In an unfriendly economy consumers are seeking money saving and debt reducing solutions to aid their struggling budgets, and many are seeking extra sources of income to assist in their debt management. While the obvious way to stretch your budget is to revamp your debt management habits and reduce your debt to income ratio, many people are still in need of additional income to meet their debt obligations.

Typically people will try to find a second job to supplement their income in order to better handle their debt management or save money for an upcoming expected expense, unfortunately today it is more likely just to keep food on the table and pay their monthly debt (bills) obligations.

One of the more recent types of second income jobs that are growing in popularity is hosting gold parties, and it is not just the host seeking to make extra money, but the attendees who are selling their jewelry.

Many people are just much more comfortable with the process of selling their jewelry in a friendly atmosphere such as at a friend’s home, as opposed to a pawn shop or the various companies advertising to buy your gold.

While this may be a popular means of selling your gold, it may not be the safest as to assuring that you receive a fair price for your gold items. Consumer advocates say to beware of these gold parties because many states do not require a license for people in the gold bullion exchange industry. So, if you’re looking for some extra cash here are some tips for selling your gold:
1. Know the value and karat of your gold piece before selling at a gold party, have a jewelry store appraise it or go to www.goldprice.org.
2. Decide if selling an object is really a good value, some jewelry is worth much more than its weight in gold for artistic or sentimental reasons.
3. Be sure to understand the scale in which gold is measured by, it should be in troy ounces, be wary of any dealer who tries to buy your gold at pennyweight and pay you in grams.
4. Remember that no one is in business for free and the buyer has operating costs (including a commission to the host) just as any pawn shop or authorized gold dealer, it is not unusual to only receive half of what your gold is actually worth at a gold party.