Transparency
£672 Melt vs £242 in Your Hand: Why the "Live Gold Price" Isn't What You Get
Here's the moment that catches almost every first-time seller off guard. You look up the gold price, run your ring through a calculator, and it says £672. You take it to a shop — and they offer £242. Same ring, same day. What happened?
Nothing dishonest, usually. You were just shown the wrong number to begin with. This is the concept every other UK calculator hides, so let's make it plain.
Three numbers, not one
- Spot price — the global market price for one troy ounce of pure gold. It's a wholesale benchmark for 400oz bars traded between banks, not a retail price for your jewellery.
- Melt value — the spot price scaled to your item's actual weight and purity. A 9ct ring is only 37.5% gold, so its melt value is a fraction of the spot headline. This is where nearly every calculator stops.
- Realistic payout — what a dealer actually hands you: the melt value minus their margin for testing, refining, overheads and profit. This is the only number that matters when you sell.
Melt value is the ceiling. The realistic payout is the floor you'll actually stand on. The gap between them is the dealer's business model — and your negotiating room.
Why the gap is so big on scrap
For scrap and jewellery, UK buyers typically pay around 60–92% of melt: pawnbrokers and some high-street "we buy gold" counters sit at the bottom (sometimes as low as 40–60% on mixed scrap), reputable online mail-in refiners at the top (~85–90%), and specialist bullion dealers highest of all. On bullion coins like Sovereigns and Britannias, competition is fierce and buyers pay close to spot (90%+), because the metal needs no refining.
That's why our calculator leads with the realistic payout and shows melt underneath — the reverse of everyone else. Move the slider to match your buyer and you'll see both numbers at once.
How to use this before you sell
- Get your melt value and realistic payout side by side on the calculator.
- Treat any offer below ~60% of melt (for scrap) as a starting bid, not a fair price.
- Compare at least two online refiners' published per-gram rates against a local quote.
- Ask for the price per gram per carat in writing — transparent buyers give it gladly.
The seller who knows all three numbers walks in relaxed and walks out with more. That's the whole reason this site exists.
All figures are estimates of melt value, never offers. Not financial or tax advice.