What to know before cashing in on gold and silver price boom

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- With the price of gold and silver at records highs, many people are looking to cash in.

You can make instant cash by selling jewelry and other gold and silver items you have around your house.

According to locally-based gold dealer, The Alloy Market, an 18-karat gold bangle would have made you $155 in January 2001, $645 in January 2016 and a whopping $2,615 today.

Action News also priced out some of our own items to see what we could get.

Our producer went to a couple places and got similar offers for a gold necklace and bracelet and some old silver jewelry.

We were offered a little over $2,400 on the gold and the price varied by about $100 at different shops.

For the silver, we would walk away with $200 to $300 for the silver pieces.

One of the places we visited was Cherry Hill Coins, Jewelry and Gold on Route 70. While there, we ran into Tim Tierney, who was selling an old silver tea set, salt and pepper shakers and candle holders.

"Stuff left over from my parents and grandparents that we haven't been using," said Tierney. "I know our children don't want it, so I'm gonna actually give it to my kids to buy something with as a memory for our parents."

Tim walked away with $2,200 for the old silver. He said he hopes his kids buy something for their home in memory of their grandparents and great-great grandparents, instead of being stuck with something they'll never use.

Experts told us there's a few things you should do if you're looking to cash in old metals,

"Look around, check online reviews for local businesses to see if people like them, if you've had good experiences there, and get multiple estimates on what you have. Do not take the first estimate and don't feel pressured when you go in to get an estimate on what have," said Kate Ashford with NerdWallet.

NerdWallet and the brokers at Cherry Hill Coins, Jewelry and Gold said expect a fair offer to be anywhere between 60% to 95% of the current gold spot price.

You can try selling at a jeweler, pawn shop, or dealer and some companies like Alloy Market allow you to do it online.

"You just send your gold to them, and they will estimate a price for you," said Ashford. "You can decide whether you want to sell it or have them send it back."

NerdWallet said JM Bullion is a reputable site or try the American Precious Metals Exchange or Alloy Market.

The Alloy Market also has a brick and mortar location in Newtown, Pennsylvania and promises to pay two times more than pawn shops.

If you don't like the price, Alloy Market said they'll send back your items at no charge for the quote.

However, experts we spoke to said it is important to know what the spot or market price of gold or silver is that day, so you have a baseline for what you can get for your items.

Also, know that the condition of your jewelry and other pieces does not make a difference since most brokers sell it to another party who melt it down.