5 Steps to Calculate What Your Gold is Really Worth

Times are tough and some people are looking for additional ways to help pay their bills. You’ve probably seen “WE BUY GOLD” on TV commercials, in newspaper ads and even on signs held by people on the sidewalk.  But, how do you know if you are getting paid appropriately for the gold that you sell?  Will you receive a fair price or will you be taken advantage of?

Garrett Jay, Money Coach for children and adults, created 5 simple steps to calculate how much money your gold is really worth.  Before explaining the steps, he explores four types of precious metal value. (read the full article)

A small household scale and a calculator will help make this fast and easy.

Step 1: Weigh your gold to the nearest 1/10 of an ounce if possible.

Step 2: Convert from ounces to troy ounces by multiplying ounces by .911

Step 3: Adjust for carat by multiplying the number of troy ounces by the percentage of pure gold.

• 24K = 100% pure gold
• 18K =   75% pure gold
• 14K =   58.3% pure gold
• 10K =   41.7% pure gold

Step 4: Look up the current spot price which is always quoted in troy ounces and multiply the number of pure troy ounces by the spot price.
Current spot price. (We are not endorsing any products or services. You can Google "gold spot price" to find other websites with the same information) 

Step 5: Subtract a "fair" commission which is generally 10-20%.  This does not include any profit that the buyer hopes to achieve if they resell your gold items.

Other considerations

Example: You have a few pieces of 14K gold jewelry and a pawn shop has offered you $900.  You're excited because you don't want these items anymore and can really use the extra money.  But before you fork over your gold, check to see if this is a fair price.

Step 1: 
The total weight of these pieces = 3 ounces.

Step 2: 
Convert to troy ounces. 3 x .911 = 2.733 troy ounces

Step 3: 
Adjust for carat.  2.733 x .583 or 58.3% = 1.593 troy ounces of pure gold

Step 4:
Current spot price = $1,450 per troy ounce. $1,450 x 1.593 = $2,309.85

Step 5:
Subtract commission of 10% $2,309.85 - 10% = $2,078.87

Hmmm...You were offered $950 which is less than half of the pure gold value of your jewelry.  It does not reflect the practical value (wearing the jewelry).  If the jewelry was broken and not worth repairing, additional value should be subtracted to account for the cost the buyer would have to pay to have the gold melted down.

If you would like to arrange a personal consultation with Garrett Jay, please call 561$333$1220 or send an e-mail.