With the volatile markets and growth of designer jewelry purchases over the last 5 years, there has been an increase in the availability or pre-owned jewelry on the market. Also known as estate, pre-owned, used and refurbished, there are hundreds of stores out there as well as online that buy, promote and sell the items. However, whether to buy it or not is a totally different question.

The biggest advantage of buying used jewelry over brand new pieces is the price. Pre-owned jewelry has to be cheaper than its brand new counterparts often between 30-50%. And considering that worn jewelry shows very little signs, a great piece can be a great steal.

But this doesn’t mean that used jewelry is completely brand new either. Prongs may have widened and clasps may have loosened. So if you do find a piece that you love, make sure that the fix all the tiny glitches before you pay up.

A lot of pre-owned jewelry will come unverified. Silver may be passed off as gold and zircon as diamonds. So be very, very careful when making these purchases and ask for appraisals or try to stick to reputed and trusted sources such as TrueFacet.com