The gold market has experienced a great surge in popularity due to difficult global economic times. It may be that you are interested in getting more involved in gold as a way to safeguard your personal wealth, but you lack the essential knowledge. Read this article to learn what you need to know.

In times of economic uncertainty when people are jugglig their finances and struggling with debts on credit cards or instant payday loans from payday lenders or payday loan lenders, gold is seen as a stable, safe haven for your money.

Get a good education in precious metal pricing before you try to buy or sell gold. Gold, platinum and silver prices tend to fluctuate daily, so make sure you check the spot price on a specific day before you make a transaction. You must to pay a premium to the melt values if you're buying less than one ounce pieces.

You'll want to know just how much your gold will be worth when selling it. If you sell gold, pieces that have various karat values need to be valued and weighted individually. You should not sell jewelry as gold scraps if its worth is higher because of the brand or design.

Before you buy gold from a dealer, get a guaranteed delivery date. If your seller can't commit to immediate delivery, get the delivery date in writing. The date of arrival should be something you can see listed. Don't go through with the order if they can't provide you with the delivery date in writing.

If you're thinking of mailing off some jewelry to someone, you need to be sure you do your research first. You should be clear about when you can expect to be paid. Insuring your gold shipment is a good idea, too. Take a photo of all the items you are sending so there will be no questions later.

Be sure to consult the spot price on the day when you plan to purchase gold. This information can be found on several different websites. When you buy, don't pay over 8% markup over the price. Paying that price would simply be unfair to you.

Whenever you're looking at selling scrap jewelry or gold it is best to explore many different companies to know the offers are legitimate. Even though the market "spot" gold price is the national standard, not all stores will pay it. Stores that aren't in big shopping malls tend to have much lower rent and may pay more.

Speak with the representative at the gold party to find out how they determine how many karats a piece of jewelry is. The item is stamped, a lot of times. However, if there are no visual indications, there are other ways to determine purity. Acid testing is a very simple method, so if a representative is using this, they might be new.

This article mentioned previously that gold is loved by many, but most are unaware of how gold buying works. But since you've gotten through this post, you know much more than you did. Use this knowledge to make the best possible choices in dealing with gold.