Gold is something that many people love, but do not know much about. Without the knowledge, it can be difficult to take full advantage of what gold can do for you. If you feel like your knowledge is lacking, read through these tips to learn much of what you need to know.

Ounce Bars

You can’t beat bullion bars for a solid gold investment. There are numerous sizes available. The bullion bars come in half ounce bars and increase up to large bars weighing 400 ounces. Four hundred ounce bars will be hard to locate.

You can sell gold online. Gold trading doesn’t necessarily have to happen at an establishment with walls. There are plenty of websites that are ready and willing to buy your gold. The site will mail you a kit for mailing in your items. They will send you payment for your goods after they receive your items.

If you’re buying gold to save for your retirement, buy the right type. Your gold has to be IRS approved. It has to be in the form of 24-karat gold bullion or coins. Buy bars instead of coins to increase your profits.

If you have an interest in getting into the gold markets, but don’t have a lot of investment capital, consider buying scrap. You can accumulate scrap gold as you can afford it and have a pretty nifty next egg in a few years. Be sure to stash your gold safely away until you decide to sell it.

Shop around before making any decisions about a gold buyer. You may be surprised at the differences in the offers that you’ll get! Going with the very first buyer who comes along might prove a bad deal. Spend the required time to comparison shop before making any decisions.

Talk to a rep at a gold party to see how they figure out the number of karats in a jewelry piece. Many times the item will have a stamp. However, you may see no sign at all but there are ways to determine its value. The simplest test is the acid test, so if a rep is using this method, he may be a novice to the market.

Have jewelry appraised prior to selling it to anyone as scrap gold. The more intricate the jewelry, the more it will be worth. An appraiser will charge you a nominal fee, but it is an expense worth paying if your piece is unique and valuable. The appraiser may also know someone who maybe interested in your jewelry item.

Solid Gold

Sometimes an item will have solid gold backing; although, the jewelry is not solid gold. In many cases ring bands and the clasps of necklaces are real gold too. Because each piece does not weigh much, consider selling these as a group. This is a bunch of different gold pieces in quantity and can help you to get more money for them.

You don’t have to own gold to invest in it. Buy shares in traded or mutual gold funds or invest in some gold mining stocks. You should always consider the costs to store gold.

Prior to selling gold, make sure you separate it by karat weight. Keep an eye on the gold buyer because they may try and deceive you. A common trick is to weigh everything together and then give you the price for the karat that is the lowest weight. You’ll lose out on a lot of potential profit this way. Instead you should go in with pre-separated piles to make the biggest return.

As this article said in the beginning, no matter what people think of gold, they rarely know much about it. Now that you’ve read all this, you should be comfortable with your gold knowledge. Use the information shared here to make the best choices when gold investing.