How to Sell a Wedding Ring for the Most Money: The Most Common Questions Answered

By Worthy Staff | Aug 26th, 2024

Looking to sell a wedding ring but not sure how or where to start? Here are some of the most common questions about selling rings with expert answers on where to go and how to get the best value for your wedding ring. 

How much money you get for your ring depends on two factors: the properties of the center stone of your ring and where you go to sell it. 

Diamond Property Value

The main diamond properties that influence the value of your diamond ring are cut, color, clarity, and carat, also known as the 4Cs. You may have thought that the carat size, or weight of your diamond, was the most important, but in fact, the value is based on all 4 properties since they affect the overall look of your diamond. Learn more about the 4Cs in our diamond glossary. 

Where to Sell a Wedding Ring

There are few major categories of places where you can sell a diamond, each having pros and cons. 

• Traditional Avenues for Selling Jewelry:
  • Pawn shops – This is the quickest way to sell a diamond because pawn shops can be found all over the country and offer immediate payment. However, the business of a pawn shop is to offer quick payments rather than high payments so you are unlikely to receive anything close to true market value for your wedding ring there. 
  • Consignment stores – Consignment stores and consignment-type businesses can offer higher prices than pawn shops, but the payment will not be immediate because these businesses require that your wedding ring is purchased first before you receive any payment from them. 
  • Local jewelers – These businesses are more trustworthy and can be very convenient. However, jewelers are normally unable to pay true market value for your ring as they are used to buying diamonds wholesale from diamond buyers. 
• Online diamond buyers – Today, there are many online diamond buyers to whom you can sell your ring. These are better options than pawn shops and consignment stores because their offers will be higher. However, they only provide you with one offer and do not require any third-party evaluation of your diamond for guidance on their offer. 
• Luxury Auction Platforms – The benefit of an auction platform is that you receive multiple offers from which to choose. Worthy, for example, works directly with the seller to set up an auction listing which is published on their auction platform and seen by hundreds of professional, vetted, diamond buyers to get you the most money for your wedding ring. Sellers stay in control of the auction, setting a minimum sell price before the auction begins. Worthy offers secure shipping to keep your wedding ring safe during transit from you to their offices and they take care of much of the legwork of selling a diamond, such as cleaning and grading (which can also be costly). 

Sell My Ring

How Much Can You Get for Selling a Wedding Ring?

There is one more piece to the puzzle of getting the most money for your wedding ring and that is understanding the diamond resale market. Think back to when the ring was purchased: the price you paid for your ring at the jeweler consisted of a few different costs:

• The value of your ring as determined by the 4Cs
• The costs of mining and cutting the diamond
• The costs of manufacturing a piece of jewelry – the metal for the ring, any side stones, plus the labor costs
• The costs of the jeweler – costs for operating the business and their profit margin. 

When selling a ring, the buyer needs to consider all these costs again when they decide how much they can offer for your ring. Their offer will mostly be based on the 4Cs and subtract any costs associated with them being able to resell your ring, such as re-cutting, re-polishing, and/or re-setting your ring. 

So how do you get the best value for your ring? By knowing the value of your ring based on the 4Cs, finding a buyer who will give you the best offer, and keeping in mind that you are unlikely to receive what you paid for your wedding ring originally, you are all set to get a great deal on your ring. The experts at Worthy have been helping sellers sell their rings for more for over a decade. Have a look at our recent deals to see recently sold rings and get an idea of how much your ring could sell for.