A GOLDEN opportunity to beat the recession, boasts the website. Gold parties, a craze that has been sweeping America for the last year, has arrived in Ireland.

The concept is simple. Instead of holding parties where agents flog Tupperware or make-up, guests flog their unwanted gold in a discrete, relaxed environment.

With gold prices at an all time high, it's a good time to think about trading scrap pieces of jewellery for hard cash.

Deirdre Hoare, a 49-year-old mother of two from Galway, attended one of the first Irish parties run by Goldparty.ie (www.goldparty.ie).

The Galway-based company was set up by Richard Walsh and his daughter Laura. It is modelled on several companies operating in America.

A friend of the family, Ms Hoare was intrigued by the idea of selling some small pieces of jewellery she no longer wore.

"I mostly wear costume jewellery now," she says. "Gold has gone out of fashion. I had an old bracelet and two or three rings, one of which was just a base really -- it was missing the stone. Also a few odd earrings."

She attended the party at a friend's house. After a few drinks and nibbles, each guest went upstairs to talk to 24-year-old Laura Walsh, the agent for the night.

A graduate of business studies, Ms Walsh weighs each item, tests it to see what percentage gold it contains and gives a price. In Ms Hoare's case, she was told the scrap jewellery she brought along was worth €280. She sold on the night and was delighted to pocket the cash.

"I didn't really think it was worth that much. I'd hear every so often that the price of gold has gone up and I've thought about seeing how much it was worth before. I just never had the time to do anything about it," she says.

The price of gold has rocketed in recent times and is now trading at about €660 an ounce for pure 24-carat gold.

But is this the kind of price that's being offered at gold parties or indeed jewellers who are prepared to buy scrap gold? Before selling, it's a good idea to do a few simple calculations.

The first step in figuring out how much your old gold is worth is to check the latest gold price since it varies day to day.

There are a number of websites which quote the price in euro, including http://goldprice.org.

Generally, the price for pure melted gold should be reduced by 10pc to cover the cost of melting and any losses that result. So if the gold is trading at €660 per ounce, scrap gold would be worth about €594 per ounce.

The next step is to convert the price per ounce into the price per gram, since this is the common measurement used for scrap gold bought at retail level.

To do this, divide the price per ounce by 31.11. For example, if the price per ounce is €594 then the price per gram is €19 using this conversion. Bear in mind this price is for pure 24-carat gold.

Jewellery produced in Ireland or the UK will carry a hallmark which will indicate the quality of the gold used.

Pure 24-carat gold is given a value of 1. A piece hallmarked .375 is 9-carat, or if it's marked .750 it's 18-carat.

Jewellery produced in Europe will also carry a hallmark which will indicate quality. Bear in mind most European countries do not produce 9-carat gold jewellery, most will be of 18-carat quality.

To calculate the price for 18-carat gold, simple multiply the price for 24-carat by .75. So if the price for pure gold is €19, then the price for 18-carat is €14.32.

To calculate the price for 9-carat, multiply the pure gold price by .375. In this example, the price for 9-carat is €7.12.

Most jewellers who buy gold are prepared to give a rough price at the outset. It's worth making a few phonecalls once you've completed your calculations to see what jewellers are offering.

Most will quote in price per gram of 9-carat gold. Don't be surprised if the quotes vary and are two or three euro below what you have calculated.

At the time of writing goldparties.ie was offering €5.75 per gram of 9-carat gold. It's worth remembering that the goldparty.ie business model means that 15pc of this price goes in commission -- 5pc to the agent and 10pc to the party host.

While it may be possible to get a better price from a jeweller, there is a snag. Most jewellers are very reluctant to buy from people they don't know since they don't know the origin of the gold. It might have been stolen for example.

Even at goldparty.ie, Richard Walsh is keen to establish links with the police to ensure that his company isn't drawn in to buying stolen items. "I suppose we have an advantage in that we're hold parties with people who know each other but it's something we are aware of."

Just a few weeks after launch, business is booming. The company has started making private calls. According to Laura Walsh, who handles most of the buying, the top sales have been over €1,000. "Most people are astounded about what these scraps are worth," she says.