Selling your Gold Nuggets
Getting a fair price for your gold nugget collection.
If you have a collection of gold nuggets that you want to sell, there is certainly no shortage of places to go. There are probably thousands of gold buyers in this country that would gladly buy your gold, but of course you want to get a fair and HONEST price for your gold nuggets, so lets discuss some options.
Cash-for-gold businesses- Anyone who has been flipping through the channels at 2 a.m. has seen these ads on TV. Send us your gold and we will mail you back huge stacks of cash! I don't think I need to say a whole lot about these companies. There have been numerous investigations about these companies and the ridiculously low prices that they payout for gold. Look up "Cash for Gold Scams" on YouTube and you will learn all you need to know. If you want a FAIR price for your placer gold, look elsewhere.
Pawnshops- Generally, pawnshops and local gold buyers will be similar to the cash-for-gold businesses. The benefit is that you can meet face to face, rather that send your gold of in the mail and pray for the best. The downside is that they generally offer a significantly lower price than you should get. As an example, I purchased a nice 2 ounce nugget from a gentleman a few years ago, and he had taken it to 3 different local pawn shops before contacting me. His highest offer? 60% of spot! This was truly a gorgeous, bright, clean, heavy, collectable gold nugget from Australia. Needless to say I was able to beat that offer. Obviously different pawnshops will have different payouts, and some may be more reasonable than that, but I've heard similar stories enough times to know that they are not your best option.
Refineries- Here's the simple fact about the pawnshops and most gold buyers... any gold they buy from you is probably going straight to the refinery anyway, so why not just sell directly to the refinery yourself? Honestly, sometimes the refinery may be your best option for selling your gold. This can be the case with fine placer gold or gold dust. Fine gold is not highly collectable, and depending on the purity you may get a very reasonable price by selling them your placer gold. Just remember that ALL gold has some impurities (typically silver and/or copper) which is a percentage of weight that you will NOT be paid for. For example, if you have a vial of gold dust that is 85-90% gold purity with 10-15% silver/copper content, after the refinery takes their cut you can expect maybe 75-80% of spot price for your gold. This may be a decent price for gold dust, but if you have gold nuggets that have collectable value, this is not your best option.
Ebay- We all know how about eBay, so I probably don't need to say a lot about it. The positives are that you can have many buyers bidding on your offering and a potential to get a good price. The negatives are the fees, which will run between 6-12% depending on how you list, plus 3% for using paypal, plus cost of shipping. You also have to avoid the scammers, potentially cranky customers, etc., and the time and effort required to list your items. Still, eBay can be a good option for selling gold nuggets.
Gold Nugget Dealer- Of course this is where I tell you that you should only sell your gold nuggets to us, right? Well, maybe.... What I can tell you is if you have a nice collection of gold nuggets similar to the ones we sell on our website, Gold Rush Nuggets will absolutely be able to offer you more than a pawnshop, cash-for-gold business, or refinery will. Why? Because we are interested in gold nuggets for their value as rare and collectable mineral specimens, not their melt value. I have no interest in, nor do I buy, gold jewelry, dental gold, or any type of scrap gold. If you can find a buyer who is interested in your gold nuggets for what they ARE, rather than what their melt value is, you will get the best price.
Rock and Mineral Shows- Setting up a booth at a show is a great way to get a good price for you gold nuggets. There are many large mineral shows around the country where dealers sell a variety of rocks, minerals, and fossils. If you are willing to put in the extra effort of setting up a booth, this could be a great place to market your gold directly to a collector, and get a good price for your gold nuggets. There would be the extra time, setup fees, the initial expense of buying some tables and displays for your items, but this may be a good option to consider for some gold sellers.
It is worth noting of course, that all businesses need to make money. Any of the types of businesses I have listed in this article must buy at a lower price than they can make from the gold. That goes without saying. The real question is what kind of prices are FAIR and HONEST for both buyer and seller. I have mentioned things in this article that suggest that certain businesses should be avoided when selling your natural gold nuggets, but it's also worth mentioning that you should have reasonable expectations as the seller also. There is so much written on the internet about gold nuggets being worth "2-3 times spot value". Yes, absolutely there have been gold nuggets that have sold for many times their melt value. I have seen nuggets that sold for 5-10 times their melt value before. However, these are extremely rare, generally gold specimens that have amazing crystalline shapes, or huge gold nuggets weighing many ounces or even pounds! If you are expecting 2-3 times spot price for a typical gold nugget collection, you will probably be disappointed.
Hopefully this article was helpful to you. If you have more questions about buying or selling gold nuggets, you can contact us at goldrush@goldrushnuggets.com.
If you have a collection of gold nuggets that you want to sell, there is certainly no shortage of places to go. There are probably thousands of gold buyers in this country that would gladly buy your gold, but of course you want to get a fair and HONEST price for your gold nuggets, so lets discuss some options.
Cash-for-gold businesses- Anyone who has been flipping through the channels at 2 a.m. has seen these ads on TV. Send us your gold and we will mail you back huge stacks of cash! I don't think I need to say a whole lot about these companies. There have been numerous investigations about these companies and the ridiculously low prices that they payout for gold. Look up "Cash for Gold Scams" on YouTube and you will learn all you need to know. If you want a FAIR price for your placer gold, look elsewhere.
Pawnshops- Generally, pawnshops and local gold buyers will be similar to the cash-for-gold businesses. The benefit is that you can meet face to face, rather that send your gold of in the mail and pray for the best. The downside is that they generally offer a significantly lower price than you should get. As an example, I purchased a nice 2 ounce nugget from a gentleman a few years ago, and he had taken it to 3 different local pawn shops before contacting me. His highest offer? 60% of spot! This was truly a gorgeous, bright, clean, heavy, collectable gold nugget from Australia. Needless to say I was able to beat that offer. Obviously different pawnshops will have different payouts, and some may be more reasonable than that, but I've heard similar stories enough times to know that they are not your best option.
Ebay- We all know how about eBay, so I probably don't need to say a lot about it. The positives are that you can have many buyers bidding on your offering and a potential to get a good price. The negatives are the fees, which will run between 6-12% depending on how you list, plus 3% for using paypal, plus cost of shipping. You also have to avoid the scammers, potentially cranky customers, etc., and the time and effort required to list your items. Still, eBay can be a good option for selling gold nuggets.
Gold Nugget Dealer- Of course this is where I tell you that you should only sell your gold nuggets to us, right? Well, maybe.... What I can tell you is if you have a nice collection of gold nuggets similar to the ones we sell on our website, Gold Rush Nuggets will absolutely be able to offer you more than a pawnshop, cash-for-gold business, or refinery will. Why? Because we are interested in gold nuggets for their value as rare and collectable mineral specimens, not their melt value. I have no interest in, nor do I buy, gold jewelry, dental gold, or any type of scrap gold. If you can find a buyer who is interested in your gold nuggets for what they ARE, rather than what their melt value is, you will get the best price.
Rock and Mineral Shows- Setting up a booth at a show is a great way to get a good price for you gold nuggets. There are many large mineral shows around the country where dealers sell a variety of rocks, minerals, and fossils. If you are willing to put in the extra effort of setting up a booth, this could be a great place to market your gold directly to a collector, and get a good price for your gold nuggets. There would be the extra time, setup fees, the initial expense of buying some tables and displays for your items, but this may be a good option to consider for some gold sellers.
It is worth noting of course, that all businesses need to make money. Any of the types of businesses I have listed in this article must buy at a lower price than they can make from the gold. That goes without saying. The real question is what kind of prices are FAIR and HONEST for both buyer and seller. I have mentioned things in this article that suggest that certain businesses should be avoided when selling your natural gold nuggets, but it's also worth mentioning that you should have reasonable expectations as the seller also. There is so much written on the internet about gold nuggets being worth "2-3 times spot value". Yes, absolutely there have been gold nuggets that have sold for many times their melt value. I have seen nuggets that sold for 5-10 times their melt value before. However, these are extremely rare, generally gold specimens that have amazing crystalline shapes, or huge gold nuggets weighing many ounces or even pounds! If you are expecting 2-3 times spot price for a typical gold nugget collection, you will probably be disappointed.
Hopefully this article was helpful to you. If you have more questions about buying or selling gold nuggets, you can contact us at goldrush@goldrushnuggets.com.
Highly Recommended Prospecting Books on Amazon:
The Gold Prospector's Field Guide:
A Modern Miner's Handbook for Successfully Finding Gold
Metal Detecting Gold Nuggets:
The Essential Guide to Finding Gold with a Metal Detector