Selling Jewellery

What Prices?
Because we will buy any gold or silver jewellery, and there are millions of different jewellery products in existence, it is not possible for us to publish or maintain a list of prices we pay for all jewellery.

Rule of Thumb
After reading the Value Of My Diamond Ring page,, you will not be surprised to hear that we have a quick "rule of thumb" which will give you a rough and ready guide as to how much to expect. We used to reckon about 25% to 33% of the valuation, or retail, price. Please don't use this as an absolute figure, it is only a guideline. In many cases, the second-hand selling price may be less than 25%. As retail mark-ups seem to have increased in the past few years, the retained value percentages have slipped closer to 15 to 20%.

Price Unseen?
Every single day we get telephone calls from people wanting to know the value of their jewellery. We explain elsewhere on this site that we usually need to see jewellery before we can appraise and price it. There is some jewellery which we can price over the telephone, in which case we will give a price. For almost all other jewellery, we really do need to see it. Some callers simply can't seem to understand this and insist on trying to spend 30 minutes trying to describe their items, even after they have read the Value Of My Diamond Ring page, which we recommend you look at.

Is There Any Jewellery We Will Not Buy?
No, but there is some jewellery which has such a low value that it would not be worth our while buying them singly. As a simple example, let's say someone expects us to buy a single silver ring. It has a scrap value of only a few pence, so we may decline to make a bid. If somebody had a ton of the same jewellery it may be worth our while making an offer, we do also buy scrap precious metals and secondhand jewellery from the jewellers and pawnbrokers.

What About Quantity?
In the case of some rarer and more expensive jewellery, one piece in stock may be enough for us, although we would still buy a second or third example, at fair prices, but slightly less than if we had none in stock. In other cases, we would prefer to buy in quantity. This is more usual in the case of lower value jewellery. The main reason for this is that there is a cost for our time involved in negotiating and recording the transaction. This is almost the same whether we are buying 1 diamond ring or half a ton of scrap silver, so it is obviously more efficient for us to buy in quantity.

Other Price Guidelines
You could look at the prices at which we sell similar jewellery, if we have them listed on our websites.

Travel or Post?
We do not, as a rule, travel to buy jewellery, although we do make exceptions for larger collections. You are welcome to visit our premises, it is advisable but not necessary to telephone us, or you can post the jewellery to us. We transact most of our business by mail order, and it is quite safe to post jewellery, providing you package it properly.

Posting Jewellery to Us
Since 1964 we have transacted much of our business by mail.
You are welcome to call at our showroom with jewellery for sale. There is no need to make an appointment, but if you have a large amount of jewellery, it is advisable to let us know in advance.
Sending jewellery by post is quite simple and reliable. Within the UK, we recommend the Royal Mail's Special Delivery service, which used to be called "registered".

What To Do Next
If you would like to send your jewellery to us, we will happily make you an offer. We would ask you to send it to us, along with all the information you have and a covering letter explaining how much you would like to get for the piece(s) and a cheque for £10. Please ensure you include your contact details, especially your telephone number as we find it a lot quicker and easier to telephone you with an offer rather than spend time writing to you! If you accept our offer we will return your £10 cheque along with a cheque for your jewellery. If you decline our offer we will use the £10 cheque to cover our costs and the cost of insured return postage.

Notes on Table
It can be worthwhile to spend a few minutes working out the best way to split a delivery.
If you do not have any separate insurance, it may pay to split shipments into more than one packet.
Note that Royal Mail's maximum compensation on "Recorded Delivery" is £26, but this excludes "valuables", which makes it almost useless!

Packing
Most people pack their jewellery securely, but occasionally we are surprised by how badly some people will pack their jewellery.
Try to wrap delicate items separately if valuable, and consider putting the entire batch into a sturdy box. Try to use the smallest possible outer box or envelope to reduce the amount of slack inside.

We Buy Diamond Rings

Jewellery as an Investment
If you are surprised or dismayed by any of our comments or reckonings about jewellery, and you were labouring under the misapprehension that jewellery was an investment, then you may also wish to read our page on that topic as well.