Finding the gold should be the hard part, but selling gold can actually be pretty hard too!
Most miners don’t think much about how to properly market and sell their gold until the time comes, and the lose a lot of money because of it.
Determining the value of your gold is critical if you want to get a good price. Obviously you want as much cash as you can possibly get, but to be fair, you also want to know what a good price is so that you can spot a deal when you see one.
Keep these 5 things in mind…
1. Spot Price of Gold
Since gold nuggets are made from gold, it should be obvious that the spot price of the metal at the time you are selling it will impact the price that you get.
Since gold nuggets are purchased most often by mineral collectors, the price isn’t strictly based on the gold value, but it definitely has an impact.
2. Attractiveness
This might be the most important thing that will get you a premium price for your gold nuggets. Rare gold collectors want nice quality specimen pieces, not just “average” gold nuggets.
Most gold nuggets are just lumps of gold. They might have reddish iron staining or quartz embedded in the cracks. Some collectors like this, but these generally aren’t the highest quality nuggets that command a premium price.
Gold nuggets with nice character, bright and shiny luster, and interesting shapes will catch the eye of a collector and get well over the spot price of the precious metal alone.
A natural piece of gold like this is highly prized by mineral collectors. The “melt price” of the gold isn’t nearly as important as the natural beauty of the piece. This one could easily fetch 10x more than spot price.
3. Location of Discovery
The place where to gold was unearth can definitely effect its price. Mineral collectors are often interested in unusual sources for their minerals that are different from where the gold in their collection is from.
If you have a gold nugget from an obscure location, you can probably get a little more for your nuggets. The trick is to find the right collector.
4. Nugget Size
The size of your gold nugget is important. The bigger the nugget is the rare it is, so a big nugget weighing several grams or ounces is going to bring a premium.
This big specimen is probably worth $10,000 or more, but finding a buyer for a big piece like this isn’t easy.
One thing that I have found that contradicts this; sometimes very large nuggets that weigh several ounces will actually bring LESS on price-per-gram basis because they are so large. A multi-ounce nugget is going to cost several thousand dollars, and there just aren’t a lot of buyers out there in that price range. Smaller nuggets weighing a few grams are the most popular for collectors.
5. Where You Sell
There are lots of places NOT to sell your gold nuggets. These places include:
Pawn Shops
Never sell to a pawn shop. You will be lucky to even get half the value of your gold. Most pawn shops are catering to thieves and desperate people. They have huge profit margins. You won’t get a fair price for your gold from a pawn shop.
Cash-for-Gold
There were tons of these places back when gold price was at its peak. Some of them were local shops, sometimes it was a guy who would rent a hotel room and advertise in the newspaper for the weekend. Others even told people to mail their gold in a package to them. Don’t do it. You will get a lousy price.
Refineries
There is nothing wrong with sending placer gold to a refinery, as long as they are honest and have a good reputation. However, they will only pay you for the gold content of your nuggets, so even in the best case you will probably only get 80% of spot price after all the fees are taken out. For natural gold nuggets this usually isn’t a good option.
Also Read: Tips for Buying Natural Gold Nuggets
Tip: Don’t Rush the Sale
The biggest mistake you can make is being forced to sell your gold in a hurry.
Using the information above, you should be able to better evaluate your gold nuggets and determine which ones will command a premium price.
You need to shop around though. Finding the right buyer, whether that is a gold nugget dealer or direct to a collector, is the most important part of the process.
Selling when you desperately need some money is a bad plan. You might not find the right buyer, and will be forced to sell at a low-ball price. Take your time and seek out a good buyer that will give you a good price.
Generally, you should never sell nice clean gold nuggets for less than spot price.
Next: Pictures of Genuine Gold Nuggets – Real not Fake!
