Planning for a Bright, Financial Future

Refining scrap gold can net you a tidy profit, especially if you know where to buy gold at a discount. If you buy, refine and sell gold, here are some good places to find scrap available for purchase. 

Garage Sales

People sell miscellanies of items at garage sales, and you never know what you'll find. While most garage sales will primarily consist of lower-value goods, you might find old gold jewelry available. 

If gold jewelry is for sale, you can probably purchase it at a steep discount from the fair market value. Individuals who host garage sales rarely know how much their jewelry is actually worth because they don't have the expertise required to assess pieces' weights and purities.

Randomly going to garage sales and searching can be an exercise in frustration if you aren't lucky. Some strategies can increase the likelihood of finding old gold jewelry:

• Target garage sales of retirees, who are more likely to have accumulated jewelry.
• Look for garage sales that mention lots of clothes, as people who have many clothes may also have accessories.
• Check out garage sales that note lots of artists' crafts, for people who purchase crafts may have been to craft shows and also bought jewelry.
• Focus on higher-income neighborhoods, where more residents have discretionary income to spend on gold jewelry.

At garage sales, primarily spend your time searching through jewelry, small items, and coins. Gold jewelry will most likely be near these items or intermixed with them if it's being sold.

Estate Sales

Estate sales are more likely to have gold jewelry for sale, as these sales often put all or most of a deceased person's belongings up for sale. Your chances of finding gold pieces are particularly good if the deceased lived in an upscale neighborhood and had lots of clothes.

Any gold jewelry that's for sale at an estate sale probably won't be priced as low as it would be at a garage sale. Most estate sales are professionally run, and the people who manage them know what gold jewelry pieces are worth. They still usually sell jewelry at a discount off of its fair market value, but it won't be a huge discount.

Flea Markets

Flea markets attract all sorts of vendors, and most markets have at least some vendors who sell jewelry, antiques, or crafts. These vendors sometimes have gold-plated pieces that you can buy and melt the gold off of.

If you have more questions about how to buy scrap gold, contact a local company to help.