Any savvy investor should have commodities as part of their investment portfolio. Not only that, gold has become the standard on the market. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to make extra money or saving it for something else, these tips will help you out.
Know what gold is currently selling for. While it’s convenient to just bring your gold to a shop, do a little internet research first to see what the range is. That way, you can go in knowing how much you can expect to receive. You will know if you are being lowballed.
When going to sell your gold, bring along identification. If you come to an agreement on the sale of the pieces, you will be required to give the buyers a copy of your government issued id. This is a law meant to protect individuals against buying pieces that are stolen, and any reputable dealer will stand by this law.
Find out if you have a piece made by a well-known designer. Sometimes, the origin of the piece and the designer of the piece makes a gold piece worth more, rather than having it melted down. Tell the buyer if you have a piece done by someone noteworthy, to get a better price.
When mailing your gold away for sale, make sure to read all the fine print before sending it in. Some buyers have less than stellar reputations, and you will not see this until you read the fine print. Make sure you are comfortable with all the terms you are agreeing to, or look to another location to sell your gold.
When you go to sell your gold, make sure your expectations are not too high and bring your government-issued identification. On average, gold dealers pay between 70 and 80 percent of the actual value. The law requires that dealers ask sellers for identification when buying gold to aid police in their investigations about stolen property.
Regardless of where you are selling your gold, you will be asked for your driver’s license or some other form of identification. Make sure you have it on you when you go to make the transaction. If you are preparing to sell and you don’t get asked for your ID, that should raise a big red flag.
Understand that gold dealers are interested in all gold items. From broken jewelry to gold fillings, it can all be sold. You can get something for an item if it is not made out of pure gold. It could be part of an item that’s gold, or just gold-plated. You can still turn a profit on these pieces.
Check the price when you are buying gold. You can see it on various sites and it usually changes every day. When going to buy the jewelry, you should not have to pay higher than 8% markup over the spot price. Occasionally an unethical dealer may try to overcharge their customers.
You don’t have to physically own gold to invest in gold. Check out mutual funds that invest specifically in gold. Also look at mutual funds that invest heavily in commodities in general with a concentration in gold. This makes investing in this sector a lot easier to handle for many.
It can be tempting to take the first offer for your gold, but don’t always jump at it. What might be a piece of scrap gold to someone, might be an antique or catch the interest of a collector. Doing a little research before selling your gold can really end up paying off.
Consider throwing a “gold” party in your home for friends and neighbors. Tupperware and Avon parties have been replaced by gold events hosted in many areas. Invite friends and colleagues to your home to have their gold items appraised for free by a reputable local appraiser. Once appraised, they can exchange the item for cash or decide to shop elsewhere. For your time and effort, the appraiser would pay you a commission based on the amount of gold that is sold. Look for appraisers who have direct experience with such events since they will have developed the skills needed to keep the mood light and comfortable.
When you are investing in gold bullions or coins, stay away from high premiums. A premium of ten percent is usually the acceptable average because this is fairly close to the spot price. If you pay a high premium, the actual price of the gold will need to go higher in order for you to realize a profit.
Get a real idea of what you’ve got prior to a sale. Yes, reputable gold dealers will give you need to know information like the karat weights of what you have. But they aren’t in the business of giving you intel on whether they are offering a good deal. That’s up to you to figure out.
If you are looking to purchase gold as an investment, you should aim to acquire gold of a higher karat. 24 karat gold is worth the most amount of money and it goes down from there. 10 karat gold holds the least value, which is why you want to invest in the higher karat gold.
Since looking at the piece above, you know more about the gold market. Use these ideas for improving the investment portfolio or making money with just gold. Remember all that you learned here to keep finding success in dealing with gold.
