Before You Mail In That Old Ring . . .

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By Candice Lee Jones

Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Sunday, July 5, 2009

If you have gold chains in your dresser drawers, those commercials offering to take jewelry off your hands in exchange for "cold hard cash" might sound mighty tempting. Cash4Gold.com even ran a Super Bowl ad featuring Ed McMahon.

If you take the risk of mailing your jewelry in an envelope, can you actually expect to get anything back?

Yes, but assuming that your bling makes it through the mail intact, even reputable companies will pay you based only on the weight of the gold; they do not pay for gemstones. Jewelry that's wearable and in good shape can fetch a higher price elsewhere than it would being sold for scrap. You can check the market value of gold at http://www.goldprice.org.

If you decide to sell online, go to http://www.top-10-cash-for-gold.com, which ranks online gold buyers. The site's top pick: ExpressGoldCash.com.

Howard Rubin of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers says local jewelers, protective of their reputations, are likely to give you a square deal and may pay more if you trade in the gold toward a new piece.