Gold jewelry has become a fashion statement. Chances are you buy gold chains to keep up with the trend. You may also want to keep them as a lucrative investment. But before you take the plunge, here’s the caveat: how can you possibly be sure that the gold chain you’re planning to buy is really made of gold? How can you tell if a particular gold chain is fake? There are many ways to spot fake gold chains. Below are some of them.

To begin with, what exactly are fake gold chains? Simply put, fake gold chains are those that aren’t made of solid gold. This means that they were made using another metal or an alloy of non-gold metals. They are usually gold-plated, which means that they are covered with a thin layer of gold to make them appear as though they are real. There are also gold-filled chains which can pass as pieces of solid gold. 

They are made of non-gold metals too. But unlike gold-plated items, they are wrapped in a thin sheet of gold which is attached to the core metal under high temperature. Please be advised, however, that jewelry with less than ten karats pure cannot be considered and sold as gold. So you should be careful when buying gold chains, lest you end up with a fake.

Knowing how to identify fake gold chains can help you make a good decision when you’re buying pieces of jewelry. Below are three tips on how to spot a fake gold chain.

In most cases, pieces of jewelry have gold stamps or hallmarks showing the karat of the items. The simplest way to determine the purity of a piece of gold jewelry is through its gold marking. Karat is the measure of purity, and it indicates how much of the piece is made up of gold and how much was made of non-gold metal. The highest measurement is 24 karats, which means the item is made up of pure gold. The karat shown in the marking is usually expressed in numbers followed by the letters K, KT, or KP. For instance, a 14K stamp means that the gold item is 14 karats. This also implies that the item is made up of 58.33 percent gold, and the remaining are other types of metal.

If there’s no marking on the piece of jewelry, another way to check for the presence of gold is to use acid testing. Testing jewelry with nitric acid is said to be a reliable way to find out how much gold an item contains. All you have to do is to visit a jewelry shop for testing. The jeweler will simply apply nitric acid to the scratch mark and observe the chemical reaction in order to determine how much gold is in the item. You can also do acid testing at home. Buy a gold testing kit and follow the instructions that come with it.

Color and discoloration have a lot to say about the gold purity of a chain. They can tell you whether a chain is made of gold or not. Chains that are as yellow as pure gold are most likely gold-filled or gold-plated. They are merely covered with 24-karat gold. Meanwhile, discoloration is a strong indication that a gold chain may be fake. A fake gold chain becomes apparent when the gold plating starts to wear off, and the underlying metal becomes visible. You will see the metallic color of its non-gold core, whether the item is gold-filled or gold-plated.

If you’re looking for a pawn shop to sell your jewelry in Bronx, New York, East Village Buyers is where you need to go. Contact us today for more information.

Gold chains are quite popular nowadays. Why not go for white gold chains instead? You’ve probably seen the pieces of jewelry we're talking about, the ones resplendent in white or yellowish hues. They aren’t pure gold or silver—they're made of white gold. 

White gold is commonly used to make bracelets, necklaces, and other pieces of jewelry. We’ll talk more about white gold chains in the following section. If you’re planning to buy one, here’s what you need to know about white gold.

The question is, what is a white gold chain made of? A white gold chain is made of a mixture of yellow gold and other metals, which produces a whitish alloy. This alloy also appears rather yellowish. It is typically coated with rhodium which has an entirely white color to augment its whiteness. The only problem with this is that rhodium plating wears away with time. When this happens, your white gold chain will need to be replated.

The karat of a white gold chain is determined the same way you measure a karat of typical gold jewelry. We know that pure gold consists of 24 karats. When checking the markings on your gold chains, you have to divide the number of karats by 24. This means that a 14-karat white gold chain has 58 percent pure gold, same with a 14-karat yellow gold necklace.

In general, pure gold is a malleable metal. This means that the higher the karat of your chain, the softer it will be. If your gold chain has higher gold content, chances are this item's rhodium plating will compensate for its softness. This means a white gold chain’s surface is a bit harder than that of a similar yellow gold piece.

As mentioned, a white gold chain with no gold purity is also made of other metals such as nickel. Nickel is sometimes used in white gold jewelry. Some people are allergic to this metal, but fortunately, the rhodium plating of your chain will protect your skin. However, you should still be careful. If the plating wears off and the exposed white gold alloy touches your skin, you might end up with a rash. Better yet, just look for a white gold chain that is certified nickel-free.

You might also be wondering if a white gold chain is solid or hollow. Well, a white gold chain is usually hollow, which is why it is remarkably light and cheap. Since it isn’t a solid piece, please be advised that a white gold chain is also easier to damage. You could dent or even break a hollow chain if you're not careful with it. So if you buy one, you should take very good care of it every time you put it on. Now, if durability is an issue, you should get a more solid white gold chain instead.

Finally, there is a wide array of white gold chains you can choose from. White gold chains have different designs such as the anchor chain, box chain, curb chain, Figaro chain, mariner chain, and the rope chain. They are said to be flexible and not easy to break. 

Other designs include the herringbone chain, omega chain, and snake chain. However, they are more likely to twist and are prone to kinking and catching on your clothes or hair.

If you’re looking for a pawn shop to sell your jewelry in Bronx, New York, East Village Buyers is where you need to go. Contact us today for more information.

We love jewelry. Who doesn’t? But after a while, certain pieces can break and might need to be repaired. That said, most people don’t know that repairing your jewelry may actually cause them more harm than good. 

Jewelry that has been repaired will be more likely to break again. That’s why some say jewelry repairs aren’t worth your money. Most jewelry repairs require soldering, which can weaken the jewelry and lessen its lifetime, especially if the piece in question is made of a weaker metal. Here’s why jewelry repairs can be problematic.

To change the size of a bracelet or ring, a jewelry repairman will have to cut up the piece. Then he’ll reattach the pieces to each other with a soldering iron The problem with that is that once your jewelry has been fixed, the place where it was soldered will become a weak spot. Putting a broken object together again won’t restore its original integrity. 

In fact, doing so will actually make it even weaker than it was before. The more times you repair a ring this way, the more likely it will be to break again, especially if the jewelry is made of a softer metal. Soldering it will cause the older part to wear thin more quickly. For example, gold or silver deteriorate at a faster pace compared to platinum jewelry.

Chains are at great risk for any damage because they are often pulled, tugged on, or yanked when they’re worn. The stress can cause their links to weaken and break. Depending on the design of your chain, some chains may be easier to break than others. Repairing them will often involve soldering if the chain link cannot be rejoined in any other way.

Like rings and chains, repair methods can vary depending on the type of necklace and the breakage. If a necklace needs to be re-linked, soldering may be needed which, as mentioned before, can make your necklace weaker. Some necklaces might just need a small part replaced, which wouldn’t be too much of a big deal. However, if the chain of your necklace is completely broken, you may need to replace it with a new one. Doing so will be a lot cheaper than soldering it many times over anyway.

If possible, what you want to do is try to steer clear of repairs in general to avoid doing more harm to your jewelry. Fortunately, there are some ways that you can avoid having to get your jewelry repaired at all. By handling your jewelry more carefully and storing them correctly, you should be able to keep your favorite wearables safe. It is also important for you to examine a piece carefully before buying. Consider the materials used to make it. Don’t settle for cheap jewelry, especially if you want the pieces you buy to last as long as possible. If you can afford to buy high-quality jewelry, do so because that will be better in the long run. Jewelry will break often, so you should invest in something that will last longer. Think about the price of a cheap ring, then consider how many times you’ll need to have it repaired for it to last.

If you’re looking for a pawn shop to sell your jewelry in Bronx, New York, East Village Buyers is where you need to go. Contact us today for more information.

If you have broken or damaged golden jewelry that is 10K and above in purity that you no longer wear, you can get much more value from it than just leaving it idle in storage. Gold items such as chains, bracelets, anklets, and earrings are better sold for cash instead of just sitting around in your home gathering dust.

In fact, now is the best opportunity to say goodbye to gold in exchange for a decent amount of money. Compared to its $300 per ounce value 25 years ago, gold is now being traded at around $1,100 per troy ounce. But if you plan to sell your scrap gold now, you should first know how to value and sell your gold in order to reap the most benefits from the increased price.

It doesn’t help to be as naive as most people who sell their scrap gold without any inkling of how much their gold is really worth. Once you understand how to determine your scrap gold’s value, you will be surprised by how much it is really worth.

Before you grab your gold, you should first check what the market price is. Be aware though that the price of your gold when scrapped and melted is different from the market price it may have when it’s solid. This applies for more intricate broken jewelry, old coins, or gold artefacts with historical provenance. It will be wise to have these items appraised by an independent evaluator before you turn these into cash.

It also helps to anticipate when gold prices will spike. Read the world news to monitor political and economic developments that are expected to drive prices up in the following weeks to come.

The published market price of gold only applies to pure or 24K gold. If the purity of your gold items is less than 24K, it will have less value than the published market price. Gather your gold items and sort them into groups of known and unknown purity & take them to an expert or to the mint for a purity evaluation. 

You may borrow an analytical balance to determine the accurate weights of your gold. By this time, you should have sorted your gold by purity. Next up is to note the weight of each purity group, then convert all weights in troy ounces. One troy ounce is exactly 31.10348 grams in metric units, you can use online converters to make this easier. What’s important is that you are aware of how much your scrap gold items weigh. 

To get an estimate of your gold’s true value, you will need to first obtain the purity factor. Remember that the market price of gold applies only for pure gold, so if you want to know your less pure gold’s value, you need to find the purity factor. To get the purity factor, divide your gold’s purity (in karats) by 24. The resulting quotient basically means “x % pure gold,” with x being “100” if your gold is 24 karats or pure. Then multiply this decimal with the weight of the group of gold’s purity and then by the market price of gold to get the true value.

At this juncture, you should also be aware that you will not receive the full true value. The gold buyer will be deducting a fee that can be up to 20 percent of the value so that they can resell it at a higher value for profit. 

If you’re looking for a pawn shop to sell your goods at in Bronx, New York, East Village Buyers is where you need to go. Contact us today for more information.

Jewelry is a piece of metal that makes a statement. Wearing a piece, whether it’s solid gold or merely gold-plated, does not only add aesthetic beauty to an individual but gives one a sense of elegance and class.

Most women hope to wear a genuine gold piece of jewelry, be it a necklace or a bracelet, to complement an outfit or enhance their overall look, particularly during special occasions. Men can uplift his status if he’s able to give this to someone he’s pursuing. In fact, he might even end up winning her heart.

For others who cannot afford the expensive gold jewelry, there’s nothing wrong with settling for gold-plated jewelry. These do not make much of a difference in terms of look if one does not know how much it cost. So how will you actually know if a piece of jewelry is genuinely gold or merely gold-plated?

Let’s start with the difference between a solid-gold and gold-plated jewelry. Solid-gold jewelry is entirely made up of gold alloy. Gold-plated jewelry, on the other hand, is basically a piece of ordinary metal that is covered with a thin film of gold. This thin film is wrapped on the outer surface of a non-gold metal to make it appear as though it is genuinely gold. Thus, it all boils down basically to the metal composition of both. 

Here are four ways to determine if the piece of jewelry is gold-plated.

Most pieces of jewelry have markings indicating if it’s gold-plated or not. The most common stamp used is a GP mark that stands for Gold-Plated. Other markings are GEP which means Gold Electroplated, RGP for Rolled Gold Plate, and HGE for Heavy Gold Electroplate. It’s a standard requirement that jewelry is indicated with markings so buyers won’t get confused. However, it does not necessarily mean that a piece of jewelry without any markings is pure gold. Be wary that it may not have been stamped.

Apart from the markings or just the look itself, the most reliable way to find out if a piece of jewelry is gold plated is through an acid test. How does this work? The jeweler will take a sample from your jewelry and apply acid to check its color change. The change in color indicates what is present on the metal sample. While acid testing is primarily used to determine the karat of solid gold jewelry, it can also be used to determine if a piece of jewelry is gold plated or not.

Magnet testing is another way to check if a piece of jewelry is gold plated or not. It is as simple as checking if the piece of jewelry gets attracted to a magnet. If it does, the piece is some sort of metal that is not gold. Pure gold is not magnetic on its own. 

However, this test is not 100 percent effective and cannot be conclusive for a number of reasons. Jewelry that attracts to a magnet may not automatically mean it’s plated. It can still be solid gold with low purity and might contain a magnetic metal.

Finally, the gold color of jewelry can be an indicator if it’s gold plated or not. This is because gold-plated jewelry is covered with 24-karat gold whereas the solid gold is made up of gold alloy. Hence, if your jewelry has an intense yellow color similar to pure gold, chances are it has just been plated with gold. Be wary of an uneven surface as it might get worn off in time, thus showing the true color and tone of metal that your jewelry is made up of.

If you’re looking for a pawn shop to sell your goods at in Bronx, New York, East Village Buyers is where you need to go. Contact us today for more information.

We all need money, and sometimes, quick cash is necessary to get through some rough times. One of the best ways that you can get some money quickly is by pawning your goods. Pawn shops aren’t picky, and they will buy just about anything with value. However, there are some things that they like more than others. That’s what we’ll be talking about today. Here is a list of a few things that you can sell to a pawn shop incredibly quickly:

Diamonds and precious gemstones are some of the most valuable objects, and there’s always a demand for them. This makes pawn shops very eager to buy them off of you because they can be sold quickly to make a profit. If you have a piece of diamond, ruby, jade, or other precious gemstones that you want to sell, bring them down to your local pawn shop. Make sure that you have some sort of evidence that validates the authenticity and history of the piece, as that will ensure that you get the best price for your precious stones.

Jewelry is another item that pawn shops will be more than willing to accept, much for the same reason as gemstones. They are easy to sell, and there’s always a demand for it. If worse comes to worst, they can pick out the gems and smelt down the materials to sell individually. Although this is not a likely scenario, it’s an option if they ever have to do it. As with diamonds and precious gemstones, make sure that you have all the evidence of authenticity, as that will have an impact on the quoted price, especially if it’s an antique piece.

Wristwatches are valuable accessories that have quite a high demand, and it’s not hard to see why a pawn shop would be eager to buy them. Like you would have to with jewelry, make sure that you have all the parts intact, and don’t forget to bring evidence of authenticity. Bootleg watches are everywhere, and pawn shops don’t want to risk buying something that may not be genuine. Therefore, you need to bring the box, serial number, documents, and everything else that can tie the watch to its manufacturer.

The best watch brands can sell for quite a hefty sum of money, even if it’s a secondhand watch, especially if it’s a limited edition or a rare discontinued model. If you have a Rolex, Omega, Hublot, or Rado sitting in your shelf, remember that they can fetch a high price at a pawn shop.

People are always looking to buy cheap second-hand tools for their projects at home, which is why power tools such as drills, bench grinders, and power saws sell so well. The top models of high-grade brands such as Bosch can sell for over a hundred dollars, which is a lot of money for a second hand power tool. Make sure you keep these tools at its peak condition, as when you’re looking to sell them, they can make you quite a bit of money.

Electronics like computers, laptops, and smart TVs can sell for quite a bit of money, depending on the model and the condition of the piece. For example, if you’re looking to sell a top-notch, custom-built PC, you can make quite a sum. On the other hand, if you’re looking to sell a generic model with little-to-no upgrades done, you will be lucky to get $100.

New smartphones come out every year, several times a year, so it’s understandable that the price for these phones will drop drastically with each new model that comes out. You shouldn’t expect to get more than $100 for a second-hand smartphone, despite its condition and year of production.

If you’re looking for a pawn shop to sell your goods at in Bronx, New York, East Village Buyers is where you need to go. Contact us today for more information.

The gold market is a lucrative place for those seeking easy money. However, the market is unpredictable, and one mistake has the potential to wipe out years of your hard-earned dough. To become a prudent gold buyer or seller, it helps to have an overview of the gold market and what factors influence its instability so that you can make the right choices at the right times. Here’s what you should keep in mind:

People usually associate central banks with printed money and stacks of gold bars stored in heavily-guarded vaults. However, it has not occurred to most of them to ask why government central banks keep gold at all. These banks can own land, resources, and factories to diversify the sources of their reserve holdings. Moreover, these assets don’t need to be kept in a vault equipped with a byzantine level of security that can cost 1% of the value of the gold that these vaults contain in a year. 

When a war breaks out globally, paper money loses its worth and gold becomes the only currency that international traders accept, especially if it would involve procuring war materials. Governments need gold to buy these essential materials to endure or win a war, so they ensure that they always have gold reserves ready for use at any time war strikes. This was why a president of South Vietnam tried to smuggle gold to Switzerland during the Vietnam War when his army was already being defeated by the North Vietnamese communists, who eventually won and reunited that country.

After World War II, the U.S. displaced the old European colonial masters as the world’s leading power when it ended up with most of the world’s gold. It had so much gold that it was able to support covert operations and proxy wars across the globe against its perceived enemies, from the communists of yesteryears to the Islamists of today. In a sense, gold is an economic instrument of any government’s military might which in turn is used to enforce that government’s set of political agenda upon its people and even the world.

Gold prices can swing at any time without notice. Therefore, the skill of getting the timing right will help you rake in handsome profits if you are a seller and get you more gold while spending less money if you are a buyer. War and severe economic crises cause gold prices to swing even more wildly, making the identification of the right time risky and difficult for buyers and sellers. Keeping yourself abreast of important developments in the world might help improve your chances of striking gold in the buy-and-sell industry.

Unlike the fish we catch and the sugar we consume, gold does not and cannot dissolve in our bowls. It can also be recycled. This is why even if gold production lags far behind than demand (mainly because of gold’s rarity in the Earth’s crust and the difficulty of mining it), the supply of gold appears as if it is not decreasing much. Around 700 tons of gold gets recycled annually. On the other hand, the amount of gold that gets lost forever is hard to determine but the amounts lost are probably negligible to make a serious dent on the world’s gold supply. In fact, gold that ends up in the landfill by way of discarded gadgets and broken jewelry which contain them can turn these landfills as the proverbial “cash in trash” when the technology for urban mining further matures for mass industrial use in the future. 

Only around 300 tons of newly-produced gold become “trapped gold” when they become used to make or are incorporated in other products. The rest of gold production are made into gold bars as well as the necklaces, rings, anklets, tiaras, brooches, or even shredded toppings for the world’s most expensive pizza (you can’t still digest the shredded gold toppings, though). All of this free gold (in contrast with “trapped gold”) is essentially available for sale when the price and timing are right. These free gold amount to $9 trillion, giving gold buyers and sellers plenty of opportunities to make a windfall.

Since time immemorial, from the Spanish colonial plunderers to today’s treasure hunters, people everywhere have been madly in love with gold. The obsession is so severe that merely speculating on the market value of gold that possibly hides beneath a yet-to-be-studied mountain deep in the thick Indonesian jungles is itself becoming a money magnet. Gold speculation can lead to a bubble. History has seen bubbles that have popped and shattered investors’ lives. Bubbles can even be blown by unscrupulous fraudsters riding on gold’s propensity to attract greedy investors as demonstrated by cases like the Bre-X scandal. Gold still remains a potential source of future bubbles.

But despite the fragility of financial speculation surrounding gold, buyers and sellers may exploit speculation to have gold prices reach digits that would be to their advantage. For those speculators, the rewards are worth the risk, and there will be always grown, greedy men who will be willing to take that risk.

Money has no inherent value even if it is made up of gold. What it does have is its ‘exchange value.’ A dollar, or any form of money for that matter, derives its exchange value from how much of it is being used as a means to exchange a commodity with actual value with another. Money’s exchange value comes from the convenience that goes along with its elimination of the need to do physical barter. 

Thus, gold becomes a hedge, or a guarantor, for the exchange value of dollars being held by banks, investors, and governments, although gold itself is not a static standard of value, with yearly production inflating its value as if it was also a currency. But if the dollar becomes a less desirable means of exchange in the world markets, those banks, investors, and governments holding dollars may demand the U.S. government to replace their paper money with gold bars. The increased demand for gold resulting from the weakening of a dollar would ratchet up gold prices. A weak dollar is a good time to sell your gold.

On the other hand, if other currencies such as the Japanese Yen, the British Pound, and the Euro are devalued by the respective central banks that issue them, these currencies become more attractive to use as a means of exchange than the dollar is since it would entail lower interest rates for those who use them. Fewer dollars will be used by businesses and governments in the world and the decreased demand for dollars will strengthen that currency. With the dollar becoming a strong currency, those who already hold dollars are less inclined to get gold. Thus, a strong dollar will mean a weak demand for gold. Weak demand means lower gold prices. What does that mean? It’s cheaper to buy gold!

Are you looking to sell your gold to help build savings? Pawn your gold in NYC & get in touch with us today! We’re happy to help.

Everyone is different when it comes to how they manage their money, including their saving and spending habits. More often than not, people spend more than what they can make without paying attention to their savings at all. This can put them in a difficult financial situation that can be hard to get out of. Some people may need to make a small loan to get themselves back on track. However, there are others who are in a much bigger mess - to the point that a single loan is not enough to solve their problems. If you don’t want to be in this situation, you need to find a way to break out of bad spending habits and promote more effective saving habits as soon as you can. Here are some tips to help you get started:

Every time you receive your paycheck, you should allocate a portion of this money to your savings account. Once you deposit the money into your account, leave it there without touching any of the amount saved. Keep doing this and notice the total amount of your savings will continue to grow significantly. This is a very effective saving habit to develop.

Similar to the first point, you should also put some money in an emergency accountl. By saving the money little by little, it can accumulate to become a big sum that you can use the amount to pay for any emergencies, such as a car repair due to an accident or a surge of power bill in the winter. This way, you don’t have to spend all of your hard-earned savings just to pay for some unexpected expenses that may incur in the future.

In order to save more money, you should be able to manage your spending habit first. Before you spend money on anything, think carefully about whether you need the item. Envision yourself living without this item in your life, and if you find that it has no effect on you, then you might want to put it back on the shelf. By adopting this habit, you will be able to cut back on your expenses.

Try to cut back on luxury, such as expensive clothing items. When it comes to superficial things, you are better off saving your money for more meaningful purchases, including property, a new car, and other things that will have an impact on your future.

You should plan your budget for each month so that you can determine which purchase is more of a priority to you. For example, your credit card debt should be taken into account before you decide whether you have the budget to go on a vacation. By factoring in the most important payments in your monthly planning, you will have some idea of the budget that you have to work with for the month.

No one wants to struggle with financial problems. Therefore, while you don’t have full control of your income, you still have, to some extent, control over your spending and saving habits. By following the tips mentioned above, your financial situation can be improved, and you are less likely to find yourself in a huge pile of debts that you can’t pay off fast enough every end of the month! 

Are you looking to sell your spare items to help build savings? Pawn your goods in NYC & get in touch with us today! We’re happy to help.

If you’re planning on selling your diamonds to a pawn shop, you may have a lot of questions in mind. One of your biggest questions probably will be: how do pawn shops price diamonds? The simple answer is that diamonds are priced based on their rarity. The size also matters; large diamonds are much rarer than smaller diamonds, which is why they’re worth a lot more.

The fact is that diamonds are much rarer than gold and silver, which puts them pretty high on the price range. To elaborate, the value of a diamond can be evaluated based on what is called the 4 C’s:

Carat: the weight of the diamond

Color: the amount of tan or yellow tones in the diamond

Clarity: the defects in the diamond that make it less clear

Cut: the manufacturing quality of the diamond when it was cut into a shape

Quality diamonds are clear, almost transparent, with no cloudiness, marks, or any defects in them. These diamonds will be priced at a high amount. However, many diamonds have a slight tan or yellow tone to them, and some have inclusions or carbon in them. Inclusions are the white marks inside the diamond, almost as if they are bubbles frozen in an ice cube. Carbon refers to tiny dark flakes or spots in your diamond. Both of these things are what make your diamond less valuable. Pawn shops will take these factors into account when estimating the value on your diamond. Now that you know the basics, let’s get more in-depth to the real question.

As mentioned, the first thing a pawn shop will do when you bring in your diamond is to determine its value. They will look at the 4 C’s to come up with the estimated price for your diamond.

Aside from their size, diamonds are valued based on their rarity. Because the larger diamonds are rarer, their prices are also much higher. Below are some guidelines for your information:

In general, your diamond could worth between a range of 100 to 600 dollars if the carat weight is more than .25, but this also depends on the color and clarity of your diamond. If your diamond is greater than 1.01 carats, however, then the price significantly increases. In fact, if your diamond is over 3 carats and the color is transparent, it could be worth anywhere between 3,000 to 10,000 dollars per carat weight! One important thing to note is that even if your diamond is the biggest size, but if the color is off or the clarity is poor, the value can easily drop in half.

For diamonds that weigh less than .25 carats, the value is much lower as they are more common. What is important here is whether the stone is full-cut. If your diamond is what is known as a “chip stone,” then the value is negligible. A chip stone is typically collected when a bigger and higher quality diamond is being cut and formed into a piece of jewelry. In other words, a chip stone is merely a leftover of a bigger stone. This kind of diamond has little to no value in the second-hand market.

Whether you are planning to sell your diamond or get a loan from a pawn shop, they will have to evaluate the value of your diamond based on how much they think they can sell it for. This is very important to them because should you forfeit the loan, they will have to find a buyer to sell your item to in order to recover their losses.

Are you looking to sell your spare items? Get in touch with us today! We’re happy to help.

Pawn shops have taken up an important place in modern society. They can be a source of quick short-term loans during times of emergency. Some people look for high-end goods for rock-bottom prices in pawn shops. However, when you visit a pawn shop, you need to know the things you should and shouldn’t do. Firstly, it is imperative that you stay clean and you present yourself properly. You should not shout at the pawnbroker while they are providing you with a loan. It is quite easy to get the job done in most pawn shops. Most pawn shops would be happy to help you out with whatever you may require, be it a short-term loan or finding something that you are looking for. However, there are some mistakes that a lot of pawn shop customers make. These are some of the mistakes that one must avoid:

Making mistake at a pawn shop can be very costly. Therefore, you need to avoid making one in the first place. A lot of people walk into a pawn shop thinking they can negotiate easily. Often a part of it is because of the TV shows that show how much they can negotiate. Another part of this is because the reputation of pawn shops make people think that they can go far to work out a deal.

Before taking a gold loan or before buying gold, one should know how the gold market works. Knowing the approximate amount you will be getting will help you figure out whether or not you are being offered a fair price.

Whatever the case may be, it is unwise to go into a pawn shop and say what you know right into the owner’s face. Chances are you will be laughed at and asked to leave the store immediately. 

There is a certain amount at which pawn shops are comfortable in buying gold. They also have a different selling amount. The amount is determined by the gold market and is something that they cannot control. So if you want to sell something at an outrageous price, the pawn shop may not purchase it at all. The reason is simply that you are not offering a price that is reasonable compared to the present gold market. The same problem happens when you want to buy gold at a price so low that the pawnbroker will not even take you as a serious customer. He or she will directly reject you without any considerations.

Pawn shops are based on buying and selling. They buy things at low prices which they think they can sell in the future at a higher price. So if you think that you can negotiate and sell something at a significantly higher rate, you will be disappointed. The pawnbroker can move slightly higher than the initial offer, but there may not be any significant difference. They are well aware of prices and deal with products similar to that of yours every day.

There is no point in impressing them with features. In fact, you may end up annoying them and making them stick to a lower price. The issue is the same when buying something at a lower price. What you really need to do is to make a reasonable offer that will allow further negotiation.

Are you looking to sell you spare items? Get in touch with us today! We’re happy to help.

Before you can even set a price for your merchandise, you need to understand what you are trying to sell. Is it particularly difficult to find? Are there only a few pairs in the world? What colors are available? What size are they? Who designed them? These are all things that will impact the value of the shoe.

The simple economical concept of supply and demand controls the value of your shoe. If there isn’t much demand, the resale value will be pretty low. If your sneakers are particularly hard to find and people are dying to get their hands on it, demand is high and thus resale price will be, too. Make sure you ensure you don’t overvalue or undervalue your shoes by studying the market.

People are concerned about the cleanliness of used shoes. It can significantly impact their market value. A dirty, scuffed up pair won’t be nearly as attractive as a clean one that looks like new. Give your shoes some loving and clean them up. Some materials may require different types of cleaning, so make sure you do some research on the best way to clean them.

People are highly influenced by what they see. If your pictures are of poor quality, people won’t be as likely to purchase your shoe. Take high quality pictures at different angles - the shoes from the top, sides, and bottom angles, and even the box and tags. Describe it well and point out any scuffs or defects. Keep it as professional as possible - don’t post a shot of them on your feet or holding it up in your hands. These small things could get you a higher resale price.

If you’ve gotten your hands on a newly-released pair, wait a bit before reselling them. There are lots of people you will be competing with. Instead, give it some time. After all the shoes of the same size are sold out on other resale sites, start to promote yours. You are more likely to get a higher resale price than you would have earlier. Popular shoes are definitely great for resale, but even if you haven’t got any, normal sneakers can earn you quite a bit as well.

Great salespeople are those who are passionate about what they are selling. To get the most out of your sneakers, you need to get involved. Follow other people who are passionate about sneakers and stay on top of trends. Upload photos, OOTDs, and other things about your own sneakers so people know that you’re passionate. You want to build a reputation of a sneakerhead, not some reseller that only cares about profit. People are much more willing to trust those that are passionate about the same things they are - in this case, sneakers.

As you learn more about the history of sneakers and of each classic design, you will find yourself with a heightened admiration and respect for the progression of sneaker culture and those who enthuse in it.

If you want to start building your own sneaker collection, here are a few classics that you should definitely include:

Anyone would recognize this shoe. It has an iconic design - white leather uppers, rubber insole, and green Adidas tab. Though many recognize it as the 1971 Stan Smith, it was actually originally released in 1963 in honor of Robert Haillet, a French tennis player. Later on, it was popularized when it was rebranded as the Stan Smith.

This sneaker is extremely popular, sported by people from David Beckham to the girl down the block. In 1998, the Stan Smith earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records after 22 million pairs were sold. By 2016, the number had rocketed to 50 million. 

Though the history of this sneaker is fascinating, you don’t need to know all of the details to appreciate it. It can be appreciated simply as a beautiful sneaker that can be paired with a myriad of outfits. Trendsetters and anyone in the general public can agree that the shoe is a real classic. If you are worried about not being able to style sneakers, fear not - this one goes with everything.

The Nike Air Max 1 was introduced over 30 years ago. Tinker Hatfield, the designer, drew inspiration from the Centres George Pompidou in Paris. This complex building takes elements that are usually on the inside of a building and puts them outside. In the same way, Hatfield made the Air Max cushioning a major visual element. This element stayed constant in all the other Air Max renditions that came later.

Besides looking dope, the Air Max is also incredibly comfortable. The red-and-white classic is sure to draw eyes. This sneaker played a major part in bringing Nike to where it is today and making it one of the most recognized shoe brands in the world. 

Flyknit technology took more than ten years to develop, but finally in 2012, the Flyknit Racer was released. There were several other editions of the Flyknit released later on, but the Racer is still probably the most well-known. In the same year as it was released, the shoe was listed by the Time magazine as one of the best inventions in the world, along with inventions such as Google Glass.

This sneaker is available in a variety of colors, from “Oreo” to “Multicolor.” Beyond the aesthetic quality, however, the Flyknit is well-loved for its performance qualities. One of the reasons it was developed in the beginning was because many runners longed for a shoe that was like a sock - something they could run in to great effect without being distracted. The Racer met those needs perfectly. Trendsetters and Olympians alike can agree on one thing - Flyknit technology is truly something incredible.

Between your mom’s scoldings that you really shouldn’t have bought so many and your non-sneakerhead best friend’s suggestion to throw some away, you may be wondering if you should get rid of just a few. Why throw out pieces of your prized collection when you could simply organize it? 

If you’re looking for a better way to keep track of your sneaker collection, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some tips on organizing them:

Getting your hands on a pair of retro Air Jordans is the easy part. It takes a lot more time to figure out how to keep track of all of them. There won’t be one method that works for everyone. Some people choose to wear their sneakers, while some choose to keep them safe and sound in their cases. Some have to make their collections fit in small apartments, while others have a designated sneaker room in their house. Rather than follow a method that won’t work for you, find one that suits your needs in terms of both usage and space.

Don’t bother putting the dirty generic pair of Converse you wear every day up on the shelf. It will always look worn, dirty, and stained next to your prized rare finds. Separate your everyday shoes from the ones that hold a special place in your heart. Give them both their own homes.

You don’t want your prized shoes to be lost somewhere in a messy sneaker pile, do you? Give vertical storage a try. Not only will this save you floor space, but you’ll be able to admire them more easily, too. If you’re clenching your teeth at how much you think it’ll cost, at least do some research and look at your options - it probably doesn’t cost as much as you think it does.

You may love it when a pair of sneakers arrives in a well-worn box, particularly if it houses a vintage pair that you have been looking for. If you really want them to last, however, take them out of those boxes and put them in storage containers. These will ensure that they are protected from dust, moisture, or any other number of things that they are vulnerable to in a normal box.

You may not like the idea of putting your favorite pair into a Zip-Loc bag like leftover Thanksgiving turkey. If you want to slow down the yellowing of the soles, however, you may want to give it a try. The oxygen in the air oxidizes the material, making them dingy over time. You can slow this down by keeping the air out. 

That being said, it isn’t good to permanently store them in plastic bags, either. Open them up and allow them to air out every few months so that the chemicals in the plastic don’t damage the shoe.

Though this method may result in a less aesthetic sneaker display, it’s a great way to increase the lifespan of your shoe and keep it in good quality. If you’re looking to keep a pair until it becomes a collector’s item, it really can’t hurt.

Most sneakerheads don’t just have three or four pairs of sneakers. It’s more common to have tens, hundreds, even thousands. Most people don’t understand this. You’ve only got two feet. How many shoes do you really need? Not to mention the space that you’ll need to store them. Well see, a lot of sneakerheads have entire rooms or areas dedicated to their collection. If they aren’t quite there yet, it’s probably a future goal. 

Ever seen those people camping out on the sidewalk to get their hands on the new iPhone? Yeah, we wouldn’t do that for a phone. But we’d do it for sneakers. Sometimes it isn’t just a night, either. It could be several days. All we need is a sleeping bag and some snacks. The reward of a special pair of shoes is worth it to us.

Some people name their cars. Some name their guitars. Us? We name our shoes. It may be a perfectly non-cringey name, or it may be an extraordinarily nerdy one that would be painful to explain. We know the exact model and the exact year that shoe was released, of course, but we’re still going to address each pair endearingly because God knows how much effort we went through to get them.

A $4 boba tea may seem expensive to a sneakerhead, but a $1000 vintage Air Jordan may seem like an absolute steal. Honestly, we probably aren’t going to wear them. Why would we want to get them cracked or dirty? No, no. These are for showcasing. You may think it’s crazy, and trust us, sometimes we think so too. That’s not going to stop us from frequently checking the resellers, though.

Yes, that includes our wedding. Mom may be slightly irate about it, but it isn’t her life. Consider yourself lucky if you’re getting hitched with someone who loves and even appreciates your secrets, quirks, and most of all, your sneaker obsession. Let’s be real - who’s even going to remember you wore sneakers on your big night? It’s your night - you do you.

When it comes to functionality, style is the last thing you should think about. However, the fact is this is going to be one of the major deciding factors for you. That also means that if you choose based on this factor and this factor only, you may very well end up with an ill-fitting pair that will look incredible but won’t help your game. Consider style, but don’t let the bright advertisements, endorsements, and incredible look be the only reason you buy the shoe.

This is definitely an important one. You want a shoe that lasts, not something that wears out within a few wears. The era of the lightweight shoe is here, and it is because of this reason that you may find it a little hard to find something sturdy and durable. However, it’s possible, and the following factor will help you determine whether a shoe will last or not.

The biggest thing that impacts a shoe’s durability is its materials. A plastic-based synthetic will probably last a lot longer and take a lot more damage, but raw materials will give you that comfortable, luxe feeling. There are lots of material options out there, so the choice is yours.

The fit of the shoe is another major consideration. The more recent sneakers are often made to be narrow, which can work for someone with average or narrow feet, but won’t be comfortable for anyone with wider feet. This is where those plastic-based synthetics can become a world of hurt. Sometimes you can solve the problem by just going up a size, but that may affect the rest of your fit. If you’ve got wider feet, you may want to opt for a raw material, as it will have more give in the sides and stretch to fit your feet in time.

It isn’t that difficult to find a sneaker that will help you get some traction, but a sneaker that will let you play on a range of different surfaces may be more challenging. Many performance models were built with formal basketball courts in mind, but back in the day, basketball shoes were made to work in a bunch of different places. Take some time to assess the outsole’s thickness, softness, and pattern before you make your decision. Soft rubber usually means that the shoe is meant for indoor use, but reinforced or strong rubber can work on concrete and other surfaces.

The last and equally as important consideration you should keep in mind as you look for a basketball shoe is the cushions. Most basketball shoes in the market have integrated modern technology in one way or another, and there are quite a few choices of different cushions. We recommend either foam cushions or air-based cushions.

What makes these two different is responsiveness. Air-based cushions typically give a little bit of your energy back. Foam cushions may be just as responsive in the beginning, but they will not retain that bounce.

It really depends how often you get a new pair. If you are investing in a pair to use for a year or more, opt for air-cushions. If you cop a new pair every few months, a foam cushion will do just fine.

When it comes to shoes, consumer preferences and tastes have evolved to settle on one theme: comfort. This means that sneakers are becoming increasingly popular, and styles that we thought were laughable soon became significant trends. What sneaker trends will be settling in this fall? New-age sneakers, that’s what.

Let’s take a look at a few new-age sneaker trends so you can figure out which sneaker you should bring in to spice up your wardrobe this fall!

This coming season, trendsetters want people to know exactly which designer made their shoe. All you’ve got to do is take one glance at the large logos splashed across the leather, the laces, or even the soles.

This isn’t a new trend. Rather, it is reemerging. This sneaker is comfortable and easy to wear. It molds seamlessly to your feet and can be paired with a surprising number of outfits, be it tailored garments or slouchy sweatpants. You can’t go wrong!

Laceless sneakers are not quite sock sneakers. Rather, they can be compared to really luxurious slip-ons. Thanks to technology and the fact that we’re honestly still watch Back to the Future at least once every year, laceless sneaks are becoming a hit. Everyone from local designers to high-fashion brands are coming up with new laceless sneakers this season.

Are you the person who wears sneakers with literally everything? This trend’s for you. Versatile sneakers are there whether you’re running errands around town in workout gear or heading out for drinks in a little black dress. Comfort over everything, right?

If you’ve been waiting for the glitzy glamour trend to come back, you’re in luck! It’s finally here! Get these classically styled sneakers with some embellishments to add a bit of personality to your outfits.