to polish or not to polish?

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darkangel07760

darkangel07760

O.G.
Mar 27, 2009
7,248
2,663
#1
I am currently looking into selling a piece of jewelry on an online consignment shop. I have worn it a bit, and it looks worn. I went to the jewelry shop that I bought it from, and they quoted me $200 to polish out the scratches. Since it is a designer piece, do I have to get it polished at the shop I bought it from or can I go to any jeweler to get it polished? I feel that if I were to get my jewelry polished I would get a better price for it, but $200 seems like a lot.
Any thoughts?
 
#2
darkangel07760 said:
I am currently looking into selling a piece of jewelry on an online consignment shop. I have worn it a bit, and it looks worn. I went to the jewelry shop that I bought it from, and they quoted me $200 to polish out the scratches. Since it is a designer piece, do I have to get it polished at the shop I bought it from or can I go to any jeweler to get it polished? I feel that if I were to get my jewelry polished I would get a better price for it, but $200 seems like a lot.
Any thoughts?
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it depends: if its a several thousand dollar item maybe but if something more modest maybe not. 200 seems a lot but i would have to know what it is to say for sure
 
#4
Hermesaholic said:
it depends: if its a several thousand dollar item maybe but if something more modest maybe not. 200 seems a lot but i would have to know what it is to say for sure
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It is only valued at around $1100 brand new, if that helps.

beachy10 said:
$200 seems overpriced to me. I'd check around.
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That's what I thought. I am going to look around on my next day off, see what I can find out. How much would be reasonable? It is gold only, no stones.
 
#5
What jewelry item is it? I pay between $30-50 to polish a ring, a little more for bracelets. $200 seems overpriced. Maybe they do more than just polish though? Maybe they plate it as well? And I find that some places that have to send it out to get the work done is usually more expensive. Maybe try to find a store that has an in-house jeweller that can do this for you. And try to find independent ones, not the bigger retail stores.
 
#6
ya 200 is ridiculous, most shops should charge you between 30-50 dollars to polish a piece.
business is probably slow for them and are having to jack up their service prices....
 
#7
Any reputable jeweler should be able to polish that for you for much less. Even if it's white gold and needs to be re-dipped, that usually only costs about $10-$20 for a ring (so maybe $50-ish for a bracelet). FWIW, I've had Tiffany silver polished at a local jeweler, and it came back looking like new.
 
#8
I had an 18k gold ring that had somehow turned a funny coppery color. I brought it to the jeweler who resizes my rings, and he polished it for free! It looked like a brand new ring.
 
#9
Way off base, especially if you bought the piece from them. My jeweler polishes everything for me for FREE...even re-dipped my WG tennis bracelet. No charge. Polishing doesn't take that much time and effort.
 
#10
have to agree with the other posters, that is way too much to pay for a polishing. if its an item that can simply be put to the buffing wheel, then typically that is done as a courtesy. if it is an item that would require a jeweler to use a hand tool, then i would expect a bit of a charge, maybe $30-50 tops.
 
#11
jtc103 said:
What jewelry item is it? I pay between $30-50 to polish a ring, a little more for bracelets. $200 seems overpriced. Maybe they do more than just polish though? Maybe they plate it as well? And I find that some places that have to send it out to get the work done is usually more expensive. Maybe try to find a store that has an in-house jeweller that can do this for you. And try to find independent ones, not the bigger retail stores.
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It is a Cartier Trinity ring, and I had asked at the Cartier boutique.

Candice0985 said:
ya 200 is ridiculous, most shops should charge you between 30-50 dollars to polish a piece.
business is probably slow for them and are having to jack up their service prices....
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Yea, I thought it was quite high too!

girliceclimber said:
Any reputable jeweler should be able to polish that for you for much less. Even if it's white gold and needs to be re-dipped, that usually only costs about $10-$20 for a ring (so maybe $50-ish for a bracelet). FWIW, I've had Tiffany silver polished at a local jeweler, and it came back looking like new.
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Hmm. I am going to look into a local jeweler for that.

laurineg1 said:
I had an 18k gold ring that had somehow turned a funny coppery color. I brought it to the jeweler who resizes my rings, and he polished it for free! It looked like a brand new ring.
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That was nice of him! I don't have a favorite local jewelr around here, sadly. I need to start looking for one.

skyqueen said:
Way off base, especially if you bought the piece from them. My jeweler polishes everything for me for FREE...even re-dipped my WG tennis bracelet. No charge. Polishing doesn't take that much time and effort.
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I totally agree.

Bagaday said:
have to agree with the other posters, that is way too much to pay for a polishing. if its an item that can simply be put to the buffing wheel, then typically that is done as a courtesy. if it is an item that would require a jeweler to use a hand tool, then i would expect a bit of a charge, maybe $30-50 tops.
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I know. I wonder if maybe the woman was just being difficult, who knows?
 
#12
Don't know why I seemed to think it was a bracelet in my original response..
But now that I know it's a Trinity ring, maybe it costs more to polish because it's like polishing 3 rings? So if you count $50 per ring, then $50x3 = $150? I dunno, still seems a bit high so I'd check a local jeweler. But since it's a rolling ring then you might be looking at a bit more. But still not in the hundreds of dollars range, IMO.
 
#13
girliceclimber said:
Don't know why I seemed to think it was a bracelet in my original response..
But now that I know it's a Trinity ring, maybe it costs more to polish because it's like polishing 3 rings? So if you count $50 per ring, then $50x3 = $150? I dunno, still seems a bit high so I'd check a local jeweler. But since it's a rolling ring then you might be looking at a bit more. But still not in the hundreds of dollars range, IMO.
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I agree.
 
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