Everywhere you turn, there are adverts urging you to sell your gold, and selling old gold coins or jewelry can be a great way to add a few dollars to your pocket. However, you want to ensure you get the best price. Here are three tips to help you maximize your gold selling efforts:

1. Sell as much as possible

Keep in mind that when you sell gold, it takes the buyer time to look through your stash and deal with the logistics of setting up an appointment and cutting you a check. The buyer likely spends as much time with you if you have a small bundle of gold or a large bundle.

Because of this time investment, many buyers charge a surcharge for each transaction—this isn't an amount you have to pay but an amount that is subtracted from the purchase price. To reduce the effect this has on your total sale, sell as much gold as possible.

If you don't have enough of your own gold to sell, talk to friends or neighbors and sell all of your gold together.

2. Always comparison shop

There are all kinds of ways to sell gold. You can take it to a jeweler (or a shop like Wimpey's Pawn Shop) or mail it in to a company that specializes in gold buying. In other cases, you may sell gold at special gold buying events held at large hotels or conference centers. There are also gold buying parties that are similar to multi-level marketing parties where you buy tupperware or makeup with friends.

Before selling your gold, make sure to collect a few bids from a few different people. If you are going to an event or a party, keep in mind that you may encounter high pressure tactics. These buyers may tell you that if you don't sell the gold now at the price they are offering, you won't get the chance tomorrow because the event or party will be over.

So that you don't get caught up in those tactics, make sure that you are armed with prices and quotes from local gold buyers and a few mail companies.

3. Take valuable coins and artistic jewelry out of your gold stash

When you sell gold, you are selling it for the value of the metal. It is going to be melted down and made into something else. That's great if you have old, defaced coins or ugly jewelry. However, if you have coins or jewelry that have value beyond just their metal, you don't want to sell those items to a gold buyer.

Instead, you want to separate them from your stash and sell them to an coin collector or a jewelry collector who is willing to pay for their rarity or beauty rather than just their metal.