How Gold Buyers Calculate Their Offer (% of Melt)
Published June 19, 2026 · updated June 19, 2026
When you hand a gold buyer your jewelry, they run a simple calculation and then take a cut. Understanding that calculation is the single most useful thing you can do before selling, because it tells you the maximum anyone could fairly pay and how far below it you should accept.
Start with melt value
Every offer begins with melt value — the worth of the pure gold in your item if it were refined. The formula is:
Spot price per gram × karat purity × weight = melt value
Spot price per gram is the per-ounce price divided by 31.1034768 (one troy ounce in grams). Purity decimals are 24K = 0.999, 22K = 0.9167, 18K = 0.75, 14K = 0.585, and 10K = 0.4167. Weigh in grams — if a buyer quotes in pennyweight, remember 1 dwt = 1.55517 g, so 20 dwt make one troy ounce.
Worked example at a $3,350 spot price for 15 grams of 14K:
- $3,350 ÷ 31.1034768 = $107.70 per gram
- $107.70 × 0.585 = $63.00 per gram of 14K
- $63.00 × 15 g = $945 melt value
That $945 is the ceiling. No buyer will pay all of it.
Why buyers pay a percentage of melt
A buyer is not a charity. They have to cover refining fees, assay and testing, shipping, insurance, rent, and a profit margin, plus the risk that spot price drops between the day they buy and the day the refiner settles. To stay in business they pay a percentage of melt, not melt itself.
Typical payout ranges:
- Refiners (direct): 90–98% of melt, but usually require minimum weights and an account.
- Local jewelers: 80–90%, especially on clean, karat-sorted lots they can reuse.
- Coin and metals dealers: 80–90% on coins and bars, sometimes lower on scrap.
- Pawn shops: 50–70%.
- Mail-in and TV buyers: often 40–60%, the worst deal going.
So on that $945 melt example, a fair jeweler offer lands around $760–$850, while a mail-in service might quote $400–$550.
The math the buyer does
Internally the buyer computes melt exactly as you did, then multiplies by their payout rate. If their rate is 85%, the offer is $945 × 0.85 = $803. If they come back with $650, they’re effectively paying 69% — low enough to negotiate or walk away.
Some buyers instead quote a flat per-gram price per karat. Compare that number to the live per-gram melt rate for your karat: divide their per-gram offer by the melt per-gram and you get their true percentage. The 14K gold price per gram page shows the live 14K rate to check against.
How to push the percentage up
You can move a buyer closer to the top of their range. Sort your pieces by karat so 18K isn’t lumped at the 10K rate. Weigh at home in grams to catch scale errors or unit tricks. Know the spot price at the moment you walk in, and quote it. Get two or three offers — competition is your best leverage. Run your melt number first on the gold calculator so you can recognize a fair deal in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
- Is “percentage of melt” the same as spot price? No. Spot is the market price for pure gold. Percentage of melt is the share of that value a buyer pays after their costs and profit. They are different numbers.
- Why did two buyers give very different offers? Payout rates vary by business model — a refiner pays more than a pawn shop. It usually reflects overhead, not the gold itself. Always compare.
- Should I sell coins differently than scrap jewelry? Yes. Coins and bars often sell at or near spot to a dealer, while scrap jewelry is almost always priced as a percentage of melt.