Selling engagement and wedding rings

[Flybbergybe]

My divorce is just about to be settled and I would like to try and sell my engagement and wedding rings. They're not worth a fortune (bought for approx. £1000 and £300 respectively). The engagement ring was made by a small independent jewellery workshop in the town where my exH now lives, so going back there isn't an option.

My local v. posh jewellers isn't interested as they only buy vintage, so I'm wondering where else I could try? Thanks MN!

ebay

Probably not the news you want to hear - but don’t think they are worth selling. If retail is only 1300 for both - they are probably only worth metal value. You could go to your local pawnbrokers that buys silver or gold - but wouldn’t expect more than a 150 quid.

People really should get engaged and married through the medium of collectible watches - a nice Rolex or Patek.

Rings, they'll be worth very little. I've hung on to mine in case my adult kids ever want them for some reason or other, but the rings have the value of reasonably good costume jewelry.

As for selling, the usual online sites apply - Ebay, Vinted, Facebook Marketplace, NextDoor, etc.

@JanuaryCrow
@stbeaker
@DecayingRelic Thanks. Hadn't realised you could sell jewellery on Vinted or Ebay so will give those a try! I didn't think I'd be able to get much for them to be honest. Shame, as I really liked the engagement ring but can't look at it now...

Be careful how you post them if you sell online, some services don’t insure against jewellery going astray.

I’d get them made into something else. Are they gold? Any stones?

Do you have children who would incorporate the stone into their own rings?

Do you think most young couples about to get married can afford a Patek?

What about just keeping the diamonds/jewels and having them re set into something else?

Ikr!!!

Just googled the cost, our wedding, honeymoon and house deposit came to less than half of that!

After my divorce, I sold my rings too. The wedding ring was to a high street jewellers that bought precious metals. Was white gold. Think I got about £150 for it.
But as the engagement ring had stones, they wouldn't take it. So went with a reputable online firm which was "tv show recommended". A really good service. Got over £100 for the wedding ring.
Obviously both cost far more when bought new. But I had to sell them as I was skint and really needed the money to start again (again).

I was offered £60 for my diamond-set wedding ring that had cost 10x that just 5 years before.

Sorry to say you probably won't get much back. Have you thought about remodeling them into a piece of jewellery you might wear more often?

Some of the advice on here is painfully insensitive at times.

Obviously if you need/want the money then try to sell them somehow. It's probably what I would do!
But if you're feeling generous, I wonder if you have a clothing bank or local charity that might take them? It would be a wonderful gift for someone who can't afford them. Ask a local church maybe? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Unless you have DC who might like them when they’re older, I think I’d sell the wedding ring for whatever scrap metal value you can get for it, and put the engagement ring right at the bottom of a jewellery box until all the hurt and pain has gone, and it becomes just a ring. Then either wear it on a different finger or have it made into a different piece.

And some posters wouldn’t recognise a joke if it bit them on the arse.

It didn’t appear to be a joke

It was humour, yes.

Oh. Good one.

You could sell them through an auction house. Personally I'd be a bit worried about selling jewellery on Ebay - too much risk of getting a dodgy buyer for my liking.

Mea culpa. Genuinely.

The point remains though - why join the engagement ring 'scam' when you could exchange something else that will actually increase in value not decrease the minute you walk out the door of the jeweller's?

That could be a different type of ring altogether, or a watch, or any other more ethical jewellery that will hold its value.

I don't like seeing MNers being disappointed about how little their rings are worth when they come to sell and could do with the money.

Sorry, OP. Didn't mean to derail your thread.

There are some good Ebay threads/online selling thteads on MN. I did a fair bit of selling on Ebay many years ago thanks to these, and received some great advice. Make sure you understand all the current protections and scams if you do.

Or, like I and pp have suggested, hang on to them and think again in a few (or many) years.

Best of luck with it all

Because most people think the ring will be for life. Not many people go into marriage - thinking it will end in divorce.

You need a jeweller who will buy the gold if they are gold but you probably won't get much. I sold my engagement ring on eBay years ago and only got £50. My DMs engagement ring went for the gold alone and I only got £40.