With gold prices at an all time high, the only question that you can ask yourself is: How can I profit from this? One way is to send it to stores that offer to buy your gold for cash or selling them to jewelry stores and pawnbrokers. This is a great way to make a few quick bucks but to really cash in, the best solution is to host a gold party! So what exactly is a gold party? Well these parties are similar to the Tupperware parties back in 80’s where the host would invite all of his or her friends, family, or anyone over his/her house or rented space. These people who come over bring all old, broken, unwanted jewelry, trinkets, platinum and even sterling silver for some extra cash.
Find or Become a Professional Buyer
You can find a professional buyer online or jeweler you know and trust. These buyers actually attend your party and pay cash to you and your attendees for their unwanted and old scrap gold. Make sure however that the buyer is someone you know or comes from a reputable company or source. Good questions to ask are if the buyer has his/her own business, any certifications, licenses, and also the rate that he/she will be issuing for their purchases. Most professional buyers offer an average between 25% – 60% of the actual price of gold. As a host of these parties you get a commission on the sales made. The usual commission for hosting these parties is about 10% of all sales. On top of that some businesses will even give you $25-$50 for serving food and drinks for your guests. You can also sell your own gold scraps for profit as well. This would be a good profit if you are planning to host for a onetime event but if you are planning to throw more than one gold party or make a business out of it, I would suggest becoming a professional yourself.
Becoming a gold buyer is not rocket science but it is not easy either. Anyone with the initiative and drive can learn how. You can even start your own business in hosting and buying gold. There is a lot of material online as well as books that you can purchase to learn the different colors of gold as well calculating cost of karat per gram. There are also seminars in purchasing gold that you can attend. To find out about these seminars, check your local newspaper or sites such as Craigslist for more information. When buying gold you would have to look out for people trying to scam you, people will try to sell you plated or any other fake gold and you would have to be able to determine this. Once you have mastered becoming a professional buyer, you can move on to the next section.
Get the Equipment
If you are using a professional, then you would not need to read this section as the professional should have all equipment needed to test gold. If you are looking to buy the gold yourself, then read on.
The essential equipment you would need to start a gold party are a gold tester (preferably one that tests up to 24 carats), magnet, and a jewelry scale. Gold testers are great machines to determine the number karats in a certain gold piece. As some gold testers can detect gold plated items, magnets can be used to serve as a backup in determining plated gold. This is done by holding the magnet close to the gold. Gold is very soft metal and non magnetic. If the piece is pure gold, it should not attract. If magnet attracts the gold piece, then suspect that there is some gold alloy or not gold at all. Jewelry scales are used to determine the weight of gold. Popular weights units used for gold is either troy ounce (ozt), grams (g) or pennyweight (dwt). Based on the actual price of gold that has been quoted for that specific day, you would have to calculate how much to pay your customer gold per gram or which ever unit you desire.
Find a Location and Theme for your Party
Most gold parties are held at the host’s house or depending on the amount of guests; it can take place at a rented location. If you plan to make this a private event or if you are just inviting people you know, holding the party at your house is the best way to go. It is also the cheapest and most affordable. Also make sure to have a certain theme to the party. When determining a theme, make sure it is something fun and people will enjoy. Some of your guests might be selling jewelry that has sentimental value to them and they should be comfortable in doing so. Always serve drinks and food but do not spend too much so that you can make a profit. Be a gracious host and always be available for questions and concerns from your guest. Before you know, your party will be the talk of the town.
Contact a Gold Refiner
So you ask yourself after I have purchased all this gold, what do I do now? Well what most, if not all these gold buying professionals do after they collected the gold is that they go sell it to a refinery. What gold refineries do is that they actually melt the gold jewelry and reuse it for other means. Why sell to a refinery? Well for one thing, they pay a higher rate than any gold trading company or any pawn shop can ever pay you. Some refineries pay as high as 98%. Do the research. Check any online directory or yellow pages for any local refineries in your area. Compare the rates and decide who pays the highest rate. One very reputable gold refiner is Republic Metals Corporation.