Methodology
Every number on this site can be checked by hand. This page shows you how, and tells you plainly which parts are measured and which parts are estimated.
Where our gold price comes from
We pull the market spot price of gold in US dollars per troy ounce every 15 minutes from a public market data feed, with a second independent source as a fallback. Spot is the wholesale benchmark used for institutional trades in large, deliverable quantities. It is the number every other figure on this site derives from.
If both sources fail, we keep serving the last confirmed price rather than showing a zero, and we label the page with a notice once that price is more than 90 minutes old. A price from 40 minutes ago is still useful. A price of $0.00 is worse than useless.
The arithmetic
A troy ounce is 31.1034768 grams. To get the value of one gram of pure gold, divide the spot price by that figure. To get the value of one gram at a given karat, multiply by the purity of that karat.
Worked example, at a spot price of $2,400/ozt
- Pure gold per gram $2,400 ÷ 31.1034768 = $77.16/g
- 14K is 58.33% gold $77.16 × 0.5833 = $45.01/g
- A 12 g 14K chain $45.01 × 12 = $540.12 melt value
- At an online refiner, 75–90% $405.09 – $486.11 estimated payout
Substitute today's spot price from any page on this site and the arithmetic is identical. If our figure and your arithmetic disagree, we want to know — tell us.
Purity by karat
Karat is a fraction out of 24. The purity figures we use are the standard commercial values, not the exact fractions, because that is what the trade uses and what stamps declare.
| Karat | Gold content | Multiplier | Common stamps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24K | 99.9% | 0.9990 | 999, 9999, Chuk Kam |
| 22K | 91.7% | 0.9167 | 916, 22KT |
| 18K | 75.0% | 0.7500 | 750, 18KT |
| 14K | 58.3% | 0.5833 | 585, 14KT |
| 10K | 41.7% | 0.4167 | 417, 10KT |
We treat 24K as 99.9%, not 100%. Refining to absolute purity is not commercially achievable, and 999 fine is the accepted standard for "pure" gold. Using 100% would overstate the value of every piece of 24K on the site by a tenth of a percent, and we would rather be slightly conservative than slightly wrong.
Why melt value is not what you get paid
This is the part most gold calculators leave out, and it is the reason this site exists.
When you sell scrap gold, the buyer is not buying jewelry. They are buying feedstock for a refinery, and between your hand and a refined bar there is a chain of real costs: assaying the metal to establish what is actually in it, refining it and losing a fraction in the process, shipping it under insurance, financing the inventory in between, and the overhead of the storefront or website you found them through. On top of all that sits their margin, which is how the business exists at all.
None of that is illegitimate. A buyer who paid melt value would be out of business inside a month. The problem is that the size of that gap is almost never explained to the seller before they walk through the door, and it varies by a factor of two depending on who you happen to walk up to.
How we estimate payout ranges
Our payout ranges are currently based on published buyer terms and commonly reported industry spreads, not on a proprietary dataset. We are building a verified buyer index and will publish per-buyer figures — with the date each was checked — as we confirm them. Until then, treat these ranges as a rough orientation, not a quote.
The three bands we publish, and what drives each one:
| Buyer type | Estimated payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Online refiner (mail-in) | 75–90% | Fixed costs per transaction are spread across larger lots, and there is no storefront to pay for. Best percentages generally go to bigger lots; small lots can be eaten by shipping and minimums. |
| Local gold buyer / jeweler | 60–75% | Carries retail overhead and prices for immediate settlement, but competes on reputation and repeat business. Wide variance between operators in the same city. |
| Pawn shop | 40–60% | Prices for liquidity and risk, often against a loan rather than an outright sale, and holds inventory it may not be able to move quickly. Consistently the lowest of the three. |
When we have verified buyer data, this table will be replaced with named buyers, their advertised percentage, their minimum lot, shipping terms, payment method and the date each was checked. Until that exists, we are not going to pretend it does.
What affects your actual offer
- Weight and lot size. Larger lots get better percentages nearly everywhere, because the buyer's fixed costs are amortized across more metal.
- Jewelry or scrap. Intact, sellable jewelry can be resold as-is at a much better margin than melting it, and some buyers will pay more for it on that basis.
- Stones. Set stones are not gold and do not count toward gold weight. Removing them takes labor, and some buyers deduct for it. Valuable stones should usually be removed before you sell the metal.
- Brand. A recognized maker's mark can be worth several times melt. Refiners do not pay for it. Check before you sell.
- Condition and construction. Hollow chains, spring clasps and non-gold pins and cores all reduce actual gold content relative to what the piece weighs.
- In person or by mail. Mail-in usually pays a better rate but adds shipping risk, an assay you cannot watch, and a wait. Read the return policy before you send anything.
What we don't do
- We do not buy gold. We have no financial interest in the offer you accept, which is why we are willing to publish what buyers actually pay.
- We do not appraise specific items. We cannot see your piece, weigh it or test it, and no calculator can.
- We do not value collectability. Numismatic, historical and designer value can exceed melt value by a very large multiple, and none of it is visible to a melt calculation.
- We do not give financial advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything.
Last reviewed: {{LAUNCH_DATE}} · Who we are: About this site