Organizing like Rumpelstiltskin: Cash for Gold!
Cash for gold? Are you kidding? Do I look that broke to you?
Granted, it feels a little like food stamps—really desperate. But wait a minute. What if my reasoning for talking about selling your gold is more about making room for more jewelry in your life? Like shoes—another precious, precious thing—gold that isn’t being worn is just sitting there, stagnant in your drawer, taking up space where new shoes could be.
Why would I do that?
Whether you think of selling gold as releasing old energy to bring in new, better things, or you think of it as free money is up to you.
Either scenario sounds pretty darn good to me and I’ve had clients request this service for both of those reasons.
So, here’s what you do.
Sort
Go through your jewelry to find the pieces you honestly have no intention of ever wearing again: pieces from HS and college boy/girlfriends, out-of-date patterns, etc. In the case of jewelry I’m going to loosen my professional organizer belt and say when in doubt keep it. Jewelry (unlike dishes or your wedding dress) doesn’t take up much room at all and your children may actually want it.
Use a magnet
The first thing the buyer will do is use a magnet. If you’d like to save some time, test for yourself before you leave the house. If any of your stuff sticks to the magnet, forget it. It’s crap. No gold there. Put it in your donate bin.
Some of the things (HS boyfriend’s ring) I thought were fake actually were gold. So, don’t assume.
Check current buying rates
Buyers will weigh your gold by the ounce and give you some percentage of the current market rate. If you need some motivation in the form of a dollar amount to get you into the store, check this site for rates CashforgoldLosAngeles.com and roughly calculate how much green you’ll be getting for your gold.
Head to the store
To combat the I-must-be-really-broke-to-be-doing-this vibe you may be feeling, put on your big girl shoes and an outfit you generally feel good wearing. Dressing well always helps in a new situation. Don’t you think?
Let me highly recommend Diamano Fine Jewelry at 642 East Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena (at El Molino). According to my telephone research in Pasadena, they pay more than other buyers: 75 percent of market value. They round up on the weight of your pieces. And, most importantly, they are friendly, very classy, and courteous. It’s a fine jewelry store, not a place to send money orders or buy bus tokens. If you aren’t near Pasadena, find a reputable jewelry seller near you who also buys gold.
Cha-ching
Wherever you decide to sell, make sure you will get paid right there. It is a crazy wild feeling like winning in Vegas. Let’s put it this way, I’m going to New York this weekend with Jeff and the recent haul I took in was worth more money than my round-trip ticket. Gulp. That stuff was sitting in my drawer for twenty years!
Treat yo’self
Don’t blow it on gas and groceries (unless you really need to). See this video clip (shown to me by Bos Organization) for inspiration.