Selling Fine Jewelry on The RealReal

Back in May, I wrote an article about my attempts to sell jewelry which I no longer wanted. (Click here if you missed that post.) I thought I’d give you an update to let you know how it all went. I did manage to sell quite a bit of my costume jewelry on Threadflip, but that site is sadly no longer in business. (Do any of you have a lead on where to sell costume jewelry?)  The RealReal, on the other hand, is going strong and I had a 100% success rate! Every single piece I gave them sold — both jewelry and clothing/accessories. I’m SO impressed!

In the envelope with my most recent commission check from them, there was this insert:

the realreal
I checked it out, and there’s currently offices in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Chicago (San Francisco coming soon) where you can make an appointment to bring in your items for a free appraisal with no obligation to consign. Pretty cool, right?!

Granted, you don’t have to utilize one of their offices for an appraisal. I live in a city where a team member picked up all my merchandise I wanted to sell. The jewelry was appraised by them, though I did give them a list with the original purchase prices (not that this is necessary — I just keep detailed records). I knew my name brand pieces (Tiffany & Co. and David Yurman) were a sure thing, but I wasn’t confident about my non-branded items. I sold jewlery such as a pair of 18K gold hoops with diamonds, a white gold chain with a circular diamond pendant, and an 18K chalcedony pendant. Everything was swooped up. I was overjoyed!

They have a list on their website of accepted brands for jewlery and watches, but you can see they also accepted some high-end, non-branded jewlery. I did have one ring I submitted which was not accepted due to the poor quality of the diamonds. I promptly had it returned, with no issues.

The RealReal is not paying me a dime to write about this, but I thought it was worth sharing the information. I will definitely utilize them again when I want to sell. Please let me know your experience with the site if you’ve used it, either as a seller or a buyer. And perhaps this post will motivate you to clean out your jewlery box! No sense in keeping items when you can get money to buy something you love.

16 thoughts on “Selling Fine Jewelry on The RealReal”

  1. Have been using RealReal for over a year, and it is great! Since I live in SF, I go to their warehouse and drop off with my representative; of course I made an appointment first. Have been very happy with the results also!

  2. Amy,

    This is fabulous resource!! Thank you for doing all of the “detective” work! I will definitely consider using them.

  3. I woke up with this.
    I have a jewelry collection too, and I inventory it. My heirs will need it to tell which pieces are valuable, etc. It’s a big word doc.
    You should to do a post on how yours looks, etc.
    There is a market to develop an app for such an inventory. Perhaps there is one already. (I don’t know, because I am not ‘into’; the world of apps.)
    Do you know if there are other blogs concerned with jewelry the way yours is? I enjoy it very much.

    1. That’s great that you’re getting organized for your heirs, Sugar. I’m not aware of any app that helps with this, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one out there. As for other jewelry blogs, there are many out there, such as GemGossip, Diamonds in the Library and iDazzle, just to name a few.

  4. Sugar, it’s easy to do a listing in Excel. If you don’t know how to use it, perhaps your local library or college offers a class, or you could advertise on Craig’s List that you need some help getting a template set up.

    Yes Amy, I do know a great place to sell jewelry, but it takes work if you’re going do it yourself. I’ve been selling on Ruby Lane for five years and am thrilled. Each year my sales have improved, and this year they are going through the roof. I sell both fine and costume. You can take a look at my shop, and if you have any questions I’ll try to help.

    BANGLES and BEADS Antique and Vintage Jewelry

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