Online pawn shops help you make some cash on the side

Dollars4Gold is a company based in Florida that offers top dollars to customers for jewelry, estate pieces, and a number of other pieces of jewelry and accessories that you may have in your house, but no longer need or wear. The only criterion for payment is that the item contain some form of precious metal. The price paid for gold keeps going up. It's currently selling at $900 an ounce, up from its 20-year average of only $250. So now is the ideal time to trade in what unworn gold and other jewelry items you have.

Here's how it works

After contacting Dollars4Gold, each customer receives a postage-prepaid "G-Pak" containing everything necessary to send their pieces. They can be gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and other precious metals. Even items that are broken! Within 24 hours of receiving the G-Pak, a team of appraisers test the items to verify their precious metal content and to measure the purity and quantity of the metal. Based on their research into your items, Dollars4Gold sends a check to the customer. Sure seems like a great way to score a little extra cash!If you're a little hesitant to mail in precious metals, it's probably good to know that Dollars4Gold insures — as a standard service — each packet against loss or damage for up to $100. Customers also receive a "satisfaction guaranteed" pledge. If they are not satisfied with the amount they are paid, then they can request within 10 days of the date on the check that their items be returned without obligation.Best Deal Pawn offers a similar system where you don't even have to leave the comfort of your living room — because, let's face it, pawn shops tend to be in the not-so-good parts of town. So if there was a way to get the cash without dealing with the in-person process, we can only imagine how much better that would be!Check out their site where you can order a free packet that allows you to then send in all your unwanted and scrap gold and jewelry. Within 24 hours, the online broker will cut you check for your goods and mail it out. If you're not satisfied with the price — like with Dollars4Gold — you can send back the check and the company will return your gold the day they receive the money. These are like a higher-end, classier, don't-have-to-go-to-the-seedy-part-of-town, online pawn shops. Now we're not suggesting that you pawn off your wedding ring for a few extra bucks. But it seems like we women probably have more than a few unwanted jewelry items, or pieces that we don't wear any more that we'd be happy to have cash for instead! Think about those somewhat sentimental items we are hanging on to for weird reasons such as a gift from your first boyfriend or a souvenir bought on a childhood trip. Of course, some accessories with sentimental value are definitely worth keeping even if you no longer wear them. But if you've been toying with getting rid of a few collectibles that have lost their personal value anyway, or if you have little treasures in the back of your drawer that you forgot about, now may be a great time to turn them into cash!

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