Spot Price And How It Determines What You're Paid For Your Gold
You'll often hear about the spot price of gold or the scrap value. These are not exactly the same, but they are close. Scrap value means the value of the gold just as a piece of gold; if you had a gold ring, the scrap value would be whatever the gold in the ring was worth, not what the ring itself was worth. The spot price is the actual, that-minute price of gold that the scrap value would be based on if you sold the gold right at that second. The spot price is key to determining what a gold buyer would pay you for any gold you sell.
Ounces Versus Grams
You can weigh gold in ounces (troy ounces, not like the standard ounces you use for food), grams, and a number of other units, depending on the region you're in. In the U.S., troy ounces and grams are the most common. There's really no difference except preference and a wish to use the metric system or not.
The Spot Price Varies by Karat Type
The karat amount you see on real gold pieces affects what you get paid, of course. Just as the karat amount indicates how much of the gold is real gold versus alloy metals, it also tells you the percentage of the spot price that will be applied. For example, a piece of yellow gold jewelry that is 18-karat gold is 75 percent real gold, 15 percent silver, and 10 percent copper (the alloy metal types differ for white and rose gold). When you try to sell that piece of 18-karat yellow gold jewelry, the price used as the basis for the calculations will be 75 percent of the spot price of gold.
Always Ask What Percentage of the Spot Price Is Paid
The person who buys your gold will likely not pay you the full spot price; they'd never make a profit if they did. Instead, they pay a percentage. Then, when they sell the gold either to a refinery or to other customers who want to buy gold, they make a small profit through the higher percentage that a refinery might pay, or through retail markup. And yes — if you know of a gold refinery that buys gold from the public, you could get a higher percentage of that spot price.
If you want to sell gold for cash, shop around. Ask what percentage of the spot price you'd be paid and how non-gold items, like pearls set in gold for earrings, would have on the weighing process.