Tools of the Trade for Side Gig Gold Buyers

There are a few tools of the trade all precious metals dealers have in their toolbox. Here is a quick rundown of the most important ones.

1. Digital Scale

  You weigh precious metals on the scale as one of the steps in determining your bid. Your scale should be able to weigh in grams, pennyweight and troy ounces. Carats may also proof useful if you plan on dealing in diamonds, but not necessary otherwise. There are all kinds of scales on the market. You can spend a lot of money on a fancy digital scale able to weigh thousands of grams, but this is overkill. A good 1000 gram scale can be purchased on Amazon for around $25.

Since you will be weighing silver as well as gold and platinum, we recommend your scale be able to accommodate at least 1000 grams.

You can start with a small digital scale and expand to a more expensive model once your gold buying business grows and you learn what will fit best for your business.

2.  Jeweler's Loupe

This is probably your most-used tool. We recommend a 30X loupe rather than the standard 10X loupe, because sometimes the markings on gold jewelry can be very tiny.

3.  Testing Acids

A set of testing acid will include 10K, 14K, 18K, 22K, Silver and Platinum testing solutions. Purchase on Amazon or eBay.

4.  Testing Stone

Using a testing stone along with the acids is one way of testing gold. We use a scraper and place the drop of acid directly on the piece, but many buyers prefer the testing stone. You take the ring, scrape it along the stone, and a small mark is left on the stone. You then apply the acid solution to the stone. If the mark disappears, the piece is the karat quality of the acid used.

5.  Pliers and prong openers for removing stones

Of course, you will not be removing stones before you buy rings (you will simply deduct a quarter or half gram from the weight depending upon the size of the stone). You do not want to pay gold prices for large stones that are only worth a few pennies each. (The sad truth is that most colored stones, with rare exceptions like emerald and ruby, have very little value).

Sometimes your customers may want to keep the stones. You can remove them for free or charge a small fee for this service.

However, once in your possession and before you ship to us, you need to remove as many stones as possible. We don't want colored stones nor tiny "chip" diamonds. You can buy pliers and prong openers on Amazon.com or eBay.com.

6. Magnet

You use a strong magnet as a quick test to eliminate items made of steel, or containing ferrous metal. Anything that sticks to the magnet is not precious metal, but many non precious metals (such as copper) are also not magnetic, so this is not a fool proof test. Also, necklaces often have a steel clasp attached to a solid gold chain. The magnet test is a good way to weed out plated junk and costume jewelry. It's just one more tool that helps guide you to the gold mine.

7. File or scraper

Use a file or Xacto knife to make a small scratch in an unobtrusive place on any items you wish to test with acid solution. The reason to do this to cut through any gold plating or coating that may be present on items that may only be gold-plated, not solid gold. After making a tiny scratch, place a drop of acid directly onto the piece and observe the reaction.

8. Goldie

Head over to iGuide's free gold appraiser app to get the current market value.

10.  Lighting

You need a good light source when looking at jewelry, so you can better see the markings. Invest in a couple of good OTT lights (check Amazon and eBay for pricing). These are a good investment.

11. Cash

Last but not least, have some cash on hand. Although we recommend paying by check whenever possible, some of your customers will want cash, or hesitate to accept a check. In those cases, you need enough cash on hand to cash the check for the seller. How much to have on hand depends on the size of the group you will be buying from, or your venue. If you are setting up at a flea market or local antiques shop, you might need more than at a gold party.

There you have it, a complete list of tools of the trade. With these tools in your toolbox, you are ready to go forth and mine for gold, silver and platinum. 

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