How much do pawn shops pay for 14k gold? Having gold is a fantastic investment opportunity, as it is a material that is consistently valuable and used in so many ways.
Holding onto gold jewelry to sell for when your financial life becomes difficult, or for a rainy day is a great resource.
However, you want to make sure that you are doing the right things to make the most of your investment. Let’s look at how to make the most from your 14K gold.
How Much Does a Pawn Shop Pay for 14k Gold?
A pawn shop will typically pay 50% to 60% value of your 14k gold jewelry based on its condition. If your 14k gold chain has a market value of $300, you can expect to get around $150 to $180 or more at a pawn shop.
The value depends on how you research it, and how patient you are. Taking into account the value of your jewelry over some time will give you the most insight as to how much you can get for it, and how much you can barter for it when you go to the pawnshop.
The Value of gold changes per day, it can be thrown into an equation that gives you a price. Now, of course, this also depends on the exact weight in grams and the purity of the jewelry based on the karats.
For the 14 karat gold, there will be some gold that is worth more because it has more gold in it, whereas 14 karat gold is more in the middle. Here is a chart for a point of reference:
| Karat | Purity | Average Pawn Shop |
| 10K Gold | 42% | $308 to $462 per oz |
| 14K Gold | 59% | $433 to $650 per oz |
| 18K Gold | 75% | $555 to $833 per oz |
| 24K Gold | 99% | $555 to $833 per oz |
Now, to find the actual purity of the gold, all you have to do is multiply the percentage of gold by the number of grams your jewelry weighs.
You basically will be weighing the gold alone from your piece. Then multiply that by the day’s value of gold per gram.
For example, if you have a 14 Karat ring that weighs 5 grams and uses today’s value of gold per gram (June 5th, 2022) which is $59.61, you will follow these steps to find the correct price of the precise value of your ring.
- 5g * 0.585 = 2.925g
- 2.925g * $59.61 = $174.36
Of course, the price of gold per gram changes daily. You may want to keep track of this over several weeks or months to get a baseline.
Are Pawn Shops Good Places to Sell Gold?
A pawnshop is a great place to go to sell your gold. You will get the money quickly, it is convenient, there are typically many options to choose from in any given city and you can barter some for a better price.
However, most pawn dealers are not gold experts and their only frame of reference may be the calculation you did to find the true value of the jewelry.
There are many other places to sell your gold to experts, or to someone who is looking to purchase the jewelry at resale value.
Selling Your Gold Jewelry Online
One major benefit to selling it online, after understanding your gold, is you will be most likely selling it to a buyer.
You will be selling to someone who wants the actual jewelry rather than to someone who is wanting to make money off of it.
Once you understand the value of your gold, and what you could sell it for online to an actual buyer, eliminates the pawnshop as the middle man.
Selling Your Gold Jewelry at a Reputable Pawn Shop
On the other hand, selling your gold to a reputable pawn shop is a great way to help a local business. If you find the right pawnshop for you, there is less discrepancy between if you are getting gipped or not. Do not simply go to a random pawn shop expecting to sell right away. Shop around, look at what has already been sold online and pay attention to how those prices compare to your gold’s value using your calculations.
Tips on How to Sell Your Gold For A Higher Price
Whichever route you decided to take with selling your gold, you want to absolutely make sure you are paying attention to the price over time. Here are some extra tips to help you along the way.
Make Sure it’s in Good Condition
One of the main parts of making sure you are selling your gold at the highest price possible, is taking care of the gold. If you bring in a considerably damaged gold ring, your price will go decrease significantly.
It is uncommon for a pawnshop to pay for a piece of jewelry that needs to be melted down and made into something else. It may be a good idea to find a different route to sell if that is your case.
This also means that if there is some scratching or if it is not properly cleaned, your price will go down quite quickly so the pawnshop can pay for it to be fixed.
This makes your gold more of a risk to purchase from a pawnshop because its cleaning and any fixing will need to be paid for.
Taking your jewelry to a jeweler and getting their opinion, getting it properly cleaned and a quote on any damages can be a good resource to boost your sale price at the pawnshop later.
Know the Market Value
Another major part of getting as much as you can out of your gold is being well-informed. I don’t just mean about the gold that you are selling, but about what it is worth, what you expect, what others have received, who to go to, the history in the piece if there is any and how to negotiate for a higher price.
It is incredibly common for a pawnshop to pay as little as possible to a person who is not well-informed because they do not know how much it is worth or what they could have gotten.
The pawnshop will earn a larger profit when they sell your gold to someone else allowing them to have some more money in their pocket. Make sure you don’t get cheated out of several hundred dollars and never knew about it.
Don’t Rush the Sale
The last tip is to be patient with selling your gold. If you are rushed, you could receive a smaller dollar amount because you did not negotiate or properly do your research.
Even worse, when the pawnshop buyer picks up on how you are in a rush and uses that against you in settling on a price.
If they see you are anxious and impatient then you may get a lower price for your gold so you could get rid of it quicker.
This is not how you get the best price. Take your time with researching, getting the gold in pristine condition, and keep a close eye on the market for demand in gold.
Since gold is such a solid investment, you can wait to sell your gold during the wedding season when the market demands more gold.
Thomas Boseman is the author of Pawnbroking.com. A pawn shop owner by day, blog writer by night. When not writing, he enjoys exploring the outdoors with his dog, Roman. Thomas received his bachelor of arts in film from the University of Arizona. A Brooklyn native, Thomas is a lover of filmmaking, motorcycle, and coffee.
