How much you will get for your unwanted jewelry depends on two main factors: the quality of the piece and who you sell it to. Of course, the higher the karat content of the gold, the more you will receive for it. The karat weight number represents the percentage of gold contained in the metal that makes up the jewelry with 30 being the highest possible number. You will therefore get more for 24 karat gold than you would for 16 karat gold.

Beware who you sell your jewelry to: it will make a difference in the price. You want to be leery of those who say that if you just send them your jewelry in a pre-paid envelope, they will pay you for it in return. First of all, you have no guarantee that you will ever see any money! Secondly, such outfits generally pay pennies on the dollar. You are better off sticking with a local outfit: a jeweler or coin dealer will be best. The less middlemen, the better price you will get: a reputable coin dealer will often be able to offer you 80 to 90 percent of the market value of your piece!