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Mr. Foard,

I enjoyed reading and educating myself on Jewelry valuation.

I would like to inquire of your knowledge of gold and gold jewelry from the Middle East; India and Kuwait to be exact.

I am currently in the Middle East and want to buy jewelry for family and friends back home in the US.  I have looked mostly at 18k -21k items and believe that they are well under value compared to pricing in the States. I am also considering buying some to re-sale.

My concern and fear is I can't be the only person that thought of this and something that seems to easy and profitable, always makes an alert go off in my head. I understand your site can help me if I buy only a few pieces, but I don't want to buy say a piece that here cost $50 and then add $25 to the over head of that piece.

My concept is the same as any business market concept, buy at a low cost, low over head, and sell at a small margin. I want to sell at a value price below that of competitors. Again, nothing on the level of a full size jewelry store; brick and mortar or online store.

That is where my true concern is.

With all the online wholesalers, such as, QVC, HKTDC (Asia), etc.. I only want to offer a true value to a customer if I am able to buy at such a low price.  In your expert opinion what is the best way for me to value what vendors have here in the Middle East and what the market value would be in the US.

Sincerely,
Mike A

Here is my answer - but please make a comment if you would like to add to this discussion.

G'day Mike A (who's Nite?) and many thanks for your query - but we have had this question so many times before.

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My first answer is "Who are you going to sell to?"

If you think the Trade are going to buy from you - Think again. They get everything from their suppliers and get it on a 90 day invoice with all the guarantees which go with each item.

They are NOT going to buy from some stranger who just walks in off the street.

On the other hand you may be thinking about selling on eBay - Think again! The public a very wary about buying online in the first place and even more so from a seller without any testimonials or past clients.

Plus the American public will not buy items stamped with Middle Eastern Hallmarks they don't understand.

Don't forget the tax man either. If you import anything into the States it will have to be declared and State and Federal Import duty paid.

Should I go on?

If you simply want to sell to a few friends and relatives - fine - but that's just a sideline and you may end up with more stock in your possession than you can afford. If you try to sell it then to say secondhand-dealers or Pawn Brokers - you'll typically get 10% percent to 25% percent of the value - and that may mean a loss.

Personally - if you still want to go ahead - try a few small sample items, see what the reaction is, find out what the problems are going to be. Then if all still looks good - scale it up.

Don't take too many risks and please let us know how you get on.

Kind regards, David
P.S. An appraisal is for INSURANCE and has nothing to do with the open secondhand market price.

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