The bands
Every payout figure on this site comes from the four ranges below. They are observable trade ranges rather than quotes, and they are what the calculator prints underneath the melt value on every page. The example is a 20 gram 14k lot, worth $1,645 at melt.
| Buyer | Share of melt | On this lot |
|---|---|---|
| a pawn shop | 50% to 60% | $822.62 to $987.15 |
| a local jeweller | 65% to 75% | $1,069 to $1,233 |
| a cash-for-gold buyer | 55% to 70% | $904.89 to $1,151 |
| a mail-in refiner | 80% to 85% | $1,316 to $1,398 |
Where the gap goes
It is tempting to read the difference between melt and offer as pure margin. Most of it is not. A buyer has to establish what your piece is, usually by acid test or XRF. They then hold mixed material until there is enough to melt as a batch, assay the resulting bar to know what is actually in it, and pay a refiner to separate the gold from the copper, silver and nickel. Between taking your piece and selling refined metal, the price can move against them.
Those costs are close to fixed per batch rather than per gram, which is the single most useful thing to understand about this market. A refiner charging the same assay fee on 20 grams and 2,000 grams has to take a much larger percentage from the small lot. That is why the bands widen at the bottom end, and why the answer to a poor offer on a few grams is usually to wait and accumulate rather than to shop around.
Which buyer, and when
A pawn shop is the fastest and the most expensive. It is buying inventory it may have to store, insure and eventually resell to a walk-in customer, and it prices for that risk. Worth it when the amount is small and the cash is needed now.
A cash-for-gold buyer, whether a mall kiosk, a hotel ballroom event or a mail-in envelope, varies more than any other category. Some are perfectly fair. The business model relies on volume and on people not knowing their melt value, so walking in with a figure already worked out changes the conversation completely.
A local jeweller is usually the best balance for an ordinary jewellery box. They test and weigh in front of you, they pay in the middle of the range, and some of them will pay above melt for a piece they can clean up and resell rather than melt. Ask that question directly, because it is the one route to more than melt.
A mail-in refiner pays the highest percentage and is the right answer for a large lot. It is also the slowest, requires you to post valuables, and settles against an assay you cannot watch. Use an established firm, insure the package, and photograph and weigh every piece before it goes in the box.
Things that move the number
Lot size, as above, more than anything else. Karat, because a lot of high karat gold refines to more metal per gram of handling. Whether the lot is sorted, since an unsorted bag will be priced at its weakest karat. Whether stones have to be removed, which is labour. And whether the metal is karat gold at all: gold-filled and plated material in the bag will get the whole lot discounted, so price those separately.
How to check an offer in ten seconds
Take the offer, divide by the grams, and compare that against the melt price per gram for your karat. That gives you the percentage of melt you are being offered, which is the only number worth comparing between buyers. A lump sum tells you nothing, a price per pennyweight is inflated by a factor of 1.555 against a gram price, and a percentage of spot rather than of melt is a different claim again.
Questions about gold buyers
What percentage of melt value do gold buyers pay?
Roughly 50% to 60% at a pawn shop, 55% to 70% from a cash-for-gold operation, 65% to 75% at a local jeweller and 80% to 85% from a mail-in refiner on a lot of real size. The bands overlap and the size of your lot moves you within them more than anything you say does.
Why does nobody pay the full melt value?
Because your jewellery is not refined metal yet. It has to be tested, melted, assayed and refined before it becomes the deliverable metal the benchmark prices, and every one of those steps costs money. The buyer also carries the price risk between buying and selling, and takes a margin on top.
Who pays the most for scrap gold?
A mail-in refiner, on paper. In practice, once you account for postage, insurance, the wait and the risk of a disputed assay, a local jeweller who weighs in front of you often nets more on a small lot. The refiner wins clearly once the lot is worth a few thousand dollars.
Can I negotiate with a gold buyer?
A little, and mostly by being informed. Knowing your melt value per gram, having the lot sorted by karat and having a second quote in hand does more than haggling. Buyers who work on a fixed percentage of melt genuinely cannot move much.
Are cash-for-gold mail-in kits a scam?
Not inherently, but the envelope kits that advertise on daytime television historically paid at the bottom of the range and relied on people accepting a cheque rather than requesting their items back. Read the return policy before you post anything, and photograph and weigh every piece first.
Does the buyer deduct for stones?
Yes, and they should, because stone weight is not metal weight. What matters is whether they deduct a reasonable estimate or an inflated one. Ask for the deduction in grams rather than as a lump sum off the price.
Is a pawn shop a bad place to sell gold?
Not bad, just expensive. A pawn shop is buying illiquid inventory it may have to store and resell, and it prices for that. If you need cash today and the amount is small, the convenience may be worth the spread. For anything substantial, get another quote.