Your piece is weighed in front of you on a 0.01g jeweler's scale. Kitchen scales drift; ours is checked against calibration weights.
The counter that shows you the math before the offer.
Buy Sell Gold San Diego is the online estimate and education desk for our counter — San Diego Jewelry & Loan, inside the San Diego Jewelers Exchange in the Gaslamp Quarter. We've been buying gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, fine watches, and estate jewelry since 1992, and we built this site on one idea: you should know what your gold is worth before you sell it, no matter where you sell it.
What the estimate includes
Current market price used for gold, silver, or platinum.
Estimated melt value based on weight and purity.
Realistic offer range with weak, general, strong, and sell-it-now bands.
Simple next steps if you want the item verified in person.
How we make an offer
Four numbers, in order, in front of you.
Every offer at our counter is built from the same four numbers — and every one of them is verifiable. If any shop won't show you these four, you're not at the right shop.
Stamps can be worn, wrong, or fake, so we confirm purity with an acid or XRF test while you watch. If your piece tests higher than its stamp, you get paid for the higher purity.
We run the math against the live spot price — the same public number you can check on your phone. No house number, no yesterday's price.
Weight, purity, spot price, and the percentage of melt the offer represents — explained in front of you before we name a number. Ask about any of them and we'll show you exactly where it comes from.
Credentials
Licensed, established, and easy to find.
A California-licensed precious metals buyer. ID is required for every transaction — that protects sellers and keeps stolen goods out of the market.
Three decades at the same trade, inside the historic San Diego Jewelers Exchange at 861 Sixth Avenue, Suite 110, San Diego.
Not a mail-in service, not a pop-up hotel event. Walk-ins welcome Mon–Fri 10am–4pm and Sat 10am–3pm — and you can walk out with cash or just the written numbers.
Family-run · Gaslamp Quarter since 1992
A San Diego counter where the math is on the table before the offer.
We're a family-run counter in the Gaslamp Quarter, buying gold jewelry, silver coins, platinum, diamonds, and more since 1992. Cash on the spot, no appointment needed, and no obligation — the written numbers are yours whether you sell or not.
Buying and selling gold in the Gaslamp Quarter since 1992.
Walk-ins, regulars, and word-of-mouth referrals from across San Diego county.
Real volume means real spot-price hedging — and real offers we can stand behind.
We show you every number behind the offer before we name it. Sell, shop it around, or sleep on it — no pressure either way.
Meet the people behind the counter — and see exactly how offers are made →
Meet the counter
Real people, same counter, three decades.
The same family has run this counter since 1992. When you walk in, you're talking to the people who make the offer — not a clerk reading from a screen. Come by, watch how we work, and decide for yourself.
What sellers tell us
What sellers tell us at the counter.
No script, no cherry-picked superlatives — this is the feedback we hear most, in sellers' own words.
I brought in my mom's jewelry box not knowing what was real. They sorted everything on the counter, showed me the math on paper, and paid more than the mail-in quote I'd gotten.
Sold a small stack of gold coins. He pulled up the spot price in front of me and told me exactly what percentage he pays. Five minutes, done, cash.
After my husband passed I had to deal with his watch and my rings. They were patient, explained everything twice, and never rushed me. I sold some pieces and kept others — they were fine either way.
Broken chains and single earrings I figured were junk. They weighed and tested everything while I watched, and the offer matched what the website calculator told me at home.
FAQ
Questions people ask about us
Is Buy Sell Gold San Diego a licensed buyer?
Yes. Visits go to San Diego Jewelry & Loan, a family-run, California State Licensed precious metals buyer inside the San Diego Jewelers Exchange at 861 Sixth Avenue, Suite 110, in the Gaslamp Quarter.
Am I obligated to sell if I get an offer?
No. Every evaluation is free and no-obligation. We walk you through the four numbers behind the offer before we name it, and you're free to shop that offer around first — no pressure either way.
How does the shop make money?
On the margin between what we pay and what the metal brings at resale or refining, minus testing, overhead, market risk, and hedging costs. That's why offers are a percentage of melt value rather than 100% — and why we show you the percentage instead of hiding it.
Why did you build a free calculator and guide library?
Because an informed seller is our best customer. If you walk in already knowing your weight, purity, and today's spot price, the conversation starts at the math — and shops that depend on sellers not knowing the math lose that game.
Next step
Come see how the counter works.
No appointment needed. San Diego Jewelers Exchange · 861 Sixth Avenue, Suite 110 · San Diego. Mention this site for our best rate.
Family-run since 1992Cash on the spotGaslamp QuarterMention site for preferred rate
Disclosure: Online estimates are for informational purposes only and are not a final purchase offer. Offer ranges are educational examples based on industry experience. Final payout depends on verified weight, professional testing, item inspection, market price review, buyer costs, and compliance with applicable laws.