Sell silver in NYC: the city’s rules, the boroughs and 47th Street

Where Can I Sell Silver is an independent referral service, not a buyer, pawnshop or dealer. When you call or send the form, your details go to an independent buyer in New York who makes any offer.

Who may buy silver in New York City

The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) licenses businesses that buy and sell used goods. A business that buys or sells used goods in the city, other than cars, must hold a DCWP Secondhand Dealer General license (NYC Admin. Code 20-265). Garage sales, not-for-profits, certain kinds of goods, and businesses that buy or sell exclusively online are exempt.

Lending money on pledged goods is a different business that needs a separate DCWP Pawnbroker license. If you want to sell your silver rather than borrow against it, make sure the business is buying, and that the figure you are given is a price, not a loan.

What a licensed buyer must do when you sell

The rule	What it means for you	Source
License and complaint sign posted	You can see the license where customers stand	6 RCNY 1-03(a)
License number on receipts, cards and ads	Your receipt shows who you sold to	6 RCNY 1-05
A scale, and the troy weight told to you	You hear the weight of your metal	6 RCNY 3-81
Scale approved by NY State Agriculture and Markets, 0.01 troy oz or finer, Class II or III	The weight is read on an approved instrument	1 NYCRR 220.1(a)
Seller shows ID and signs in front of the dealer	Bring official ID; a copy is not enough	6 RCNY 2-101
Every purchase recorded, kept 3 years	The sale is on record: items, marks, your name and address, date and time	Admin. Code 20-273(a)
Electronic records with photos of each precious metal item, kept 6 years	Your items are photographed and logged	20-273(b)
No buying from minors	The seller must not be a minor	20-268(b)
No reselling used items within 15 days	Items, jewelry included, are held after purchase	20-268(d)

Records are open to DCWP inspectors and the NYPD (20-273(e)). That can sound off-putting, but it also means there is a record of your sale: what was sold, when, and to whom.

What ID to bring

Under 6 RCNY 2-101, acceptable ID is an official document issued by a US, state, county or city government, a public agency or an employer, that carries your signature; or a numbered police, fire or postal badge. You sign in front of the dealer, who records the ID’s type and number. A photocopy of an ID is not enough.

How to check a buyer in the city

• Look for the DCWP license posted where customers can see it.
• Check that the license number is printed on the receipt.
• Ask to see the scale reading and the troy weight of your metal.
• Ask for the offer in writing, with the weight and fineness it rests on.
• Make sure you are selling, not pawning.

The Diamond District on 47th Street

Manhattan’s Diamond District is in midtown, on 47th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas). The 47th Street Business Improvement District describes it as the place with the largest concentration of diamond and jewelry related companies and retailers. The same city rules apply to a licensed buyer anywhere in the five boroughs.

According to the BID, the district began around 1790 on Maiden Lane in lower Manhattan. Jewelers moved to Canal Street and the Bowery in the 1920s; in 1923 real estate broker Fenimore Goode began building for the diamond trade on West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth; and the move uptown grew in the 1940s, when European Jewish refugees, among them diamond merchants and artisans, opened businesses there.

Getting there, as the BID gives it: the B, D, F or M train to 47-50 Streets Rockefeller Center; the 6 to 51st Street; the 1 to 50th Street; or the N, Q or R to 49th Street. Buses M1 to M5 run on Fifth and Madison, the M50 on 49th and 50th Streets and the M7 on Broadway. Hours vary from business to business, so call before you go.

Selling silver across the five boroughs

You do not have to travel to midtown to sell silver. A licensed buyer in any borough works under the same DCWP rules. What changes is the kind of buyer you find nearby, and that should follow what you are selling, not just the distance.

• Manhattan: the Diamond District’s concentration of jewelry businesses, plus buyers across the borough.
• Brooklyn: call first and describe what you have, so you know whether a trip is worth it and to whom.
• Queens: the same city rules apply at every licensed counter: ID, an approved scale, a recorded sale.
• The Bronx: ask to see the DCWP license before you hand anything over.
• Staten Island: weigh and sort at home first, then decide whether a trip into Manhattan makes sense for what you have.

Sell silver near me: what the map shows and what it does not

Searching for silver buyers near you shows the closest shops on a map. That tells you who is nearby, not who suits your silver. A bullion dealer may be the right place for a stack of bars and the wrong one for a box of sterling flatware; a jeweler may value a signed bracelet but not a 100-ounce bar. The silver buyers page explains which kind of buyer suits which silver. A phone call describing what you have saves a wasted trip.

Before you go: a New York checklist

1. Sort your silver by kind and read the marks. See sterling silver hallmarks.
2. Weigh each group in grams and work out a rough silver melt value.
3. Keep collectible coins and signed pieces apart.
4. Call first and ask how the buyer prices what you have, and how payment works.
5. Bring official ID with your signature on it.
6. Check the posted license, watch the weighing and ask for the troy weight.
7. Get the offer in writing and keep the receipt with the license number on it.

On taxes, some larger sales of certain bullion coins and bars may be reported by the dealer to the IRS on Form 1099-B; most small sales of jewelry, sterling and single coins are not. A profit on collectibles may be taxed at a maximum federal rate of 28% (IRS Topic 409). Ask a tax professional. This site does not state New York State rules for buyers outside the city.

For the whole selling process, read sell silver. For tableware, read sell sterling silver.

Questions people ask