Do you want to sell your vintage jewellery? Every day I receive several e.mails offering to sell me vintage jewellery . Since I never buy privately I have put together a comprehensive guide to selling your unwanted jewels . Over the coming weeks I will examine how and where to sell in more detail, how to value your jewellery  and how much to expect. For today here is an introductory guide to places you can sell you pieces

There are several ways to sell your old jewellery and each way has its merits and drawbacks. You will need to balance the amount of effort and cost you put in against the reward for each way and choose which suits you best.   As with most things in life you will find that, as a general rule,  the way which requires the most time, cost  and effort will bring in the most money and the quickest easiest way to sell will bring you the least.

First Steps

If you just want a quick sale with no effort you can skip this step and go straight to where to sell. Before choosing where to sell your vintage jewellery take a few minutes to consider:

1 . Do you know what it is and how old? What is it made of ?

If you don’t know what you’ve got then either research to find out or avoid eBay, antique fairs and your own website.

2.  How much time and money do you want to put into selling it?

Little time and money then sell via a real life auciton house or for scrap or to a high street jewellery. Find a good dealer or internet site takes time. Selling through eBay or at a fair takes time and money

3. What condition is the piece of jewellery in? 

If less than excellent condition then go for scrapping it ( if gold) or take to your local auction house. It is unlikely to be worthwhile having the jewellery repaired just for the purposes of selling it.

Where to sell your Vintage Jewellery

These are in order of ease of selling

Sell your gold for scrap.

 Effort required : Very low, £’s gained very low, costs very low

When to use: I would only consider this for broken pieces

Where: There are shops and stalls in every high street buying gold for cash and a little research on the internet will bring up several to choose from.

Advantages: Quick and easy for cash

Drawbacks: Only buying gold. You will get a lot less than your jewellery is worth unless it is in poor condition.

The high street Jeweller.

Effort required very low, £’s gained low, costs very low

When to use: You have quality Antique Jewellery, hallmarked gold and silver jewellery in good condition and want the money quickly.

Where: Your local high street, look for independent jewellers not major chains

Advantages:  Quick for cash, you should get more than scrap price for nice jewellery.

Drawbacks , only buying gold and silver

NB, you will probably need proof of identity when selling to a high street jewellery

Real life auction.

 Effort required very low, £’s gained low to high, cost high

When to use: When you are in no hurry for the money, you have little time,

Where: There is an auction house in most major towns. Find yours on the Internet or in the phone book.

Drawbacks: The price you gain is uncertain and depends on the buyers on the day however you can set a minimum reserve. Costs can be high

Advantages: A good auctioneer will spot something of high value and help ensure the highest price is realised.

The private Jewellery Dealer.

 Effort required  medium, £’s gained low to medium, costs very low

When to use: You have a specialist collection eg named costume jewellery

Where: Private Jewellery dealers can be found selling at antique fairs and antiques centers.

Drawbacks, finding the right dealer to sell to may take time and effort

Advantages: If you have a specialist collection to sell to a specialist dealer you may get a very good price

An Internet Vintage Jewellery website.

Effort required low to medium, £’s gained low to medium, cost low

When to use: You have a specialist collection eg named costume jewellery

Where: Research in your favourite Internet search engine. Some jewellery sites advertise that they buy jewellery.

Drawbacks, you are going to have to trust the website as you will have to post out your jewellery before receiving any money.

Advantages: If you have a specialist collection to sell to a specialist dealer you may get a very good price

Car Boot Sale

Effort required medium, £’s gained low, cost low

When to use: You have a lot of costume jewellery which is quite new or broken.

Where: Check in your local evening paper

Drawbacks:  You have to get up early and stand in a field for the morning .  You will need to keep the prices low

Advantages: Quick cash , you can sell a lot if your prices are low.

eBay.

 Effort required medium to high, £’s gained low to high, cost medium

When to use: You just have few pieces in good condition to sell, you know what they are and have plenty of time

Drawbacks, takes some PC knowledge. You need good photos of your items and will need to post them out. Costs can be quite high

Advantages: You can set a minimum price for your item, quicker to get your money than real life auction

Antiques and collectables fairs.

Effort required high, £’s gained medium, cost high

When to use:  You have plenty of time, you know what you have to sell and you enjoy talking to people.

Where:  You usually need to book in advance. Look on the antiques trade gazette website or in your local paper for details of where antiques fairs are held

Drawbacks, you need a lot of jewellery to consider taking a stall at an antiques fair. You pay in advance with no guarantee of a sale. You need to set the price of your jewellery. early morning start and long day

Advantages: This can be the start of a small jewellery business or a great hobby.

Your own website.

 Effort required very high, £’s gained medium to high, cost medium to high

When to use: When you want to sell Jewellery for a living or a serious hobby.

Where: You need to set up your own shopping cart I use and recommend EKM but there are others. Research on the Internet

Drawbacks, takes a lot of effort and time before you start selling anything. May be months before your first sale . You need good PC knowledge, good photos and need to fix the price of your jewellery. Each piece sold needs to be posted out. Up front costs high

Advantages: If selling high volumes then costs can be lower per piece than selling on eBay or at real life auction.