Divide the offer by the melt value of your gold. That percentage lets you compare any two buyers, whatever they quote per gram or per item.
Work out the melt value first
The melt value (also called spot value) is what the pure gold in your items is worth at today’s price. You need two things:
- The weight of each item, ideally in grams.
- The purity, from the stamp (585 = 14K, 750 = 18K and so on).
Enter both into the calculator and it adds up the total spot value for you.
Turn the offer into a percentage
Take the buyer’s offer and divide it by the total spot value. For example, an offer of $450 on gold with a melt value of $750 is 60% of spot.
The offer checker next to the calculator does this for you and rates the offer as low, typical or good.
Why the percentage matters
Buyers quote in different ways: a price per gram, a price per pennyweight, or one number for the whole lot. Those are hard to compare. The percentage of spot puts every quote on the same scale.
Watch for these
- Weighing in a back room. Ask to see the scale and the weight.
- Lumping karats together. If your 18K is weighed with your 10K, you may be paid the 10K rate for all of it.
- Rounding down. Weights should be shown to at least a tenth of a gram.
- Pressure to decide now. A fair offer will still be fair tomorrow, apart from normal price moves.
Compare at least two quotes
Get quotes from at least two different kinds of buyers. Save each one with the calculator’s share link so you can compare them side by side.