Best Places to Sell Jewelry Near Me & How to Get the Most Money For it.

If you’re wondering, “Where’s the best place to sell jewelry near me?” then we have got you covered!

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How to find reputable jewelry buyers near me

Your best bet to find the best place to sell jewelry near me (you) is to research online. Look up local jewelers or pawn shops in your area and read the reviews (we’ll do that for you a little bit below). Look for complaints about price gouging, poor customer service, or other red flags that may indicate bad business practices.

You want to get the best price possible for your jewelry, so it pays to shop around. Some places will specialize in certain jewelry styles, paying a more fair price (i.e., art deco jewelry, victorian pieces, etc.).

But you landed here – because we’ve done most of the research for you for the closest places to sell jewelry to you. What I mean is from the comfort of your own home, aka on your couch. You may not think of selling your jewelry online initially, but you can often get a great price for it (and not step inside a sketchy pawn shop).

So first, we will go through the online options and then go through where you can sell your jewelry locally. Then you can pick the best option for you.

The very first thing you need to do when selling your jewelry

Important Step One: No matter how you sell your fine jewelry, you’ll want to know what it’s worth. I suggest taking the piece to a jeweler to be tested/appraised. You don’t want any “it’s fake” surprises when you go to actually sell it. (Sadly, many ladies have been dupped with the “realness” of their pieces.)

They will have professional tests to determine whether your jewelry is real, as well as the purity of the metal itself and the quality of the jewels. A certified appraiser will be able to provide the value of the piece as well. You will have to pay for this service, typically anywhere from $50 – $100.

Pictured below is an example of an appraisal that I got for my wedding ring when I purchased it. As you can see, they evaluated the number of stones, the carat of the center stone, the surrounding stones’ weight, and the type of gold in the ring. Remember, diamonds are evaluated on carat (size), cut (shape), clarity (any flaws?), and color.

This appraisal is rather old; I should probably get it done again soon.

Jewelry appraisals are important not only if you want to sell the item later but if you want to get it insured (which I suggest you do for very expensive pieces). That way, if you lose it or it gets stolen, you can be reimbursed to purchase a new ring.

Sell your diamond jewelry online with Worthy

Since 2011, Worthy has been the premier location if you have diamond jewelry to sell. Think old engagement rings, old wedding rings, earrings, or antique diamond jewelry that isn’t your style. You know, those things that you just don’t need in your life anymore.

Worthy takes diamond jewelry, designer jewelry (such as Tacori, Tiffany & Co, Cartier, Harry Winston, and Bvlgari), and luxury branded watches.

Rest easy, as Worthy makes putting your diamond jewelry up incredibly easy and safe on their online auction platform.

Here’s how the process on Worthy works:

Step Two: Click the get started button on Worthy’s website – tell them about your piece; what is it? A ring, bracelet, necklace, and the shape & carat of the main stone. Then you’ll upload photos of the item and any documentation you may have. They’ll ask you a few questions on the diamond attributes, and then you can choose to go ahead with it and ship it to them.

Be sure to include as many details as possible because if you’re too vague, they may decline to accept your item for auction.

They won’t give you an estimate before you ship it; they need to test the ring with professionals. Worthy gets a grading report from an independent lab such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Gemology Headquarters International (GHI), and International Gemological Institute (IGI). These laboratories inspect each piece of jewelry and give a grading report based on different factors.

Yet, it’s still important for you to do your own appraisal. You can always browse their recent auctions to see what similar items have gone for. You can also call them for a consultation about your piece to help give you a better idea.

Below are some recent auctions on Worthy’s website…

Step Three: Send your item to Worthy – Yes, you’ll need to ship your item, don’t freak out. Worthy takes every precaution to ensure your items safe transport. You can either schedule a FedEx pickup or drop it off in a prepaid box at a nearby staffed FedEx location. Worthy fully covers shipping and fully insured by insurers at Lloyd’s of London. While you still may worry (that’s natural), you can be sure you’re covered.

Step Three: Prep it for sale – They’ll do a professional cleaning, take beautiful photos and get it valued by their graders.

Step Four: The online auction – You’ll set your reserve price (the lowest amount you’ll accept). They create the listing and promote it to their network of buyers, and then you start the auction where you’re ready. They know selling such an important piece as a wedding ring can be hard, so prior to the auction, there is no obligation of any kind to move forward with the sale.

Once your auction is live, Worthy puts your jewelry in front of their buyer network of 1,000+ top jewelry industry professionals.

In the unlikely instance that your item’s auction does not meet the reserve price, you can either sell it for the highest offered bid or have your jewelry piece returned to you free of charge and with full insurance coverage. But again, this is unlikely as their auctions have a success rate close to 90%.

Step Five: Get paid – Once the auction concludes, they’ll collect the funds from the buyer and issue your payment (the total process could take up to 10 business days). You’ll be paid by bank transfer, PayPal, or get mailed a paper check. If you’re selling multiple items, they’ll wait until all auctions have closed and issue you one payment for all the items.

Worthy’s fees are based on percentages; here’s how much you’ll pay…

• Sales price up to $5,000 = 18% fee
• $5,001 to $15,000 = 14% fee
• $15,001 to $30,000 = 12% fee
• $30,001 and up = 10% fee

For three or more items, you’ll pay a flat fee of 18% for the lot.

Worthy reviews:

While they post reviews on their site from happy sellers, it’s always best to go with a third-party review platform.

On Trustpilot, Worthy has a 4.7 star rating, with over 2,800+ ratings. 86% of the ratings gave them 5 stars, and only 2% of the ratings gave them one star. I’ve gone through many Trustpilot reviews; having only 2% give them one star is very good. So you can be sure that Worthy will do a good job selling your diamond jewelry.

On Sitejabber – they only have 229 reviews, but they received 4.7 stars out of 5, which is really good. 190 of the reviews give them 5 stars, which is reassuring that they are a good company to partner with to sell your diamond jewelry.


Learn more about selling your diamond jewelry on Worthy.

Cash for Diamonds USA

Cash for Diamonds USA is a jewelry and diamond buyer specializing in diamonds larger than one carat but accepts any size, cut, color, or clarity. As well as gold and platinum jewelry, gold coins, and Rolex watches. The good news is that they also take broken jewelry items as long as it has diamonds. They will pay based on the weight and purity of the precious metals and the quality of the diamond stones.

This is a straight sale to them; there’s no auction or consignment here, which is nice if you want to get money fast. However, you may get less for it than you would in situations where people are competing for your piece.

Here’s how the process works on Cash for Diamonds USA:

Step One: Appraisal – Again, get your item authenticated on your own.

Step Two: Appraisal kit – Fill out their online form to start the selling process. They’ll send you an appraisal kit. You can also schedule a call with a representative to discuss your item.

Step Three: Ship it – They’ll send you a FedEx label so you can mail the item to them. All packages are insured for your estimated diamond value up to $5,000, so there’s nothing to worry about while your jewelry is in transit. If you need additional insurance, up to $100,000 can be provided for free prior to shipping. They’ll also give you tracking information so you can always see where it is.

This is the shipping packet I got when I started the process. You’d place your piece in the small clear plastic bag, then put that in the white bubble wrap protector envelope and then put that inside the FedEx envelope. It does have a preprinted label on the front that they included free of charge (with tracking info).

Step Four: Your offer – Once they receive your item, they will do their in-house appraisal, and you’ll get an offer emailed to you. There’s no auction or consignment; they are just flat-out buying it from you. You can accept the offer and move forward or decline it, and they’ll ship the piece back to you.

Their offers are based on the carat, clarity, cut, and color of your diamond, along with any additional precious metal value your shipment contains. Their website does say, “You will receive the most competitive offer for your valuables. We will beat any competitor’s offer or return your valuables for free.” So that’s encouraging!

Step Five: Get paid – If you accept their offer, you can either receive payment by check sent in the mail or electronically via PayPal.

Cash for Diamonds USA reviews

On Trustpilot, Diamonds USA has 3.6 stars out of 5, but that’s based only on 29 reviews, which is very small, so it should be taken with a grain of salt. Most of the one-star reviews were that people felt they were being lowballed on the offers they received for their pieces.

On Shopper Approved, they show a 4.9 rating with 355 reviews. In fact, 98% of the reviews are 5 stars, which is really good!

They are not reviewed on Sitejabber nor the BBB website.

Sell your jewelry on The RealReal

If you have a luxury item to sell, The RealReal is a popular place to be. They handle luxury clothing, accessories, watches, home goods, and kids’ items. They operate on a consignment basis, where you send them the item, they sell it, and then you get the money minus the fee. You can earn up to 85% of the sales price.

Unlike with Worthy, you don’t get to set a reserve price. They take your item and decide what to price it for based on the resale value, market trends, and the condition of your item. They can also choose to price the item and then later discount it if they feel it necessary to move it.

However, if your item is valued at over $1k, they’ll send you pricing info and approval before listing.

Unlike Worthy, The RealReal has store locations where you can shop and meet with a staff member to review the items you want to sell.

Here’s how the process works on The RealReal:

Step One: Appraisal – again, get your item authenticated on your own.

Step Two: Give your details – input your personal information – name, phone, email, etc.

Step Three: Book a call with someone or opt to ship the item – When I went through the process, I chose to ship it and inputted my information (the same ring as I did for Worthy). They immediately sent me a UPS shipping label. They don’t mention of insurance.

Step Four: List it – They say it takes about two weeks to list your item, as it must go through their facility to be cleaned and authenticated. Then your item goes live on their site, where you can view and monitor it.

Step Five: Get paid – You can set up to get the funds from your items direct deposit into your bank account, get a paper check mailed to you for a $10 fee, or get The RealReal shopping credit (earn 5% more). You’ll receive the funds minus the applicable fees.

Commision amounts are based on the type of item you’re selling, and for fine jewelry, the higher the sale price, the more you’ll receive in commissions. Your rank also influences payments (the more you sell, the higher the commission incentive you get). Commissioned sales are paid out on the 15th of each month. See the pic below for details…

TheRealReal reviews

On Sitejabber – 3.59 stars (out of 5) with 5,000+ reviews; while most are good reviews, the bad reviews are themed around lack of attention to detail (regarding the condition of the item when bought), and not being happy with their commission rate (when selling).

On Trustpilot, they have 4 stars out of 5, with over 62,000 ratings, with 66% of the reviews giving them five stars and 14% giving them a one-star rating. The one-star review comments are similar to those on Sitejabber; they also mentioned it’s hard to get ahold of someone on the phone to discuss issues with selling/purchases, etc.

A group of individuals also seems to be trying to start a class action lawsuit, which doesn’t bode well for TRR’s PR department.

However, the TRR has an A+ rating on the BBB. But they’ve had 1,489 complaints in the last three years.

Regardless of the reviews, I would probably choose to sell on a platform dedicated to jewelry, as it’s very focused on the items specific to you. For example, you wouldn’t get heart surgery from a general practitioner, would you? While they may both be Doctors, one is absolutely more qualified than the other (hint – it’s Worthy, they’re more qualified).

Where to sell jewelry locally

You can try calling your local jewelry stores and see if they buy second-hand jewelry. Some may, and some might not, but it’s worth a try.

Shane Co.

The Shane Co. has stores nationwide, so you’ve probably heard their commercials on the radio. “I guarantee it!” Their oddly funny commercials get them remembered for bridal sets, but did you know they also buy back jewelry? They accept gold, platinum, silver jewelry, and diamond pieces. 

You can book an appointment to visit one of their store locations to meet with a jewelry buyer and sell your items or mail them in. If you do go into a store location, you can accept their offer and get paid right there on the spot.

To ship your items, you fill out a form to tell them about your piece and request a prepaid FedEx shipping label, and they’ll email it to you right then. Once they receive your items, they’ll call you with an offer; if you accept, they’ll mail the check to you; if you decline, they’ll back your items free of charge.

Circa

Circa has 17 stores across the nation where you can make an appointment to go in and sell your jewelry, or you can opt to ship it to them.

With a walk-in appointment, they’ll do a valuation right there, and you can choose to accept it for immediate payment or decline their offer. They have various payment options – check, bank transfer, or even a gift card. If you choose a gift card, you can earn even more – BlueNile for 110% of the offer or a Circa gift card for 120% of your offer.

If you choose to mail it, you’ll fill out an online form and send them pictures and any documentation you have. They will give you an estimated evaluation in a few days. If you want to continue, you’ll mail it in for a final valuation with a prepaid and insured shopping kit. If you accept your final valuation & offer, you can get paid immediately with the same options mentioned above.

Be sure to check their brand list for items that they accept.

Jared

Their site doesn’t mention that they buy jewelry. However, they do say that they do appraisal events. This is where a certified gemologist or appraiser will inspect your piece, and you’ll receive a detailed report with pictures. Be sure to bring any documentation to the appraisal event. So you could get this part of the process handled here.

Helzberg Diamonds

Helzberg Diamonds has a Gold Purchase Program to exchange your gold jewelry and platinum jewelry for cash. However, they do not take items with diamonds or any stones.

Kay Jewelers

While Kay Jewelers sells pre-owned jewelry, it doesn’t look like they buy it back. You can trade up your stones for bigger ones, so that’s an option. However, they buy gold and platinum jewelry (nothing with stones), so you could remove the stones (if you wanted to use them in another piece) and just sell back the setting.

Daniel’s Jewelers

Similar to Helzberg Diamonds and Kay Jewelers, Daniel’s will buy back gold pieces. They seem to take a wider array of gold items, so this is a good choice if you have odd scrap gold pieces to sell (i.e., gold tooth crowns, gold collectible coins, etc.

Reeds Jewelers

This store also buys back gold jewelry, but nothing with stones.

Zales

Zales does not buy jewelry, but if you bought a piece from them, you can always trade it in for something different.

Pawn shops

You can always try your luck selling unwanted jewelry at local pawn shops. They usually don’t offer the same prices that you could get from specialty stores, but they are a good place to start if you just want to get rid of some jewelry quickly.

Be sure to shop around in your area, as some places may be better than others when it comes to offering fair prices. Some pawn shops may even specialize in jewelry, so call around and ask.

According to PawnAmerica, “Pawnbrokers will typically offer no more than 75% of a diamond ring’s resale value, which may be as low as 30% of the original retail piece. So, for example, a $10,000 retail price diamond ring sold in a new jewelry store has about a $3,000 resale price, and if you pawn it, you’ll likely only get $2,250 at most.”

At pawn shops, you can either pawn it or sell it to them outright. When you pawn an item, you’re getting a short-term loan for the item, intending to come back and pay off the loan to get your piece back. We walk you through the entire process of getting money from a pawn shop, so be sure to check it out.

Gold exchange stores

If your jewelry piece is just gold, then you can always go to a gold exchange store (some locations also take diamond jewelry). These are usually small, independently owned stores, so you’ll be talking with very experienced people.

Gold exchange stores have scales that measure the weight of the gold; then, they will make you an offer based on that information and the daily price of gold. You can also find out how to sell your gold online, from the comfort of your couch!

Here are the current prices for gold on one site…

Be sure to shop around and compare prices since some places may offer more than others.

Craigslist

While Craigslist is an option, it’s not the best option, especially if you have a quality piece. Many times people try to sell things and get nothing but lowball offers and scammers. Don’t even bother selling on Craigslist (that goes for FB Marketplace too).

9 tips on selling your jewelry

1. Always get an independent appraisal

You’ll want to do this first step on your own. Don’t ever depend on an appraisal where you’re asking them to buy it, as that’s a sure way for a lowball appraisal.

2. Why sell your jewelry

Aside from the fact that you can make money from selling your jewelry, there may also be other reasons why you choose to sell. You may want to clear out some old pieces and get something more modern or stylish. Or maybe you have a piece with unwanted sentimental value and would rather not keep it around as a reminder (aka old engagement ring). Whatever your reason, make sure you are 100% ready to let it go.

3. When not to sell your jewelry

Don’t sell your jewelry if you think it has the potential to appreciate in value. Vintage jewelry is a great example of this. Many pieces are valuable and can be worth significantly more than what the gold or diamond content is worth, so it would make sense to hang onto those for a while.

Also, don’t sell your jewelry if you haven’t researched the item’s current market value.

You should also not sell your ring right after separating from your spouse (wait at least three-six months to let your feelings settle).

4. Know the jewelry details

Knowing the backstory of a piece can make it worth more (if it turns out to be important). For example, maybe the piece was designed or crafted by an important jeweler back in the 1920s, or maybe the diamond came from a rare mine, or maybe it was owned by someone famous.

Also, be sure to track down any documentation that you have on the piece, either from when you originally bought it or an appraisal of it. Having these documents in hand when you go to sell in person can result in you getting a lot more for your piece.

5. Know current metal prices

If you’re selling your pieces for scrap (aka, it’s broken), it’s important to know the type of gold it is, the weight of the piece, and the current market value for gold. This way, you can tell if you’re getting a fair deal.

6. Read reviews and check the Better Business Bureau

When people have a bad experience, they love to complain about it! So before entrusting your piece to a company, read the reviews to see if people have had good or bad experiences.

7. Get a few different quotes

If you have an especially valuable piece, always get a few different opinions and offers. Yes, it will take longer, but you could get significantly more at the 4th place you visit.

8. Keep the emotional factor in mind

If this was your mother’s piece of jewelry (or maybe a deceased spouse gave it to you), you’ll want to make sure you’re 100% ready to let it go before selling it. Also, if you have a daughter, consider whether she would want the family heirloom. You don’t want to sell it and end up regretting it six months later.

9. Accept that you’re not going to get what you paid for it

This is a hard pill to swallow, but you need to accept that you’ll never get the price you paid. While some vintage items may increase in value, anything bought in the last 30 years will be worth less than the original price tag, a lot less (unless it’s a designer piece that’s no longer being made).

Sell jewelry near me FAQs

At the end of the day

Selling jewelry near me (you) can be a great way to clear out some space in your jewelry box (especially broken pieces), all while making some extra money. Besides, sometimes these pieces may be holding you back, especially sentimental pieces that you may not want the memories from (old wedding ring?).

Whatever you choose to sell, make sure you get an appraisal first and then go to a reputable place to sell your piece.

Which will be your first choice to sell jewelry near me?