by Hope
I mentioned a week or so ago, that one of the ways I was trying to come up with some cash to catch up on bills was selling my diamond jewelry from my ex-husband. I got a lot of flack for my ignorance about it’s value. In all, honesty, I had no clue what to expect. I didn’t think it would go up in value, but I didn’t think it would be essentially worthless.
The local pawn shop offered for $120 and the local jewelry store only buys jewelry based on it’s gold weight. (I don’t know if it all being white gold mattered.)
Well, rather than just give up as I have in the past, I determined that it was time to let it go and sell it.
Enter Facebook Marketplace.
Just List It
I figured with the holiday season upon us, I might could sell it. So I listed all but one of the sets on Facebook Marketplace along with some, admittedly pretty bad pictures. Evidently, my prices were too high. All I got were the spam responses offering me above asking, etc. We all hear the horror stories.
I simply responded Cash Only and never heard from them again.
Several days later, I lowered the prices significantly. I was just ready for it to all be gone.
Lower Prices
As soon as I lowered the prices, the offers on the engagement ring began rolling in. And if I hadn’t accepted an offer pretty quickly for $350, I would have gotten more. But I honored the first deal and the woman showed up as we agreed and brought cash. Utility disconnect averted!
The other items are still listed for what I consider reasonable prices. They are all white gold with real diamonds. (The jeweler and pawn shop did confirm this. And I have the receipts from when it was purchased.)
I’m just going to let them right for the next couple of weeks and see if I get any bites.
Personal Note
I held onto this jewelry with the thought that Gymnast or Princess would inherit it someday. But after asking them, they were both adamantly opposed to wanting anything from their dad. There is one set I’m keeping for a particular reason for them, but these pieces are all just reminders of his violence toward me.
I thought I would feel relief, maybe even joy once the engagement ring sold. But I pulled back up to the house and just sobbed. Overwhelmed, by deep sadness which shook me. I called my best friend because the emotion confused me. And what she said made sense…I wasn’t grieving him or the end of the marriage (over 16 years ago,) but rather the loss of that dream of happily ever after the ring had represented.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
You took news that was hard to hear from the pawn shop/jewelery store, and turned it to work in your favor. I am not surprised your children didn’t want it. It has been my experience that I don’t have much if any sentimental attachment to most of my parents stuff… and my boys don’t want our stuff.
I’m glad you were able to stop a shut-off.
Thank you. I agree with that…the kids don’t seem to have much if any sentimental attachment to anything. But I do worry if that will change down the road. I know it did for me.
Amazing you were able to turn it around. But yeah, I can see why your kids have no attachment to stuff from your marriage. Maybe if it was from your parents, they would want it but it doesn’t sound like their dad has shown them that there is a reason to be sentimental about the jewelry.