Tips for Buying Pawnshop Jewelry

Finding hidden treasures in the cases and on the shelves of a pawnshop can be exciting. If you have a great deal of knowledge of jewelry, gems or antiques, it also can be quite profitable. However, before purchasing jewelry from a pawnshop, there are some tips that can help you get an even bigger bargain or avoid paying too much for the item you purchase.

1.    When selecting a pawnshop, look for one that has a good reputation or has been in business for some time. In most cases, they have onsite testers for the quality of gold and gems. They know whether the items are real or fake before they go into the cases.

2.    See if the pawnshop has a return policy. In some cases, they’ll offer a 30-day money back guarantee on all items with no questions asked. This allows you to take the item to your own personal appraiser if you want a second opinion as to the value. Even if the jewelry is high quality but you purchased it for another, who simply doesn’t like the style, you saved money. Those purchasing engagement rings from a pawnshop can find a liberal return policy is beneficial if the love of their life doesn’t share their same emotions.

3.    Ask if the shop would retest the jewelry for gold content or perform diamond tests in front of you. If they refuse or if they say their equipment is broken or not available, you might be getting the bargain you’d hoped.

4.    Look for coding on the price tags. Many of the pawnshops use codes to indicate the amount of money they paid for the item. This gives the employee selling the item an idea of whether he can lower the price if the customer wants to negotiate. These may be digits or letters but will indicate a price range. If you know the market for several of the items, you should be able to decode their system and may be able to negotiate the price a little lower than marked.

5.    Shop prices at retail stores before you venture into a pawnshop to purchase jewelry. It’s important to have a good idea on what the price of new jewelry is so you have some comparison. In most cases, you’ll find the price is about half that of retail shops. You’ll also find a wider selection of designs dating back several years. You may be even lucky enough to find an item that’s an antique or only a few years from becoming one, making it a collectible.