered scrap gold include damaged or broken jewelry, dental gold, gold dust, and gold nuggets when sold strictly for their melt value rather than for any collectible or natural premium. Scrap gold can also include gold coins, rounds, or bars that have sustained significant damage.

Is Scrap Gold Worth Anything?

Yes! Scrap gold retains the intrinsic value of the item’s pure gold.

In order to come to a rough estimate about how much your scrap gold is worth, you need to have three pieces of information in hand:

1. The item’s weight. You need to determine exactly how much your item weighs, but there’s a catch. You need to calculate it in troy ounces. For reference, one troy ounce equals approximately 1.09714 standard (avoirdupois) ounces. You can find the weight in standard ounces and convert it, but ensure your scale is accurate.
2. The item’s gold purity. This one may be a bit harder to figure out. Although many gold pieces have their purities stamped into them, your scrap gold may not. Do your best to figure it out but understand that you may not have this information or be certain of it.
3. The bid spot price of gold. The last piece of information you need is how much you can expect to receive for your gold. The publicly quoted spot price is typically a mid-market reference price. When selling gold, buyers usually base their offers on the bid side of the market, which is slightly below spot. One other thing — the spot price is not a fixed amount and is constantly changing, so try to get the price as close to the time you plan to sell as possible.

Once you have some sense of those three elements, you can decide what you want to do with your scrap gold. You don’t have to sell it right away, but it’s good to know what to do when you want to move forward.

How to Sell Your Scrap Gold Effectively

There is good news and bad news when it comes to selling your scrap gold. The good news is that you have a tremendous number of options available to you. The bad news, of course, is that you have a tremendous number of options available to you — enough that you may not know which to use.

The first thing to recognize is that there are both online and in-person options you have. Although we’re obviously partial to online services, the best option for you depends on what matters most.

Pros and Cons of Selling Online

The primary benefit of selling your scrap gold online is that you can usually get a better price. Because online dealers generally have lower overhead and must compete directly with each other, they are likely to offer more for your scrap gold.

Selling online is also safer and more convenient than selling in person because you don’t have to worry about the logistics of moving the scrap gold around yourself. Because you’re conducting the transaction entirely at home and behind closed doors, there is little chance that you’d find yourself the victim of theft.

At the same time, you cannot get that higher payout as quickly as you can in person. Even under the best of circumstances, you’ll have to wait for delivery services to complete their work.

You may also feel a bit nervous about sending your gold by mail or courier. We have established procedures to ensure your package’s safety, but you may still feel uncomfortable proceeding this way.

Pros and cons of Selling in Person

One of the biggest reasons to sell in person is the speed. You can walk into a retail buyer’s shop and walk out with cash in hand in a matter of minutes.

You can also develop relationships with the dealers in person in a way you can’t online. It can be a much more rewarding experience if you feel as though you are negotiating and reaching an agreement with an actual person.

Those touches come at a price, though — literally. Because a retail shop has to pay for its location, rent, employee salary, and utilities, it may be limited in terms of giving you an offer comparable to the ones you’d get online.

You are also responsible for logistics and personal security considerations if you conduct the sale in person. In addition, gold is heavy, and your pieces may be rather unwieldy to convey.

The Overall Approach

No matter which path you choose, you should do a few things.

Before you select a buyer, find several options. Research each of them carefully and confirm that they are reputable and fair dealers. Use a combination of the Better Business Bureau and user reviews. Pay special attention to complaints, as they often indicate whether issues are major or minor. On the other hand, a complete lack of complaints may be its own red flag.

Get multiple offers. Even if you have an offer from one of the big players in the market, you should shop around. There’s no benefit to taking the first thing you get — even if it ends up being the best offer after the fact.

Look at the entire deal. Make sure you understand exactly what you’ll receive for the deal “out the door.” Beware the attachment of any additional fees or, failing that, include them into your calculations before you make a decision.

Choose the option that balances profit with reputation. Although you should aim for the best deal you can, be nervous about deals that are too good to be true — there’s always a reason behind them, and it does not benefit you. There may be value in accepting a slightly lower offer if the offeror has a long record of honest dealings.

What is the Use of Scrap Gold for Buyers?

Broadly speaking, they plan to repurpose it somehow. In the early go, they’ll melt down the gold to refine it into its purest form.

Then, they’ll either pour it into a pure gold bar or they’ll create a new piece or pieces to sell. The nice thing about gold is that it’s never destroyed.

Because gold does not corrode or degrade, most of the gold ever mined remains in circulation today and is repeatedly refined and reused rather than lost forever.

Summary

Like junk silver, scrap gold bears a rather unfortunate name. To casual observers, the moniker may suggest that it is worthless gold.

However, don’t throw it out! It’s literally worth its weight in gold. So, if you have any jewelry, pieces of “broken” gold, or other unused gold pieces laying around, you can turn them into real cash.

Give us a call at 1-800-276-6508 on weekdays between 8 AM and 6 PM Central Time to get started. If you still need more information, call us anyway — our trained counselors can answer any questions you have.