How to sell gold and get a fair price

Key points

• Melt value is weight in grams x purity x the price per gram: about $135 a gram for 24K this week
• Specialist buyers usually pay in the 80s or low 90s as a share of melt; 50% is a bad offer
• A 20% haircut is bigger than gold's fall in more than 99.8% of 30-day stretches since 1968, on our data
• Tax depends on where you live: up to 28% in the US, 12.5% in India after two years, none in the UAE

Here is how to sell gold and get a fair price: work out the melt value of what you own before anyone else does, get at least three written quotes on the same day, and walk away from offers far below melt. With gold near $4,195 an ounce this week, 24K gold is worth about $135 a gram in metal alone.

That $135 is your floor for pure gold. The rest of this guide is about getting as close to melt as you can, and spotting the pieces worth more than their metal.

How do I work out what my gold is worth?

Multiply three things: the weight in grams, the purity of the karat, and the spot price per gram. Spot is quoted per troy ounce, which is 31.1035 grams, so divide the ounce price by 31.1035 first. Our guide to how we price gold by karat walks through the same sum for every karat.

Purity is what the karat stamp tells you. 24K is pure gold, 22K is 91.67%, 18K is 75%, 14K is 58.3% and 10K is 41.7%.

Here is what one gram of each karat is worth in metal at Friday 9 October's close, on our price data and today's exchange rates:

A worked example. A 20 gram 18K chain holds 15 grams of pure gold. At about $135 a gram that is roughly $2,020 of metal. An offer of $1,820 is 90% of melt. An offer of $1,010 is half, and you should leave the shop.

Weigh your pieces on a kitchen scale that reads to 0.1 gram before you go out, and weigh each karat separately. Buyers who lump a 10K ring in with 18K chains and pay the 10K rate on everything are the oldest trick at the counter.

Who buys gold, and how much do they pay?

Each kind of buyer pays a different share of melt, because each pays a refinery to turn your gold back into 999 bars and passes that cost on.

Bullion coins and bars get the best price because the buyer knows exactly what they are and can resell them the same day. AARP found reputable dealers paying up to 98% of market value for pure gold coins, and Stefan Gleason, chief executive of the dealer Money Metals, told it that 50 cents on the dollar for gold is probably a bad deal.

Jewellery scrap is different. The buyer has to test it, melt it and pay a refinery, and that cost comes out of your price. A guide from the dealer Bullion Trading puts a busy specialist in the 80s and low 90s as a percentage of melt for clean karat scrap. Refiners keep 1% to 2% plus a fixed assay fee, which is the cheapest route, but they want lots worth at least $10,000 of pure gold.

Banks are a special case. In India the Reserve Bank does not allow banks to buy back the gold coins they sell, so a bank coin has to go to a jeweller when you sell, often at a lower price than the bank charged for it.

Is my gold worth more than its melt value?

Sometimes, so check before you sell anything as scrap. A signed piece from a maker such as Cartier or Tiffany, an antique, a rare coin or jewellery with large stones can be worth far more to a collector or an auction house than to a melter.

Stones are the big one. A buyer of scrap will either pull them out and pay nothing for them, or estimate their weight and deduct it from the gold. Get a resale appraisal on any piece with a sizable diamond before you accept a scrap price.

Rare coins work the other way. Do not expect a premium for a coin because it is old: check a price guide or a grading service first, since most common bullion coins trade on gold content alone.

For everything else, plain chains, broken bracelets, single earrings and dated rings, melt value is what you are selling. Our explainer on gold ETFs, physical gold and gold bonds covers why investors who want to avoid this haircut altogether often hold gold in paper form instead.

How do I check hallmarks and purity?

A hallmark is the quickest way to know what you have, and the rules differ by country.

In the UK, a full hallmark carries three compulsory marks: the sponsor's mark (who made or sent it), the fineness mark and the assay office mark. Gold fineness is shown in parts per thousand: 375 for 9K, 585 for 14K, 750 for 18K, 916 for 22K and 999 for 24K.

In India, hallmarked gold jewellery sold since April 2023 must carry a six-digit HUID code. You can check that code in the Bureau of Indian Standards' BIS CARE app. For old pieces with no hallmark, any BIS-recognised assaying and hallmarking centre will test them: Rs 200 for up to four items and Rs 45 an item for five or more, under rules the government set in March 2022.

In the US, look for a karat stamp such as 10K, 14K or 18K, or the matching 417, 585 or 750. A stamp is a claim, not a test, so a good buyer will test the piece in front of you, with acid or an X-ray fluorescence gun, and tell you the result before making an offer.

Watch for GP, GF, HGE or RGP next to the karat. They mean gold plated, gold filled or electroplated, and a plated piece has very little gold in it.

Do I pay tax when I sell gold?

Often yes, and the rules depend on where you live. This is a summary, not tax advice; check your own case with an adviser.

The US rate surprises people. Most long-term investment gains are taxed at 15% or 20%, but gold bars, coins and even gold ETFs fall under the higher collectibles ceiling.

In the UK the £6,000 limit applies per item or set, and HMRC caps the taxable gain on items sold for between £6,000 and £15,000. India cut the long-term holding period for gold from 36 to 24 months in the July 2024 budget, which also dropped the old indexation benefit.

Keep your purchase receipts. Without them, many tax offices will treat your cost as zero, and the whole sale price becomes the gain.

What are the red flags when selling gold?

Most bad deals share the same handful of signs. Walk away if a buyer does any of these:

• Will not tell you the weight and karat they measured, or how the offer was worked out
• Weighs everything in one pile instead of by karat
• Uses a scale you cannot see, or weighs in pennyweights without converting
• Pushes a "today only" price or tells you gold is about to crash
• Charges an evaluation fee, or will not hand your items back if you say no
• Asks you to mail gold before giving any quote

Mail-in sellers carry the most risk because you cannot watch the test. The US Federal Trade Commission has told Congress that some cash for gold firms melted items without first quoting a value. If you do use one, photograph and weigh everything, check the firm's reviews and how long it has traded, and send the parcel by insured registered mail; US registered post covers up to $50,000.

How much does selling in a hurry cost?

More than most price swings. On our price data since 1968, gold has fallen 20% or more in only about 0.14% of all 30-day stretches. In other words, a buyer who pays 80% of melt is taking a bigger cut than gold's fall in more than 99.8% of 30-day stretches since 1968.

Even a 10% haircut is steep by that measure: gold has fallen that far in a month less than 2% of the time.

So the price you agree at the counter usually matters more than the day you sell. If you are timing a sale, gold is up about 5.6% on a year ago and about 23% below its record of about $5,426 set in late January, on our data. Our guides to what the Fed does to gold and whether gold protects against inflation explain what moves it.

Step by step: selling gold for a fair price

1. Sort your pieces by karat and weigh each group in grams.
2. Work out melt value at today's price using the table above.
3. Set aside anything with large stones, a maker's name or collector value for an appraisal.
4. Get at least three quotes on the same day, in writing, with weight and karat shown.
5. Ask each buyer what share of melt they are paying. Aim for 80% or more on scrap and close to spot on bullion coins.
6. Keep the receipt for your tax records.

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