We’ve all seen late night television ads for services that promise to turn you unwanted gold jewelry and turn it into cash. Some of us have even been invited to “gold parties” where we can bring our gold and trade them in for cash, but attending gold parties and using mail-in services the best way to get money out of your unloved gold?

Consumer Reports’ Money Adviser recently weighed in with some tips and pointers to help you get the most money for you unwanted gold. Money Adviser says that the TV buyers of gold are a “joke”, and will never pay you close to full retail price because they have to pay for all of the advertising that they’re buying and then make a profit after that.

The reality is that most of these ads in the newspaper and on television that promise to pay you top dollar for gold will only pay you about 20% of the daily market for the value of the gold! Ouch!

Fortunately, there’s a reasonably easy way to determine what the real value of the gold is in your jewelry. First, start by determining the carat of the gold, which is typically stamped directly on the gold. Then, use a kitchen scale to determine the weight of the jewelry. Once you know the carat of the gold and the weight, you can use an online calculator which will convert determine what the gold you have would be worth at the most current market value.

Money Adviser suggests that buyers go to jewelry stores and pawnshops are a better way to go, but warns against going to any dealers that will refuse to tell you how much they’re paying for the gold. Often times, if they aren’t up front about what they’re paying, they are hoping to lure you in for a low-ball offer.

Finally, Money Adviser reminds us that jewelry’s greatest value is for the design and its sentimental value, not the value of the gold contained in it.