Search for jewelry buyers and you get a map full of storefronts and a list of names, with nothing to tell you how they differ. They do differ. A refiner, a jeweler, an estate buyer and an auction house all “buy jewelry”, but they work in different ways, so the same piece can be valued differently by each. Knowing which kind of business you are dealing with helps you judge any offer.
This page sets out the kinds of jewelry buyers, what each is best at, and how to check a buyer before you walk in, including the rules a buyer in New York City must follow. For a side-by-side comparison of the places to sell by type of piece, see the homepage table of where to sell; for the steps of a sale itself, see the page on how to sell jewelry.
Best Place To Sell Jewelry is an independent referral service, not a buyer, pawnshop or dealer. When you call or send the form, we pass your request to an independent buyer in New York, who makes any offer, and you decide whether to accept it.
Looking for a jewelry buyer? Call and describe what you have, and we connect you with an independent buyer in New York.
The kinds of jewelry buyers
Specialist jewelry and gold buyers
These are businesses that buy jewelry outright from the public. What a buyer does with a piece next, resell it as jewelry or send it for refining, shapes what it can pay, so it is fair to ask. Expect a reputable buyer to weigh the metal, look at any stones and makers’ marks, and make an offer only after examining the pieces. In New York, the 47th Street Business Improvement District describes West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues as the place with “the largest concentration of diamond and jewelry related companies and retailers”.
Best for: gold of any karat, diamond jewelry, mixed lots, and sellers who want a direct offer rather than an auction or consignment.
Retail jewelers
A jewelry store exists to sell jewelry, and whether it buys from the public is up to each store. Ask first whether it buys at all, and whether its offer is money or credit toward a purchase. A store that does buy may value pieces it could sell in its own cases differently from pieces it could not.
Best for: a trade-in when you are buying anyway, or a piece that fits that store’s stock.
Estate jewelry buyers
An estate buyer, as the name suggests, buys previously owned, vintage and antique pieces, and may take a whole collection from a family or an estate. A buyer who resells pieces as jewelry has reason to look at period, maker’s marks, older cutting styles and condition, not only at metal weight. Ask how each piece will be valued. The page on how to sell estate jewelry covers this in depth.
Best for: inherited collections, period pieces and signed vintage jewelry.
Refiners and metal buyers
A refiner’s work is melting metal and recovering the gold, silver or platinum in it. A buyer who will only melt a piece has no use for its design, stones or maker’s name, so a melt-only price is a benchmark for broken and scrap gold and a poor match for a piece that has value as jewelry. Ask any buyer whether your piece will be melted or resold.
Best for: broken chains, single earrings, dental gold and other scrap gold.
Auction houses
At auction, your jewelry is offered to bidders rather than bought by the house, so the price is set by the bidding on the day of the sale. Each house sets its own terms. Before you agree, ask for them in writing: the seller’s commission and any other charges, the estimate, any reserve price, which sale your pieces would go in, and when you would be paid.
Best for: rare, signed or important pieces where competitive bidding may beat a direct offer.
Consignment shops
Consignment is selling through a shop that displays your piece and pays you a share when it sells. Nothing is paid until a buyer is found, and the shop sets terms on price, time and fees. Ask for the agreement in writing.
Best for: wearable designer and vintage pieces, when you can wait.
Online buyers and marketplaces
Some buyers work only online, by shipping, and online marketplaces let you sell directly to another person. Both involve shipping your jewelry or meeting a stranger. The sell jewelry online guide sets out the questions to ask about insured shipping and returns.
Pawnshops
Pawning is borrowing: you leave the item as security for a loan and get it back by repaying the loan and its charges, on the terms you agree. That is a loan, not a sale. In New York City, lending money on pledged goods needs a DCWP Pawnbroker licence, separate from the licence for buying used goods. If you want to sell, not borrow, say so plainly. The pawn or sell article compares the two.
How to check a jewelry buyer before you walk in
Every honest buyer can answer the same short list of questions. A buyer who will not is a buyer to skip.
- Are you licensed? In New York City, a business that buys or sells used goods must hold a Secondhand Dealer General licence from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (NYC Admin. Code 20-265). The licence and the DCWP complaint sign must be posted where customers can see them (6 RCNY 1-03(a)), and the licence number must be on receipts and other printed matter given to customers (6 RCNY 1-05).
- What is the troy weight of my metal? A New York City business that buys gold, silver, jewelry or other precious metal must have a scale and tell the seller the troy weight (6 RCNY 3-81). The scale must be a type approved by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, read in steps of 0.01 troy ounce or smaller, and be marked Class II or III (1 NYCRR 220.1(a)).
- How did you test the metal? Ask which karat or fineness they are paying for and how they confirmed it.
- Can I have the offer in writing? A written offer, itemized by piece or by karat group, lets you compare buyers and walk away to think.
- How are you valuing the stones? Separately, not at all, or deducted from the metal weight. For a diamond with a report, ask whether they checked the report.
- Can I keep the pieces if I say no? The answer should be yes, with nothing to sign and nothing to pay.
Rules for the buyer, protection for you
In New York City, a licensed buyer must record each purchase: a description of the item (for jewelry, the metal and the stones), identifying marks, the seller’s name, address and description, and the date and time (NYC Admin. Code 20-273(a)), kept for three years. Precious metal purchases are also kept as electronic records with photos for six years and are open to DCWP inspectors and the NYPD.
What a licensed buyer will ask of you
Selling to a properly run business means showing who you are. In New York City, each seller must show ID, and the buyer records its type and number (6 RCNY 2-101). Acceptable ID is an official document with a signature from a US, state, county or city government, a public agency, or an employer, or a numbered police, fire or postal badge. You sign in front of the dealer, and a photocopy of your ID is not enough.
Buyers cannot buy from minors. Used items, including jewelry, cannot be resold within 15 days of purchase. None of this is a reason for concern: it is the paperwork of a business following the law.
Red flags
- No licence on the wall, or a reluctance to show it
- No troy weight stated for your metal, or a scale not marked Class II or III
- An offer with no weight, karat or itemization
- Pressure to decide now, or a price that is “only good today”
- A request to leave pieces behind before any offer is made
- Talk of a loan or a “hold” when you came to sell
- No receipt, or a receipt with no licence number on it
Jewelry buyers near me
Searches for jewelry buyers near me, sell jewelry near me and where to sell jewelry near me return map listings first, and the closest buyer is not always the right one. Distance matters less than the checks above. A buyer one train ride away who tells you the troy weight, shows a licence and writes the offer down is a better choice than one around the corner who does none of those.
If you are in New York City, the Diamond District on West 47th Street is reached, according to the 47th Street BID, by the B, D, F or M train to 47-50 Streets Rockefeller Center, the 6 to 51st Street, the 1 to 50th Street, or the N, Q or R to 49th Street. The page on selling jewelry in NYC covers the boroughs. If you are elsewhere in the US, the same checks work anywhere, though the licence rules quoted here are New York City’s: other cities and states have their own.
Prefer to skip the search? Call, and we connect you with an independent New York buyer.
Which buyer for which piece
- Plain gold, any karat: a specialist gold or jewelry buyer, with a refiner’s price as the benchmark. See sell gold jewelry.
- Diamond earrings, pendants and tennis bracelets: a buyer who values stones as well as metal. See where to sell diamond jewelry.
- Inherited and antique pieces: an estate buyer, or an auction house for important pieces.
- Signed designer pieces: a buyer who resells designer jewelry, or consignment. See designer jewelry.
- Pearls: a buyer who will look at the pearls themselves and check the clasp. See pearls.
Questions people ask
Is it better to sell jewelry to a jeweler or a pawnshop?
They do different things. A pawn is a loan against an item you get back by repaying it, while a jeweler or specialist buyer buys the item outright. In New York City, lending money on pledged goods needs a separate DCWP Pawnbroker licence. If you want to sell, go to a buyer who buys, and ask any business you visit whether its offer is a purchase or a loan.
Who pays the most for jewelry?
No single kind of buyer pays the most for everything. A buyer who can resell a piece as jewelry may pay more than one who can only melt it, so match the buyer to the piece and compare written offers.
How do I know a jewelry buyer is legitimate?
In New York City, look for the posted DCWP Secondhand Dealer licence, expect your metal to be weighed on an approved scale and to be told the troy weight and asked for ID. The licence number should be on your receipt.
Do jewelry buyers need a licence?
In New York City, yes: a business that buys used goods needs a DCWP Secondhand Dealer General licence. Businesses that buy or sell exclusively online are exempt from that licence. Other places have their own rules.
What happens to jewelry after a buyer buys it?
In New York City, the buyer must record it and cannot resell it for 15 days. After that it may be resold as jewelry or sent for refining.
Ask about a piece