If you've got a bunch of gold jewelry that you never wear, you know you have the option of selling the jewelry. However, if you're not ready to sell it, you should still get it appraised, or at least checked over by a qualified gold buyer. While that might seem unnecessary if you're just going to hold onto the jewelry, it actually gives you some valuable information that will help you if you eventually give it away or sell it.

Fake Marks

Gold jewelry usually has some sort of mark indicating what the real gold content is. For example, if you see "585" stamped on the piece, the gold should be 14 karat gold (you'll also see that spelled as Karat, with a capital K). However, if you see a mark that includes "GP," the piece is likely gold-plated. Not a lot of gold buyers will buy plated items unless they are looking specifically for jewelry pieces, rather than scrap gold.

Unfortunately, these marks aren't always accurate. Fake gold -- purposefully mismarked in an effort to sell it for more than it's really worth -- is a real problem in the gold world. Having the jewelry checked out now ensures that if you do ever need to sell it, you'll know if any of the pieces isn't real.

Marketing

In a similar vein, having the pieces appraised now lets you see if that high-end fashion piece you bought was really worth the money. If you have an expensive piece of jewelry that looks like a gold alloy and that was marketed as being very high class and worth the money, you might think you could sell it for a lot of money. But sometimes, jewelry manufacturers will give a piece a good advertising spin while not putting a lot of gold into the item. That means that despite what you paid, you wouldn't be able to sell it for gold scrap value.

For example, in 2012, Forbes reported that a major retailer was selling rose-gold-colored jewelry that, while marketed as luxurious and stamped with the retailer's name, was really not all that luxurious -- it was an alloy containing very little gold, despite a very high price tag. Note that the retailer didn't claim it contained a lot of gold; the ads called it metal, so this wasn't illegal. But if you have something similar, that cost a lot to buy and that has a resemblance to gold or an alloy like rose gold, you might mistakenly think you can sell it for a lot. An appraisal now helps dispel that thought.  

Nickel

If you have pieces that are made of white gold, then you need to know if the alloy is made with palladium or nickel. (If you were given the pieces, you might not know for sure which alloy they contain.) White gold pieces can be very valuable, but if you decide to give any of these away, knowing if the piece contains nickel can help you decide whether to give them to a certain person or sell them. People who have nickel allergies can develop skin irritation if they wear pieces containing nickel, including white gold. An appraisal now will let you know which version of white gold this is.

So, if you want to get the items you have appraised or checked over, contact a gold buyer near you. The buyer can either appraise the jewelry, if qualified, or refer you to an appraiser. The buyer can also give you a ballpark idea of what the jewelry might sell for given the current price of gold. For more information about gold appraisal, contact a business such as Sol's Jewelry and Pawn.