Understanding the offer
How gold buyers price your jewellery
Every gold buyer prices jewellery from the same four numbers: the spot price of gold, the fineness of the carat, the weight of the metal with stones excluded, and the buyer's margin. The first three are facts you can check; the fourth is the whole difference between buyers, and most of them will not tell you what it is. We publish the net result: today 34.20 euro per gram for 9ct and 73.60 euro per gram for 18ct, live as of 26 Oct, 12:03 Dublin time.
The four numbers
1. Spot
Gold is traded in US dollars per troy ounce in London and that price is public, moving all day. Divided by 31.103 grams and converted to euro it gives the price of one gram of pure gold. Every buyer starts here, whatever they say about “our rates”.
2. Fineness
The share of the metal that is gold: 0.375 for 9ct (hallmark 375), 0.585 for 14ct (585), 0.750 for 18ct (750), 0.916 for 22ct (916), 0.999 for 24ct (999). Spot times fineness is the value of one gram of your piece if it were melted today. A buyer who does not test, or who prices by colour, is guessing this number, usually downwards.
3. Weight
Grams of metal, to two decimal places, with stones, watch movements, enamel and anything else that is not gold excluded. The weight is where a careless or sharp buyer loses you the most: rounded down, taken in pennyweights (1.555 g) with a per-pennyweight rate that sounds generous, or taken with the stones in and then “adjusted” by an unexplained deduction.
4. Margin
What the buyer keeps between melt value and what they pay you, to cover refining, testing, insurance and profit. It is the only number that differs between an honest buyer and a poor one, and it is the number least often stated. It can be hidden as a low headline rate, as a fee, as a lot total, or as a low carat reading. Ours is already taken off the figures below; the price per gram shown is the price paid.
The sum, on a real piece
An 18ct ring weighing 5.20 g with its stone removed. Melt value is spot times 0.750 times 5.20. A buyer paying a published net rate of 73.60 euro per gram offers 382.72 euro, listed as one line: 18ct, 5.20 g, rate, amount. A buyer who prices it as “yellow gold” at a 9ct rate offers 177.84 euro for the same ring. Same spot, same gold, half the money, and the difference is invisible unless the offer shows the carat.
| Grade | Hallmark | We pay per gram | 5 g fetches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9ct gold | 375 | €34.20$38.28£28.63 | €171.00$191.40£143.17 |
| 14ct gold | 585 | €55.38$61.99£46.37 | €276.90$309.93£231.84 |
| 18ct gold | 750 | €73.60$82.38£61.62 | €368.00$411.90£308.12 |
| 22ct gold | 916 | €89.89$100.61£75.26 | €449.45$503.07£376.32 |
Shown in USD for reference at €1 = $1.1193 (ECB reference rate, 23 Oct 2026, 15:00). We pay in euro by bank transfer.
Shown in GBP for reference at €1 = £0.8373 (ECB reference rate, 23 Oct 2026, 15:00). We pay in euro by bank transfer.
Where the margin hides
| What you hear | What it does | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| “We'll give you 400 for the lot” | Hides the weight, the carat and the rate at once | Each item, its carat, its weight and the rate per gram |
| “Our rate is X per pennyweight” | A pennyweight is 1.555 g, so the rate sounds 55 percent higher than per gram | The rate per gram |
| “Less our testing fee” | A second margin on top of the first | The net rate after every fee |
| “That's yellow gold” | Prices 14ct, 18ct or 22ct at a 9ct rate | The XRF or acid reading for each piece |
| “We weigh it all together” | Mixed carats paid at the lowest; stones counted then deducted | Weights by carat, stones excluded, written down |
| “Price when we see it” | No rate to compare before you are standing at the counter | The published rate per gram for your carat today |
How to check an offer, line by line
- Every item or group is listed with a carat. If it only says “gold”, ask.
- Every line has a weight in grams, with stones excluded or shown separately.
- Every line has a rate per gram, and that rate matches the buyer's published price for that carat on that day.
- Any deduction is its own line with a reason. Ours is 12 euro return postage at cost on completed postal sales, waived over 500 euro melt value, and nothing else.
- The offer has a validity period (ours is 48 hours) and a clear no: declined items returned, and at whose cost. Ours come back free.
If an offer passes those five checks, you can compare it with any other buyer's in a minute. If it does not, the missing line is where the margin is.
When a piece is worth more than its metal
Signed pieces, good antiques, pieces with fine certified stones and some coins are worth more intact than melted. An honest buyer says so. We flag them rather than melt them, quote for stones separately or return them, and buy branded watches by quote only. See how jewellery is priced for how stones, watches and signed pieces are handled.
Questions people ask
How do gold buyers work out what to pay for jewellery?
From four numbers: the live spot price of gold, the fineness of the carat, the weight of the metal with stones excluded, and the buyer's margin. Spot times fineness times weight is the melt value; the buyer pays that less the margin. Nothing about the design, the brand or the age enters the sum unless the piece is being bought as jewellery rather than as metal.
What percentage of spot do gold buyers pay?
It varies more than most sellers expect, from a small discount to spot for bullion down to half or less of melt value at some retail counters. The only way to know is the net price per gram for your carat, which can be compared directly with spot times fineness. We publish ours for every grade.
Why did two buyers quote very different prices for the same piece?
Usually margin, sometimes method. One may have weighed stones as gold and then deducted, priced 18ct as 'yellow gold' at a lower rate, used pennyweights, rounded the weight down, or charged a testing fee. Ask both for the net price per gram for the carat and the exact weight they used; the difference will be in one of those lines.
Does the design or brand affect the scrap price?
Not when a piece is bought for its metal. A signed piece, a good antique or a piece with a fine stone can be worth more intact, and an honest buyer says so and offers it as jewellery or tells you to sell it as such. For everything else, metal is metal.
Are stones included in the weight?
They should not be. A fair buyer weighs the metal with stones excluded, or weighs the piece and subtracts the stones' weight, and tells you which. Stones are then assessed separately: quoted for or returned.
Why do buyers pay less for 9ct than 18ct?
Because 9ct is 37.5 percent gold and 18ct is 75 percent. A gram of 18ct contains twice the gold, so it pays roughly twice as much. The margin is the same; the gold content is not.
Ready to sell?
Check the net price per gram for your grade first, then request a free insured postal pack. Every item is tested on camera, the offer is itemised, and anything you decline comes back free.