Estate jewelery buyers - fair & honest?

Jewelry Discussion
1

I am looking for trustworthy and reliable estate jewelry buyers that
deal with everyday piece as well as the larger and finer pieces. Is
there anyone you can recommend? Many thanks. Steve

2

Steve, I have dealt with a large number of estate buyers over

the years, (I’ve been in this business for 30 years. Most of the ones
with whom I have done business, I would describe as HONEST. FAIR is a
completely different question.

Fair to whom?
Any estate buyer MUST buy for the lowest price he can. They MUST NOT
pay one dollar more than they HAVE TO, if they want to be
successful.

When you have ‘estate’ meaning used jewelry to sell, you must have a
FIRM idea of how much you want for the item. If you’re not
knowledgeable about values, you’ve got to have some guidelines on
pricing that you can use to establish the ‘fair’ price. You cannot
rely on the

buyer to do it…there is a complete conflict of interest there. He
HAS to “buy low, sell high.” David Barzilay, Lord of the Rings

David Barzilay
Lord of the Rings
607 S Hill St Ste 850
Los Angeles, CA 90014-1718
213-488-9157

3

McTeigue in NYC, Good folks 800-628-5250

4

Estate jewlery is a fancy term for “used” jewelry. It implies great
worth, coming out of an estate, and sometimes the pieces have antique
value, but more often than not, they are pieces that have been turned
in to a jeweler for trade-in value or sold at a pawn shop, and they
have more income potential being re-sold than being melted down.

Wendy Newman
www.goldgraphix.com

5

Brad, I prsonally figure that $4 or $5 per gram is fair to the
seller, and allows me to make a profit, after I factor in the cost
of melting, the assay charge, and the risk which I take (risk that I
am buying ‘paste.’

I use the touchstone method to see if an item is REALLY 14K (or,
whatever it is marked.)

Even so, ‘fake’ or low-karat fools me occasionally.

I also offer the seller an option to keep the lot together, assay
separately, and accept the sell price (minus my fee.) That is not
usually practical for small lots of gold.

I NEVER re-use the old gold for manufacturing. I sell it to a
refiner and buy pure gold or casting alloy.

David Barzilay
Lord of the Rings
607 S Hill St Ste 850
Los Angeles, CA 90014-1718
213-488-9157

6 
  I personally figure that $4 or $5 per gram is fair

So you would buy at 33 - 45% off new gold of the same karat. And
would that include the weight of any minorstones in the settings?

Yes, to the gold question, because of the risk I’m taking in buying
unknown gold. As to stones, if they’re diamonds, or stones with some
value to me, of course I pay customer for them, in addition to gold
value. Any other stones, mostly the value is negligible.

       By "fake" do you mean legit gold filled stuff, or do you
mean stuff that's been engineered to con you?

Either one.

I NEVER re-use the old gold for manufacturing.  I sell it to a
refiner and buy pure gold or casting alloy. I would guess that's
for liability reasons, but a refiner charges a fair bit, doesn't
he?   What's a typical fee for a small lot like an ounce or two?

Actually, it’s because I want to sell a quality product, and I cannot
control the quality of metal which I use unless I control the alloy.

Fee is not high, and is built into the transaction. Example: I have
one Troy ounce of mixed scrap gold, which is theoretically 14K. It
assays at 13.6 Kt. The refiner will pay me for the amount of pure
gold (less than an ounce ) I can have a check, but I usually let him
pay me in fine gold OR casting grain. You’ll have to shop around in
your neighborhood.

By the way, the assayist should be a different person than the gold
dealer/ refiner. (Eliminates teptation.)

David Barzilay
Lord of the Rings
607 S Hill St Ste 850
Los Angeles, CA 90014-1718
213-488-9157