Angie’s List: Jewelry appraisal tips

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Gold is the hot item when it comes to getting cash out of old jewelry. But, before you decide to sell your gold, one local jeweler says make sure it’s worth being scrapped.

"Your jewelry is an asset. And to be able to actually quantify the quality, the price of an asset you need to take into consideration several different things. Not just selling them for, and there's not a better word, scrap value," said Gary Thrapp of G. Thrapp Jewelers.

That piece you thought was worth melting down might be worth more.

Thrapp said, "And it's a cool design."

Angie Hicks of Angie's List said too often people hand over their jewelry to strangers. She said when it comes to getting the right price finding someone locally usually works better.

"Because then you're going to have a trust in that relationship because you're a repeat customer likely and are going to be coming back. So there's certainly an inherent interest in that jeweler to take good care of you," said Hicks.

Thrapp said, "They should know if you are a good dealer and dealing on their best behalf that we will counsel you on these items and kind of separate the wheat from the chaff."

Thrapp said his store and most others locally will do that for free. They'll tell you which items you should look at more carefully before turning into scrap.

Thrapp said, "See if the item has a particular provenance, a signature, a Cartier, a tiffany, something like that. The quality level of the gold the degree of difficulty in the manufacturing technique, is it really sellable or is it worn out and scrap?"

As for the cost of an appraisal, Thrapp said the average price is $25 to $30, depending on the complexity and age of the jewelry.

Simple items are far less, complex ones could be more. He also said you should look for Gem Institute of America Certification wherever you get an appraisal.