Gold jewelry: how to resell them at the best price without being trapped

With the price of gold at its peak, reselling your jewelry can be tempting. But beware of the pitfalls: to avoid unpleasant surprises, some precautions are necessary before you start.

Necklace, wedding ring, earrings… Has the time come to liquidate the family jewels? In any case, if you need cash in the coming months – in the run-up to Christmas for example – this seems like a good time to part with your gems. The price of gold has indeed reached unprecedented records. According to data from the Gold Avenue site, it has never been so high since 1968: an ounce of the yellow metal is trading today at 2,500 euros per ounce, i.e. 81 euros per gram. A bargain if there are at least 5 grams of gold in a wedding ring, for example, which, during the day, would sell for 405 euros.

In addition to the opportunity of these historic heights, reselling your jewelry has the added bonus of a tax advantage. In fact, the latter do not fall into the category of investment gold, in which we find bars, ingots and coins issued after 1800. Thus, you will only be taxed from 5,000 euros on resaleand this, every 30 days. In other words, you can sell between 0 and 5,000 euros of jewelry without any taxation. To do this, you can contact one of the many shops or agencies that offer to buy your gold. But how can we be sure of their seriousness?

Three tips to follow before and during the transaction

To make your operation profitable and risk-free, here are some tips to follow. First of all, “it is strongly recommended to always have an idea of ​​the price of gold on the day you decide to sell”, recommends Sandrine Cross, general director of Or en Cash, a network which has 105 purchase/resale agencies in France. To avoid being misled about the value of your jewelry. Many specialized sites allow you to consult the gold price at any time, and you can also go to the site of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) which sets it twice a day.

Once in store, a fairly strict protocol must then be followed by the buyer: “the expert will first pass a magnet over your jewelry to ensure that it is indeed gold. Then, he observes the hallmarks, and finally, he will scrape the jewelry on a touchstone, over which he passes revealing liquids to determine the number of carats (which expresses the purity of the precious metal)”details Sandrine Cross. Finally, comes the time of weighing to determine the number of grams of gold and the final price: for this, the dial of the scale must always be placed facing the customer. You must check the balance verification label on the side of the scale, with the date: “scales must be checked at least once a year”points out the expert.

Finally, one final element should finally reassure you about the legality of the transaction: since September 1, 2011, it is formally prohibited by law to pay in cash for a purchase of gold! Therefore, the expert must necessarily verify your identity and ask you for a RIB to make a transfer, or pay you the amount of the transaction by check. Indeed, as article L224-97 of the Consumer Code reminds us: “Any transaction involving the purchase of precious metals (…) is the subject of a written contract, a copy of which is given to the consumer-seller at the time of its conclusion.”