How to Sell Gold Jewelry in Southern Oregon

Almost every household in Southern Oregon has some gold jewelry sitting in a drawer that hasn't been worn in a decade — a broken chain, a single earring, a class ring, a few pieces from a grandparent. With gold where it is right now, that drawer is worth more than most people realize. It's also, for the most part, not as complicated to price as people fear.

The honest baseline: most gold jewelry we buy is priced by karat purity, weight, and the day's gold spot price. That math alone usually adds up to a meaningful check when high-karat or high-weight pieces are involved. A smaller subset — signed designer work, antique pieces in unusual condition, and a few specific categories of estate jewelry — pays meaningfully more than melt. That category is real, just not as common as sellers tend to hope.

Here's what we're going to cover, in order:

1. The karat math — how gold jewelry is actually priced and why karat matters more than appearance.
2. Reading hallmarks — what real gold is marked, what plated and filled marks look like, and the tricky unmarked pieces.
3. Designer and signed pieces — the exception that can pay multiples of melt, and how not to ruin them.
4. Diamonds and stones in mounts — how we evaluate the metal and the stones separately, and what to expect.
5. Why we can't quote gold jewelry over the phone — the same condition-and-grade problem as coins.
6. eBay sold-listings — how to spot-check yourself and what eBay's fees actually take off the top.
7. What to bring — and what not to bother doing to it first.

Then a quick recap at the end so you walk into your appointment knowing what to expect.

The karat math: how gold jewelry is actually priced

Karat is the measure of gold purity. The number you see stamped on the inside of a ring or the back of a clasp tells you exactly how much actual gold is in the piece.

• 24k — 99.9% pure gold. Soft, deep yellow, used in bullion and some Asian and Middle Eastern jewelry. Rare in American pieces because it's too soft for daily wear.
• 22k — 91.6% gold. Common in Indian, Pakistani, and some European bridal jewelry. Still very soft.
• 18k — 75% gold. Standard for European designer pieces (Cartier, Tiffany, Van Cleef). Holds detail well, deep yellow color.
• 14k — 58.5% gold. The American workhorse karat. Most chains, wedding bands, and everyday jewelry from the US market are 14k.
• 10k — 41.7% gold. The minimum legal karat to be called “gold” in the US. Common for class rings, lower-priced chains, and a lot of mass-market jewelry.

Pricing for non-designer gold jewelry follows a simple chain: karat purity × weight × current gold spot × our buy percentage. A heavier 14k chain is worth more than a thinner 18k chain even though the 18k has higher purity, because the total grams of actual gold matter more than the karat label alone. We weigh on a calibrated jeweler's scale in front of you and use the live bid price displayed on the J. Austin home page ticker.

Reading hallmarks: real gold vs gold-plated

Almost all real gold jewelry is marked. The mark is usually on the inside of a ring band, on the back of a clasp, on the post of an earring, or on the bail of a pendant. Pull a loupe out (or just hold it up to good light) and you'll find one of these:

• Karat marks — 24k, 22k, 18k, 14k, 10k. The “k” or “kt” matters.
• Fineness marks (European) — 999 (24k), 916 (22k), 750 (18k), 585 (14k), 417 (10k). Same purity, different notation.

Plated and filled marks — these are not solid gold and pay on a different scale entirely:

• GP or EP (gold plated, electroplated) — a microscopic layer of gold over base metal. Very low recovery.
• GF or 1/20 12k GF (gold-filled) — a thicker bonded layer. Pays a small amount per gram, well below solid gold.
• RGP (rolled gold plate) — similar to filled.
• HGE (heavy gold electroplate) — still plated, just thicker.
• Vermeil — gold-plated sterling silver. Priced closer to the silver value than the gold.

And the tricky case: unmarked pieces. Some older jewelry — particularly Victorian, hand-fabricated, or estate pieces from before consistent stamping — has no hallmark at all but is still real gold. Don't assume unmarked = plated. We test unmarked pieces at your appointment with acid or a specific gravity machine and tell you exactly what the karat is.

One quick at-home check that does not work reliably: the magnet test. Gold isn't magnetic, but neither are copper, brass, aluminum, and most of the base metals used in costume jewelry. A non-magnetic piece could still be plated. We need to actually test.

Designer and signed pieces are the exception

This is where the math changes. A signed piece from a major house can pay multiples of its melt value — sometimes much more — because the design carries its own market separate from the gold content. Houses worth flagging if you see the mark:

• Tiffany & Co. — full signature, often with “©” and date
• Cartier — engraved signature plus serial number
• Van Cleef & Arpels — signed and numbered
• Bvlgari
• Hermès
• David Yurman — signed “DY”
• John Hardy
• Roberto Coin
• Older signed work — Georg Jensen, Buccellati, Art Nouveau and Art Deco signed pieces, Native American signed silver with gold elements

The single most important thing you can do for designer pieces: bring them intact. Don't cut up a chain because you thought it was scrap. Don't pry off settings. Don't try to clean off patina. The hallmark, the maker's stamp, and the original construction all factor into the offer. We've seen sellers cut a Tiffany chain in half on the assumption it was a generic gold chain — the cut piece paid melt, where the intact chain would have paid significantly more. When in doubt, leave it whole and let us look.

Diamonds and stones in mounts

A lot of gold jewelry has stones — diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, garnets, opals. We evaluate the metal and the stones separately, and the honest baseline for stones is roughly this:

• Small accent diamonds (pavé, channel-set, halo accents under ~10 points each) usually add modest value beyond the gold. They're real, they have a price, but the resale market for melee diamonds is thin.
• Larger diamonds (one carat and larger) are priced individually on the 4Cs — cut, color, clarity, carat — and can carry significant value separately from the mount. Bring any paperwork (GIA reports, original receipts) if you have it.
• Colored stones (sapphires, emeralds, rubies, etc.) vary enormously by origin, treatment, and quality. Synthetic versions are common in 20th-century pieces and pay essentially nothing. Natural untreated stones can pay strongly, but require real evaluation.
• Opals, garnets, citrines, amethysts, topaz — most are semi-precious and add modest value at best, even though they can be visually striking.

Do not pry stones out of mounts before your appointment. We evaluate them in-place. Loose stones with no documentation are worth less than stones in their original mount, because the mount itself confirms the piece's age, design, and provenance.

Why we can't quote gold jewelry over the phone

Same problem as coins, slightly different shape.

We can quote the gold portion ballpark if you know the karat and the weight. But most sellers don't have a calibrated scale at home, the marks can be hard to read without a loupe, and pieces are almost always heavier or lighter than people estimate. More importantly, the question of whether the piece is solid, filled, hollow, or plated is the whole difference between melt and pocket change — and that's a test we have to run in person.

Designer pieces are even harder. The whole premium hinges on authenticating the signature, the construction, and (where applicable) the serial number. We can't authenticate a Tiffany chain over a phone description. Bring it in.

The one phone-friendly conversation: bullion-style gold (Krugerrands, American Gold Eagles, Maple Leafs, Pamp or Credit Suisse bars). Those have published weights and purities, so a ballpark phone quote is reasonable.

eBay sold-listings: how to spot-check, and what eBay actually keeps

If you want to spot-check value before your appointment, eBay's Sold listings filter is the most reliable free source — not the current asking prices. Anyone can ask anything; what matters is what actually sells.

• Search the specific piece (e.g. 14k Italy rope chain 20 inch or Tiffany Open Heart pendant 18k).
• Open Filters and check Sold items.
• Look for the mean (or median) sold price that matches your piece's condition, length, weight, and signature status. Match like-to-like.
• Watch the sale-through ratio. If 80 are listed and 3 sold in the last 90 days, the market is saturated and most sellers are priced too high. The 3 that sold likely had a feature the unsold ones don't — certification, original box and papers, or a specific rare reference.

What eBay actually takes off the top

A sold price on eBay is not what the seller takes home. By the time you factor in everything, eBay's all-in cost runs close to 20% of the sale price:

• Final value fee + listing fees — eBay's cut of the sale price.
• Payment / merchant processing — additional percentage on top.
• Shipping with insurance — your cost of doing business. Gold jewelry requires insured mail. That's not an eBay fee; it's a seller cost that comes off whatever's left after the fees above.
• The risk premium you're carrying. Lost in transit, chargeback, “item not as described” disputes, return requests with swapped items — all real, all common on high-value jewelry listings.

If a piece like yours sells for $500 on eBay, you're likely netting around $380–$400 after fees, before shipping and insurance. By the time you've added photography, listing time, packaging, and the risk of a dispute, most sellers do better selling directly to a reputable local shop where the number you agree on is the number you walk out with.

What to bring to your appointment

• Everything that might be gold. Broken chains, single earrings, class rings, dental gold, mismatched pieces, the jar at the back of the closet. There's no minimum and no charge to evaluate additional items.
• Don't pre-cut or pre-separate anything. If a piece might be designer, the original construction matters. If it's clearly scrap, the weight is the same either way. Either way, you don't gain anything by cutting it up at home.
• Don't repair, polish, or clean before bringing it in. Polishing wears down maker's marks and hallmarks, which is where the real money sometimes hides.
• Any paperwork — original receipts, appraisals, GIA reports for diamonds, certificates from the maker. Helpful but not required.
• Photo ID. Oregon requires it for precious-metals transactions.

Quick recap before you come in

In short, here's everything we just covered:

• Most gold jewelry is priced on karat × weight × today's spot, and at today's gold price that math usually adds up to real money for even a modest pile of pieces.
• Hallmarks tell you what's real: 24k/22k/18k/14k/10k or 999/916/750/585/417 are solid gold. Marks like GP, GF, RGP, EP, HGE, and “vermeil” mean plated, filled, or plated-on-silver — not solid gold. Unmarked pieces could go either way; we test.
• Designer and signed pieces are the exception — bring them intact. Tiffany, Cartier, Van Cleef, David Yurman, and others pay multiples of melt when the signature and construction are preserved. Don't cut, clean, or repair.
• Diamonds and stones in mounts are evaluated separately. Small accent stones add modest value; larger or certified stones can pay significantly. Don't pry stones out before your appointment.
• We can't grade unmarked or designer pieces over the phone — we need to weigh, test, and authenticate in person. Bullion-style gold (Eagles, Krugerrands, Pamp bars) is the one phone-friendly exception.
• eBay sold listings (not asking prices) are useful for spot-checking, but factor in roughly 20% in fees before you compare to a direct local offer.

That's the playbook. We'll go through every piece individually, show you the math, and make an offer. You're free to accept it, decline it, or sleep on it — there's no fee for the evaluation either way.

Ready to schedule?

Call our Ashland location at (541) 482-3715 or our Grants Pass location at (541) 955-2985, or use the contact form and we'll get back to you the same business day.

Bringing coins, sterling flatware, or watches at the same appointment? We evaluate everything in one sitting. See our category pages for Gold & Silver Jewelry, US Coins, Sterling Flatware, and Luxury Watches for what we look for in each.