?Selling gold and jewellery at auction is the best way to protect your investment? says Thomas Plant (BBC Bargain Hunt and Flog It ? and jewellery specialist at Special Auction Services).

His comments come in the wake of the Which? Magazine special report on converting jewellery into cash.

Which? bought and identical sets of gold and jewellery and sent them to a number of companies that are offering cash for gold.

The lowest offer received was just 6% of the retail purchase price.  This ranged up to 40% for the cash conversions companies that are advertising so heavily on TV and in the media right now.  Pawn shops offered a better deal, in some cases going up to 60% of the value.

In a radio interview on BBC Radio 5 Live on 20 January 2010, the Managing Director of Cash 4 Gold used the an analogy of buying a car: ?If you buy a car for ?20,000 and sell it 6 months later to a dealer, you may get ?15,000.  If you sell it to a scrap dealer, you will get a couple of thousand because it?s just so much metal to him.?

Thomas recommends auctions to protect the value of your property.  ?Auctions run under a strict legal and regulatory code.  Open bidding guarantees that you will never get less than the market value.  The commission you pay is known and fixed ? at SAS, it is currently 15% to sell items.?

He explains that: ?Commission covers all the running costs and publicity for your item - to ensure we attract the right buyers ? and you can choose to put a reserve on any item.?

Selling at auction is safe and guaranteed way of converting items into cash.  Specialist Auction Services holds 4 ?Gold and Jewellery? sales per year so it?s not instant ? but could bring up to 10 times the price compared to some other in the Which? Report.

Selling at auction is easy.  You can even post items for valuation.  Better yet, call in to SAS ? we have valuation ?open? days every Wednesday, and with an appointment at all other times.

For more information call 0118 971 2949 and speak to Thomas Plant