How To Sell Jewelry Online in 6 Easy Steps

How To Sell Jewelry Online Confidently

All women (and many men) have at least one jewelry box or drawer that’s chock full of old pieces which have accumulated over time.

If the jewelry is valuable, it may be in a locked drawer, a safe, or even a safe-deposit box. Often, the jewelry sits for years or decades without being touched; after all, there are always new, “favorite” pieces to wear.

Everyday jewelry may have great sentimental importance, but little residual value. In the event its owner or heirs decide to sell the pieces, the best venues are usually yard sales or flea markets, or sites like eBay or Craigslist. You can also sell them for scrap.

On the other hand, vintage or antique jewelry, more recent designer pieces, or some high-end costume jewelry – can be worth a great deal of money. But there’s very little chance that high-end jewelry can bring anything close to its true value when sold through low-end channels. Selling previously-owned and valuable rings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants and earrings calls for a very different approach.

You may have seen display ads promising “WE PAY HIGHEST PRICES!” while surfing the Internet and wondered whether the companies behind them are honest buyers or just scams. The answer is: “It depends.” There are some very reputable online jewelry buyers, but there are just as many vultures trying to pick up vintage jewelry for next to nothing. At any rate, clicking on flashy ads isn’t how to sell jewelry online. We’ll explain the proper way to do it shortly, after we look at the pros and cons of the “real world” alternatives.

Your natural impulse might be to take your valuable pieces to a local jeweler or pawnbroker, and there’s nothing wrong with that if you regularly deal with a knowledgeable professional who you fully trust. Otherwise, you’ll have to spend a lot of time visiting a number of different “brick and mortar” shops for appraisals and offers.

That’s because it’s risky trusting a single store where you don’t even know anyone for a legitimate valuation on luxury jewelry (particularly pawnbrokers). It’s quite likely that they have no experience appraising the types of gemstones or designer pieces you have; they may have never even seen work by the designers or know who they are. In other cases, they may lowball you with the hope you’ll grab the quick cash without knowing that you’re being taken.

Some sellers put their trust in high-end consignment shops, and at times they are able to receive a decent price for their jewelry after a long wait. The price doesn’t seem quite so decent, though, after they’ve given the consignment dealer the 15-40% commission she earns for the sale. Auction houses are an option for very valuable pieces or large designer collections, but most people don’t own the types of jewelry which would bring big money at auction.

That brings us back to where we started: how to sell jewelry online.

You should be looking for three attributes that are common to any legitimate Internet jewelry buyer. First, they should be an established business with a large clientele and reputable history, not just an anonymous email address with an ad on Craigslist or a sketchy website without legitimate contact information. Second, they should have experienced appraisers on staff who are intimately familiar with all upscale jewelry designers and the pieces they’ve created. And third, they should provide caring client service and be willing to follow your lead; the buyers to beware of will push you to sell immediately and move on to the next “sucker” if they fear there’s no easy money to be made.

We’re proud to say that Dimorras is one of the few online buyers with A+ grades for all three of those criteria. And that’s how we’ve become the nation’s premier buyer of jewelry and other luxury goods. Our staff of appraisers has more than 50 years of experience inspecting and valuing vintage and antique jewelry for clients. That makes us uniquely qualified to determine the true worth of your pieces, whether you want to sell a wedding set of recent vintage or a large collection of rare, valuable antique brooches.

One of the criteria we mentioned is that a trustworthy online jewelry buyer won’t pressure you to sell before you’re ready, and we’re firm believers in that approach. In fact, we’d like to give you the opportunity to get to know us better with no pressure whatsoever. We’ll be happy to provide you with a free, no-obligation preliminary evaluation of your vintage or antique jewelry. All you have to do is fill out a simple form on our website to tell us the details of your collection; any documentation or previous appraisals you can attach to your submission would help as well. We hope you’ll take advantage of this “get acquainted” offer.

Get A Preliminary Evaluation Today

You’ll receive your preliminary evaluation within days or even hours, along with an invitation to send your collection to our professional labs for a complete, in-depth appraisal. At that point, we’re working on your timetable; whenever you’d like to take that next step, we’ll be here to take it with you – and of course, we’ll pay all of the shipping costs and to fully insure your jewelry for the duration of the process.

Your valuables will be in very good hands. Our appraisers have seen and valued every type of piece, from every jewelry designer, and follow the market on a daily basis. They will know exactly what they’re inspecting (unlike some of those local jewelers and pawnbrokers we’ve mentioned) and what it’s worth in today’s marketplace. There’s no guesswork or lowballing at Dimorras; we believe in complete honesty.

And on the subject of “what it’s worth,” you’ll naturally want the highest payout for your jewelry, from whichever buyer you decide to work with. We’re pleased to say that Dimorras is able to offer more than any of our competitors – often well above market value – because our large base of clients is eager to purchase exquisite pre-owned jewelry, and we need to have as many pieces as possible in stock. We’re motivated to pay more, and we do.

We look forward to proving it to you, completely on your schedule.

Now that we’ve outlined the basics of how to sell jewelry online, let’s look at a few of the specifics.

 What Are You Trying to Sell?

That sounds like a simple question to answer, but understanding the details of your collection is really the key to successfully selling your jewelry online.

Imagine, for a moment, that you’ve taken your impeccably-restored 1968 Mustang Shelby GT500 Super Snake 7 to a dealer, looking for his best offer. He gives it a good once-over, checks the book value for a restored ’68 Mustang, and offers you $17,000. That might be a tempting offer – if you didn’t already know everything there is to know about that model, and if you didn’t know that it’s worth at least ten times that amount.

See the problem? Unless you know exactly what you’re trying to sell, you’re at the complete mercy of an uneducated buyer or one who’s trying to cheat you. This becomes even more crucial when selling jewelry online, because the jeweler or appraiser can’t point out any flaws in the stones, or examples of what he’s basing his evaluation on.

Hopefully, you have previous appraisals for your jewelry listing the designer (if any), age, materials used, grades or analyses of the stones, and other important information. That will give you a rough idea of what you’re trying to sell, and will allow you to do some preliminary Internet research on approximate values before ever speaking or communicating with an online buyer.

If not, pack up your collection and put your walking shoes on. No, you’re not going to give up on selling your jewelry online and you’re not going to sell it at a pawnshop. You’re simply going to visit two of the most upscale jewelry stores you can find in your area, ask each to take a look at your jewelry (if you want to pay for actual appraisals, so much the better) and tell you which are the most valuable pieces and what makes them valuable. (We suggest visiting two stores, so that you’ll be confident you’re getting honest and consistent opinions.)

It’s possible they’ll want to make you an offer, and that’s fine. Don’t accept any offers yet, though. What you’re looking for right now is reliable information that you can use to tell if an online buyer knows his stuff, and if he’s being honest with you.

Once you know that your most impressive piece is a 1920s Cartier Art Deco ruby-flecked brooch worth $20-30,000, or that your vintage diamond engagement ring is a 1.25 carat baguette-cut G/VS1 stone worth between $3000 and $5000, you’re ready to talk with online jewelry buyers – because now you have solid information allowing you to judge their knowledge and honesty. And if the local jeweler made you a better offer during your visit, you’ll have added leverage when dealing with an online buyer.

Who Is This Guy?

Anyone opening up a jewelry store or pawnshop must have the necessary funding to rent space and set up their storefront, and must obtain proper business licenses. Anyone with a computer, though, can call themselves an online jewelry buyer. How can you know who you’re really dealing with online? There are a few steps you can take to protect yourself before you ship your collection to someone claiming to be legitimate and reputable.

Check out their online website, and call the phone number to be sure that it’s a real business. Do a reverse lookup of their address to make sure it’s not just a place that rents mailboxes, check their company name on state business registration websites or with the Better Business Bureau – and while you’re at it, do a Google search on their name to see if there are any negative (or positive) comments about them online.

You can even look up the details of their domain name to see how long they’ve been in business. If they don’t even have their own website, chances are you’re just dealing with someone looking to make some quick cash and not a serious professional.

If anything seems fishy, walk away. There are lots of online buyers out there, and there’s no reason to deal with anyone you can’t trust.

How Do They Do Business?

Whether a company does its business online or in person it should still operate like a real business, so a reliable online jewelry buyer will explain exactly how transactions are handled. Here are some of the questions you should ask if they’re not answered on the website:

Appraisers: Do they have their own appraisers on staff, and are they certified by the IGA and/or AGS to appraise diamonds and other precious stones? How much experience do the appraisers have, particularly with high-end and designer pieces? How often do they appraise designer jewelry?

Appraisal and Shipping Process: How is the jewelry shipped to the buyer and returned, and who pays the shipping costs? Will the collection be insured, at what level, and at whose expense? What effect will existing wear or damage have on the appraised value? How long will the jewelry be held, how long will it take for an appraisal and offer,and how quickly will it be returned if the offer is rejected? Who will be handling the pieces, and will there be any communication during the appraisal process?

Offer Process: Is the offer based solely on appraised value? How is the offer communicated? Will a full appraisal report be delivered even if the offer is declined? How soon will the payout be delivered, and by what means?

Once again, if any of the answers or processes seem questionable to you, or the buyer evades some of the questions, take your business elsewhere.

What About The Alternatives?

Some people asking how to sell jewelry “online” are actually thinking about using sites like eBay or Craigslist. eBay is fine for lower-end jewelry, which many large online buyers don’t handle. But there are plenty of scammers who make a living from uneducated sellers on eBay, as well as straight-out ripoff artists – and Craigslist is even worse. You’ll be very unlikely to get what your jewelry is really worth on those types of sites.

We’ve briefly mentioned consignment sites, and there are online versions of those as well. They have the same drawbacks as brick-and-mortar consignment shops, unfortunately; you’ll pay very high fees to the agent, and may have to wait weeks, months or even longer before your items sell. They’re reputable, but you won’t get a very good deal.

Dimorras is happy to advise you on the process of selling jewelry online and answer any questions you may have about us; as one of the world’s largest buyers of antique, vintage and fine jewelry we certainly have nothing to hide. And we’ll be happy to work with you to provide a complete and honest appraisal of your collection, as well as the highest firm offers to purchase you’ll find anywhere – online or in person.