6 Things to Do with Old Jewelry
If you have some old jewelry items sitting in a box somewhere in your home, you probably don’t look at those items very often. You may never even wear them. Chances are, you’ve inherited those items from someone in your family, but they didn’t match your style.
Rather than letting those items sit around, come up with a way to get rid of the items or think about repurposing them. There are several options that you can consider, so let’s look at some of them in detail.
Donate Your Old Jewelry
The value of your heirloom jewelry may impact what you want to do with it. If you have items that aren’t worth any money and are no longer of interest to you, think about donating them.
You can hand them over to a local donation center, women’s center, YMCA, a church of clothes closet organization. If you’re not sure of your options, give a call to a local jewelry store or pawn shop in your area.
They should be able to point you in the right direction of a reputable donation center that will make good use of your items. Donating your items is much better than just throwing them in the trash.
Pass Your Old Jewelry On
Your interest in old heirloom jewelry in your possession may no longer be prevalent, but you may know someone else who may want the items. For example, if you have earrings that belonged to your grandmother, that passed away years ago, see if any of her other grandchildren might want them.
You can also consider passing them down to a daughter or niece. Even a close friend may appreciate receiving some old jewelry items that you no longer want but would like someone special to have.
Sell Your Old Jewelry
Selling your jewelry is a great way to get rid of unwanted items while turning a profit for them. You can use several methods to sell your items for the most money possible.
Selling your jewelry is often one of the most profitable methods available to you. However, this relies on you knowing what your items are worth. If you don’t, someone could talk you into a far lower deal than what you deserve.
You can start this process by appraising your items with a reputable jeweler. Make sure they provide you with paperwork to show to the person interested in your jewelry.
You can also sell your items to a jeweler. Many of these professionals will buy old things to clean up, fix and then sell to other customers.
If the style isn’t relevant anymore, they may even purchase the items from you so they can use the metal that it’s made out of to create other items. This amount can vary depending on the current price of gold. It may be wise to wait a bit longer if prices go up in the future.
A pawn shop may also buy items from you to sell to another clientele. Pawnshops will often provide you with a low estimate regarding the value, so be careful what you accept. You may want to stop by a few different pawn shops to see what they’re all offering. Then, sell your items to the highest bidder.
There are several online marketplaces that you can use for selling your jewelry. You can use an auction site such as eBay, but you have to be careful about who you’re selling to.
You also have to worry about safely shipping the items to the buyer without them getting lost or damaged. Some other websites allow you to sell your jewelry through them with a bit more assurance.
Shopify, Worthy, and CircaJewels are just some of your options. In addition, CashforgoldUSA is a website that will buy your items from you for the value of the gold it’s made out of.
Repurpose Your Old Jewelry
The jewelry you have might not be something you want to wear anymore, but parts of the jewelry are still quite valuable. For example, you can turn an old engagement ring into a pretty necklace. Or, you can have earrings or a ring melted down to create a new charm or piece of jewelry.
Extremely outdated items from family members that lived generations ago don’t have to sit at the bottom of your jewelry box. Instead, you can use those items to make something new and stylish.
Trade-In Your Old Jewelry
Head to your local jewelry store to see if you can trade in a piece of jewelry for something new that you’ll pick out. The value of your item may not be enough for an even swap, but you can often put the cost towards your new purchase, and you would pay the difference.
It’s a lot like valuing your current automobile to trade it in for something new, which is another situation where you want to ensure that you receive a fair price for your items.
You should look into a few different appraisers to see what they offer. If you get an offer you like, you can trade your items in with that location. You can also use that appraisal to go somewhere else and show them what you would like to receive for your items.
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of ways to get money for your old jewelry rather than allowing it to sit in your jewelry box for years to come. If you’re not interested in profiting from these unwanted items, you can donate them to someone that would appreciate them.
One man’s trash can be another person’s treasure. Avoid throwing jewelry items out. There’s usually some value to them; you need to determine what that value is.
