Short version:
Know your gram weight and also the daily…read moregold price before you sell. Bring a calculator. Don't sell your gold at Becker's or Lux Bond & Greene. Their quotes are criminal; they profit off people's ignorance. Their unstated sales commissions were over 50% of the gold value. DeRobertis was much fairer, taking a 25% commission. Pawn Queen too - she may not look as fancy but is a thousand times more reputable. Her commission was 23%.
If your gold is complicated, i.e the karat stamp doesn't match the results of acid testing, take it to a buyer who can price it according to x-ray testing. I live closer to Providence than Hartford, and so took mine to New England Gold and Silver in Pawtucket. They were patient, more than fair, and not only did they make the effort to determine the true purity of my gold, they offered the best price of all (proportionate to the daily gold price and purity).
Tl;dr version:
1. I had a heavy gold bracelet. First I went to a gemologist in West Hartford to have it appraised. He claimed later to have tested the metal; he didn't. The appraisal cost me nearly $100, he never mailed me the documentation and was defensive when I called him asking why my appraised bracelet wasn't testing 18k. I'm not going to give him a bad review, though, because I have a soft spot for cranky old men, and also he took the time to explain diamond conductivity, which was fascinating. In any case, he told me the bracelet was 18k as stamped, weighed 45.2 dwt/70.29 grams, and though the value of the bracelet based on the daily gold price was $1935 or so, the absolute max I would get for it from a gold buyer was $1850, because of commission.
"If you can't get $1600 for it, come talk to me," he said.
2. Becker's
$900 stated offer ÷ $1935 value = 46.5% of value offered (based on 18k)
Gold buying commission: 53.5%
3. Lux Bond & Greene
$655 stated offer ÷ $1505 value = 43.5% of value offered (based on 14k)
Gold buying commission: 56.5%
4. DeRobertis
$1460 stated offer ÷ $1935 value = 75% of value offered (based on 18k)
Gold buying commission: 25%
5. The Pawn Queen herself, Sally, acid tests the bracelet in front of me several times. Lo and behold, it isn't testing 18k, just 14k. She speculates the gold was South American and possibly underkarated. She offers me $1160, on the assumption the gold is 14k, and says if it were 18k she would have paid $1500. "I don't take a lot because I do volume," she says, explaining that the refiner who buys from her just comes and buys a whole lot at once.
We chat. I tell her what I've been quoted at Beckers and Lux, Bond and Greene. She's aghast. The Pawn Queen's commission is less than half of these guys.
Pawn Queen gold buying commission: 23%
$1160 stated offer ÷ $1505 value = 77% of value offered (based on 14k)
6. NE Silver and Gold (Pawtucket, RI) gold buying commission: 16%
$1400 stated offer ÷ $1677 value = 84% of value offered (based on 65% purity, which was accurate)
