Selling Gold When Prices Are High: How to Get a Fair Offer

October 16, 2026 · Lumo.gold

Gold is well off its January record, but prices remain historically high. Spot gold was quoted at $4,177.82 an ounce early on October 16, 2026, according to Reuters. CBS News put the price near $2,624 at the start of 2025. That makes old chains, single earrings and class rings worth a look, and makes care more important, because the gap between a fair offer and a poor one widens as prices rise.

Many owners are holding on: World Gold Council figures show recycled gold supply fell 6% from a year earlier to 326.1 tonnes in the second quarter of 2026. If you do decide to sell, here is how to approach it.

1. Know what you have: karats and markings

The Federal Trade Commission explains that pure, 24-karat gold is soft, so jewelry is usually alloyed with other metals. The karat number tells you how many of 24 parts are gold. That means 18K is 75% gold, 14K is about 58.3% and 10K is about 41.7%. The FTC advises looking for a karat stamp along with the maker’s name or registered trademark.

Plated items contain much less gold. Under the FTC’s definitions, gold-filled or rolled gold plate items carry a mechanically bonded layer of at least 10K gold over a base metal. Gold electroplate uses a very thin layer applied electrolytically. Vermeil is gold over sterling silver, and items marked “gold flashed” or “gold washed” have an even thinner coating. These can be worth far less than solid gold.

2. Understand melt value

Melt value is the value of the pure gold in an item at the current spot price:

Melt value = weight in grams × karat purity × spot price per troy ounce ÷ 31.1035

Using the October 16 spot price above, pure gold works out to about $134 per gram. A 10-gram, 14K chain contains about 5.8 grams of pure gold, so its melt value is about $783. Expect real offers to come in below melt value, because buyers have to cover assaying, refining, overhead and price risk. How far below varies from buyer to buyer, which is why comparing offers matters. Coins and bullion are often priced relative to spot. Some coins are worth more than their metal because collectors want them, so ask for an opinion on those before anyone treats them as scrap.

3. Weigh it the right way: grams, pennyweight and troy ounces

Precious metals are weighed in troy units, not the ounce on a kitchen scale. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), one troy ounce is 31.1034768 grams, and one pennyweight (dwt) is 1.55517384 grams, or one-twentieth of a troy ounce. Many buyers quote per pennyweight or per gram, so convert every offer to the same unit before comparing. Under NIST Handbook 130 guidance, when precious metals are priced by weight, the unit should be troy weight or metric units. A buyer using metric units should prominently display a conversion chart to troy units.

4. Get several quotes

Offers can vary widely. Consumer guidance from New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs recommends visiting more than one buyer, checking the day’s gold price before you go, and asking the buyer to disclose the weight, karat and price per unit behind the offer. It also suggests having items weighed separately in front of you, asking for a written estimate and receipt, and checking that the scale has been inspected by the local weights and measures authority. Sorting pieces by karat beforehand also helps keep higher-karat items from being priced with lower-karat ones.

5. Expect ID and paperwork: that is a good sign

Most U.S. states and localities regulate secondhand and precious metal dealers. In Massachusetts, cities and towns license these dealers under Chapter 140 of the General Laws, and local rules can be detailed. Dartmouth’s bylaw, for example, requires a government-issued photo ID from each seller, photographs and records of every item, daily transaction reports to police and a 30-day holding period before items can be resold or altered. It also bars purchases from anyone under 18. New York City has required a 15-day hold. Rules vary, so check with your city or town’s licensing office. A buyer who asks for ID is usually following the law.

Red flags

The buyer won’t tell you the weight, karat or per-unit price behind an offer.
Items are weighed out of your sight, or all lumped together.
You are pressured to accept on the spot.
A mail-in service melts items before you have accepted a specific offer. The FTC told Congress in 2010 that consumers had complained about this practice and about buyers who did not disclose prices up front.
The buyer is unlicensed, does not ask for ID, or operates from a “gold party” in a private home rather than a licensed location.

If something goes wrong, the FTC suggests trying to resolve it with the business first, then reporting it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or to your state attorney general. For context on what is moving gold prices on a given day, BOSSTOX covers markets news daily. Lumo.gold can help you find local dealers to request quotes from, but Lumo does not buy gold or appraise items.

Not financial advice: this article is for general information and education only. Lumo.gold does not buy or sell gold, provide valuations or give investment advice.

Sources

What’s it worth?

Purity Weight

Unit

Melt value—

Get offers for this item

Melt value = weight × purity × live spot. It’s an estimate of the metal content, not an offer. Dealers typically pay less than melt for scrap, and coins or designer pieces can be worth more.