When it comes to finding places that buy gold, there is no shortage of options. It is important to choose carefully when selecting the best place to sell your gold. Not all gold buyers are the same or offer the same rates.

Depending on what type of items you have and how quickly you are looking to sell, you might want to choose a niche buyer for your items which might help you earn more.

We will discuss several popular options in this article along with our top recommendation.

We will start by discussing some of the most common options that people consider when exploring places that buy gold. They are not necessarily the best options but they are the most familiar.

Local Pawn Shops

The local pawn shop is typically the most common place that people think of when considering places that buy gold. Unfortunately, they are often one of the worst options.

While pawn shops might be good for people in a major lurch for cash, their in-person only locations and small payouts make for a bad experience.

The common pawn shop model is to pay the lowest so they can sell for the highest price. While this model is good for the pawn shop, it’s not ideal for you if you are trying to get a fair value for your items. 

If you want to deal locally, and a pawn shop is your only option, we recommend you read reviews and do your research online to find out how much your items are worth before visiting a local pawn shop to get an offer. Our overall recommendation is to skip the pawn shop all together.

PROS	CONS
Same day estimate Same day payout	Only in-person Some of the lowest payouts High pressure sales tactics

Jewelry Stores

Jewelry shops can be a good place to sell your precious metal jewelry including your gold items. More often than not, jewelry stores are in the business of selling gold and not buying it. Therefore, they are often not the best place to get the most money.

While some jewelry stores do buy gold, you should research your local area to find a reputable jewelry shop that is also a gold buyer. 

Often, jewelry stores will not offer over the phone estimates, so you have to go in store to get a price.. Since jewelry stores are in the business of selling jewelry, they often only buy items that they think that can resell. 

Jewelry stores can be a good local option if you like doing business in person and have higher end or name brand jewelry in good condition that you are looking to sell, but there are easier ways to sell that we will discuss in this article. 

PROS	CONS
Same day estimate Same day payout	Typically focused on high end jewelry Do not typically buy jewelry Payout amounts can vary

“Cash For Gold” Buyers

Cash for Gold buyers have a really challenging reputation to overcome due to sometimes shockingly low payouts. Some of the local gold buyers that have good reviews can be a good option. Our recommendation is that you do your research ahead of time and find out what your items are worth.

It is really important to understand that no gold buying company or service will pay 100% of the current market price for your gold because they have to deduct a percentage to cover their cost for offering a service. Also, when researching gold prices, understand that the purity or karat of your gold will change the price of your offer. 

For example, when searching live gold prices per gram or ounce, you’re typically seeing the price of pure gold or 24K gold, which is 100% gold. 14K gold is only around 58% gold content, which is calculated by dividing 14 by 24. This change in gold content does affect your offer when selling gold.

According to the expert over at the reputable financial site Kiplinger, pawn shops can pay as low as 20% of what your items are worth, while places that advertise as cash for gold buyers can pay as little as 40-45% of your gold value.

Kiplinger recommends finding a place that will pay around 65-88% instead. For that reason, we don’t recommend local “cash for gold” buyers.

We only recommend local “cash for gold” if you like to deal with folks in person and are knowledgeable of what you are selling prior to going in, that way you can be better educated about the offer they present.

PROS	CONS
Same day estimate Same day payout	Lack of positive reviews Don’t offer high payouts  Low transparency

Coin Shops

Coin shops are a great choice if you have higher value coins. Most coin shops are not that interested in coins that are not in high demand or that are not antique. 

Some coins are not actual currency and are referred to as bullion or rounds. Coin shops typically offer a lower value for those types of items but our top recommendation specializes in buying unbranded coins that are not currency and are privately branded or generic gold coins.

There are other great ways to sell your coins as well which we will discuss further in the article. We recommend coin shops if you know you have valuable coins, and want to sell in person and locally. Otherwise there are other options as well. 

PROS	CONS
Good local option for high value coins	Limited in what they buy Typically only interested in currency coins Does not typically focus on gold rounds Does not typically focus on bullion

Consignment shops

Consignment shops are a good option if you have a high value item, don’t want to sell it yourself and don’t mind paying a commission. Consignment usually takes a bit longer than other options so you have to factor that into your decision. 

PROS	CONS
Hands off process	Takes longer to sell Only works with high end items

Antique Shops

Antique shops are a good option if you have rare and vintage gold items. Otherwise, you’re better off selling to a reputable gold buyer. 

If you have a rare or vintage gold item, it might be worthwhile checking out an antique shop to get an estimate. Otherwise, we recommend you skip this option.

PROS	CONS
Good local option for antique items	Only works with antiques Only works with high end items

Tips to Consider When Shopping for Places that Buy Gold

When it comes to selecting a good gold buyer, you want to look out for a few key points to ensure the safest and smoothest experience possible. Pick a gold buyer that has the following important items:

• Good customer reviews
• Can offer upfront estimates
• A good standing with the BBB
• Recommendations from reputable third party sources
• A safe and insured process of shipping your items for an estimate
• An advertised minimum payout, not just a maximum “up to” amount payout

There is one gold buyer online that checks all the boxes above, which brings us to our top recommendation…

Our Recommendation for The Best Place that Buys Gold: The Alloy Market

The Alloy Market is a gold and precious metal buyer that set out on a mission to do things a little differently. Since launching, Alloy has paid their customers more than $4,000,000! 

We are not like other gold buyers that don’t offer upfront estimates or transparent payout rates. Alloy is changing all of that for the better.

Our company was started after our Founder found himself in the position where he needed to sell his gold items due to unforeseen circumstances and medical bills. 

Frustrated with the local process and online buyers that were just as bad as the local options, he set out on a mission to create one of the most transparent and trustworthy precious metal buying services ever, and it’s getting attention.

We have to admit, we might be a bit biased with our recommendation, but we don’t want you to take our word for it.

Our company has been featured in places like ABC, CBS, NBC, Forbes and many more. 

Best of all, our customers love us! Which is the biggest compliment of all as our focus on delivering exceptional customer service is second to none.

PROS	CONS
BBB A Rated Good customer reviews Can offer upfront estimates Trusted & recognized nationwide Transparent payout model Guaranteed minimum payouts	Have to ship items (free insured shipping is included) Takes a little longer than selling locally

If you want to learn more about our Founder and his story, you can check out the inspiration behind starting The Alloy Market in the video below:

The Alloy Market is proud of having an average customer payout of more than 80% of the current price of gold. Unlike other companies that only advertise payouts “up to” a certain amount (for example: payouts up to 95%!), we also have a minimum payout guarantee. This guarantee ensures you will never receive an offer for less than 60% of the melt value of your gold items for sale.

It’s an unfortunate truth but many of the places that advertise payouts and offers of “up to 95%” of the price of gold are usually offering anywhere between 20-30% of the current price instead. 

With Alloy, you don’t have to worry about getting a low 20% offer and you can rest assured that we will deliver an easy and transparent sale.

We hope you enjoyed reading our article. If you are interested in trying out our service, please request a free no-obligation appraisal kit. You can also reach out for more information or visit or FAQ’s if you want to learn more about our service.