Selling gold in the UK, whether it be gold jewellery or scrap gold can result in some quick cash. Understanding the process is crucial to achieving the best price for your gold and ensuring you sell in a safe and secure environment. We have created a guide to walk you through the steps you need to take before, during and after selling your gold in the UK and provide some tips to avoid getting ripped off.
There are 3 key details required to sell gold in the UK, these include the gold type, gold purity, and weight.
Gold comes in many forms, from jewellery which can be worn to gold coins and bars which are typically purchased for investment purposes. There are many other types of gold you can sell including gold salvaged from electrical components, dental gold and any other scrap gold. Generally speaking if your item is made of solid gold, a gold buyer will be able to buy this from you and recycle the gold content.
Gold Jewellery: Selling gold jewellery including rings, bracelets, bangles, necklaces is easy to sell in the UK as the items have strict hallmarking rules to identify the metal composition.
Gold Bars: Gold bars come in various weights, some larger bars are purchased as investment pieces where as lower weight gold bars are often gifted or bought by collectors.
Gold coins: Bought by collectors and investors. UK coins such as Sovereigns and Britannia’s are frequently sold in the UK.
Scrap Gold: Scrap gold refers to gold items that are broken, or damaged and sold purely on gold content and weight.
Gold that is easily recycled, and in its purest form is the easiest to price and sell. Such as gold bars, and gold coins which would require very little processing to recycle the gold content. Gold in other forms such as gold plate or rolled gold requires a lot of processing to extract the gold content and is generally priced low or not bought at all by gold buyers. If your plated gold piece is an antique it may have some value to a vintage or antique collector rather than being sold to a scrap gold buyer.
Whether you are looking to sell rose gold, white gold or yellow gold for scrap the pricing should be the same, as despite the colour if the items are 9ct the gold content is the same despite the colour.
The UK follows a strict hallmarking system. Gold purity is measured in carats and if sold within the UK should have a stamp to identify its gold purity. Gold is stamped with its purity hallmark to indicate how much pure gold content the item has. Gold is usually mixed with other alloys to adjust the hardness and colour of the finished metal.
Some of the common gold purity hallmarks you will see in the UK are:
‘375’ this indicates 9 carat gold or 37.5% pure gold
‘750’ this indicates 18 carat gold or 75% pure gold content
See the hallmark chart below for more information.
It’s important to note that gold jewellery imported into the UK such as Asian or Indian gold may not carry hallmarks or may feature hallmarks that are not accurate, as other countries do not have as strict laws around hallmarking as the UK. If you do not have any easily identifiable hallmarks on your gold jewellery your local gold buyer will be able to test your gold for you using acid identification or XRF scanning to establish it’ true purity.
If your gold is not hallmarked it can make it difficult selling to a private buyer as their is no proof of the gold content, so selling to a trade gold buyer may be your best option.
The weight of your gold can be easily obtained on a set of digital kitchen scales on the grams unit setting. Please note, this will not be as accurate as a gold buyers trading standards approved and calibrated jewellery scales but will give you a rough idea.
Once you have obtained the 3 key details above you should be well equipped now to start obtaining prices or calculating a scrap gold value yourself. The higher the weight, and higher the carat purity will result in a higher value for your gold.
Many online gold buyers have gold price calculators you can use where you can enter the gold weight and purity to get a value estimate. Remember, gold is a globally traded commodity so the price is constantly changing, gold buyers will usually fix their gold price daily. Use the Cheshire Gold Xchange gold price calculator now to get a gold value estimate today.
As gold is globally traded the price can fluctuate daily, choosing the best time to sell your gold is an article in itself, as there are many economical and political factors that can influence the price. Unless you are a private investor who has bought gold to make a profit on reselling, then you shouldn’t concern yourself too much on analysing and tracking the gold price on a small weight of gold jewellery.
There aren’t many options when looking to sell gold in the UK, your selling location will depend upon the gold type you have. We have listed below a few of the most common locations in the UK.
Specialist gold buyers: Selling gold to a specialist gold dealer is a quick an efficient way to get instant cash payment. If you are selling scrap gold, then this may be your only and best option, as gold buyers specialise in recycling gold in any condition. You will usually receive an up to date price based on the current live gold price, meaning you get a fair price for your gold. Gold buyers will buy gold of any type and condition, so this may be your best option.
Jewellers: Jewellers do occasionally buy pre-owned gold jewellery, it is rare for jewellers to buy scrap gold but not unheard of. You may often get a price lower than from a gold buyer if selling scrap gold to a jeweller, as they are not specialists in gold recycling. Selling antique or vintage gold jewellery to a jeweller may be your best option for maximising returns as they may be able to resell the piece at a good markup. However, jewellers will often give you a price below scrap, as a backup strategy if the jewellery does not sell in their shop window, then they can still make a profit scrapping the gold to a gold buyer.
Auctions: Some gold sellers prefer to sell via auction, however these auctions are rarely used by private buyers but trade gold buyers. You often receive a similar price to what you may have achieved from a specialist gold buyer, however you may be hit with high selling fees and costs that may eat into your returns.
Once you have decided on your selling location, its now time to start to approach businesses for quotations. Many online gold buyers have gold calculators featured on their websites, allowing you to get quick valuations across many businesses. Be sure the calculator you are using features their actual buy prices and not the current live gold spot prices.
Check the gold buyers online reputation and customer reviews. If you are selling gold online we would always recommend selling to a gold buyer who also has a brick and mortar location rather than a PO Box. Obtain multiple quotes from a few sellers to see where you can obtain the highest valuation for your gold. Be mindful not to rush to sell your gold to the highest bidder, due your due diligence and online research on the buyer.
Like most sectors dealing with high value goods, some businesses will use tactics to maximise their profit and lure jewellery sellers in with misleading information. Beware of companies displaying gold spot prices rather than their actual buy prices, this can mislead potential sellers. Some gold buying websites will also display high scrap gold prices but in the small print mention that these prices are on an ‘up to’ basis, meaning they will only pay this price on a high weight of gold. Their gold prices on lower weight, for 1 or 2 rings or a necklace for example are often hidden and much lower than their advertised prices.
Some dealers may undervalue your gold, so ensure you obtain multiple comparison quotes. Deal with only high rated gold buyers.
Selling gold in the UK is an easy process, once you have prepared the correct information for selling. Exploring your selling options and choosing a reputable buyer is the key to success, be sure to search for local gold buyers, searching in google ‘Sell Gold near me’ or similar should show you a list of local gold buyers.
Cheshire Gold Xchange is a family owned gold buyer with over 15 years experience, and a 5 star rating. We are able to buy your gold at very high rates, from our Warrington store or via our online selling page.
Receive your prepaid, insured envelope to send your gold to us. Find out more visit Sell Gold Online
