Jewelry has always been largely bought to be worn, to be shown off at work or on social occasions, to complement the clothes you are wearing. Jewelry is largely aesthetic and is bought in the same shopping impulse as a set of clothes. But is this always the case? Many jewelry items have inherent value as a result of the precious metals and precious stones that can be found in the more expensive or higher end jewelry. These pieces of jewelry can of course still be worn, and many of them are worn, but these pieces of jewelry can also serve another purpose. Given that they have inherent value and due to the precious metals and stones in these jewelry pieces, these jewelry items can also be seen or used as investment items of sorts. Many people will have jewelry that has precious metal and precious stone content, and most of these people can be rest assured that these items of jewelry were not a sunk cost when they bought them and can be used to access cash when needed now or in the future.
If you are an owner of jewelry with value attached to it, you may be asking how you then get access to the cash value of these items and what is the best way to maximize the value you get and the easiest and quickest way to get your cash. There are many ways to do this but all methods are certainly not equal with certain methods taking considerable effort and time and are not always the best ways to get the real market value for jewelry. One of the best methods that is fast, simple and cost effective is your nearest pawn shop who are in the business of pawn jewelry. The reasons for the advantages associated with pawn jewelry and pawn stores in general is that they value jewelry using expert precious metal and stone assessors and are targeting investors with high-end products and items and are therefore looking to buy and sell at a value that is market related and attractive to higher-end customers. Pawn stores also offer a walk in with the item, walk out with cash service, it is very quick and easy. When compared with websites selling second hand items or private sales using advertisements, the effort can be immense with having to take photos, write up a description and even then you may have to wait days or weeks to get real interest in the item or items. And this may be after not having valued your item correctly and then having to reduce the value considerably or accept an offer that is well below what you were expecting. With pawn jewelry and pawn stores, the valuation associated with your pawn jewelry item or items, is determined by market demand of the contents, namely the gold, platinum, diamonds, tanzanite and other precious metals and precious stones. It is not determined by one individual making an offer on a second hand item but on the global market dynamics of precious metal and stones. Of course there may be other value associated with your pawn jewelry such as rarity of the piece or age and quality of the piece which would certainly not be taken in account when selling on a second hand private sales website, but is most certainly understood by pawn store assessors.
If you are now considering using your jewelry items as more than just a complement to your outfit and have been sold by the fact that a pawn store is the best place to access the investment value of your jewelry then there are some things you should consider before you pawn jewelry. All of the factors simply make the process easier, faster and ensure that your expectations will ultimately be met.
The first exercise you need to go through is a financial assessment both of what kind of cash you need and an estimation of what value your jewelry has. When assessing your jewelry for a rough estimate of value, stick only with jewelry that has gold or platinum content and those that also have diamonds, sapphire or other rare precious stones. Jewelry bought for $20 from an accessories or cheap clothing and jewelry retailer will likely be made of stainless steel and have imitation stones made of plastic will have no value whatsoever. Separate your imitation jewelry from your value-holding jewelry and then focus on the gold, platinum, diamond etc. jewelry and determine their value. The majority of precious metal and stone jewelry will have a karat stamp somewhere on the jewelry as well as an authenticity certificate you got when you purchased the jewelry. The stamp and certificate will detail the karat value of the precious metal and stone content which, along with the ounce weight of the jewelry, is the ultimate determinant of value. Next look up the current global trading value for gold or platinum and carry out the calculations to get a rough value of the precious metal. Remember that karat refers to the purity of the metal in the jewelry piece with 24 karat being pure gold or platinum and 12 karat being 50% pure gold or platinum and so on, using that scale. The value of your jewelry item or items is determined by the percentage content of gold and platinum in relation to the total weight of your jewelry piece or pieces.
Precious stones such as diamonds, tanzanite and sapphires are more difficult to value as their value is based on other factors, such as clarity, cut and size and a real value for the precious stone content can only be done by a professional assessor at a pawn store.
Before you pawn jewelry decide what jewelry you actually want to part permanently with and what jewelry has sentimental value to you and you want to hold on to for as long as possible or even pass on to your children or others. This is important as a pawn store offers to services for your pawn jewelry namely they will outright buy your pawn jewelry or they will offer you a loan on jewelry that you use as collateral against the loan and ultimately retain ownership of. Thus, once you have established what value your jewelry, what kind of cash you need and what you feel you can part permanently with and are wanting to retain ownership of, it is then simply time to head down to your local pawn store and to pawn jewelry.
When you pawn jewelry the pawn store assessors will accurately value your jewelry depending on its contents. The value they determine is based on market demands and not the lowest amount they can buy it off you. Pawn stores work extensively with collectors of jewelry and other investors and their values associated with their pawn jewelry needs to reflect supply and demand. As already mentioned, the price of gold and platinum is determined by large institutional traders of the precious metals and thus supply and demand is already built into these values and gold and platinum prices fluctuating daily. Precious stones are valued based on a globally accepted set of factors meaning again your precious stone containing pawn jewelry will be valued accurately and reflect a market value. The buy value given to your jewelry will thus be fair, market related and accurate. Not something that can be achieved when selling your jewelry privately.
Once you have been given a value, you have two choices which you would have likely made already. You will decide whether to sell a piece outright and thus forfeiting ownership completely or using your pawn jewelry as collateral against a pawn loan. In the case of a pawn loan you retain ownership of your jewelry although the pawn shop will securely store your jewelry while you pay back the loan. You will have to pay back the loan and associated interest as per the repayment policy agreed upon and will then collect your jewelry once again on repayment of the loan and interest amounts. If you fail to pay back the loan, then you of course forfeit ownership to the jewelry and ownership passes to the pawn store. There are real advantages to a pawn loan over other loan types, as the interest rates associated with the loan are often much lower than other loan types as real collateral is used and the loan is simple and quick to take out with no requirements for credit scores or consequences on your credit scores. Using pawn jewelry for a pawn loan is thus frequently very cost-effective.
Jewelry is not just an aesthetic item that you pay for and then wear it until it falls apart. It is much more than just an accessory when it is made up of gold, platinum, diamonds or sapphire as it can be used to access much needed cash. It can therefore be seen as an investment item that will fluctuate in value in the same way as stocks and property but with time will slowly appreciate in value. Pawn jewelry is thus not just about how you wear it but also about how you use that investment.