Thirty seconds with the house. Two professionals quote you two prices per gram, and you think you can compare them? Not yet. To really compare two offers, you need six pieces of information: the exact weight retained, the actual fineness of the metal, the method used to determine it, the reference rate, any fees, and the net amount that will actually be paid to you. The price per gram is not the starting point of the comparison, it is its result. This page gives you the method, and the Gold & Silver Company calculator gives you the figure.
Guide written and kept up to date by the experts of Gold & Silver Company. Last updated: 11 August 2026.
The price per gram is a result, not a promise
A price per gram says nothing as long as you do not know how it was built. Announcing an attractive figure costs nothing; paying it in full, after honest weighing and honest testing, with no fees slipped in at the bottom of the invoice, that is the real trade. Which is why the only question that matters is not “how much do you offer per gram?” but “how much will you actually pay me, net, at the end?”.
The house publishes its buyback prices on our price list, and stands by them: the prices displayed are the prices invoiced. No tax is withheld on the transaction, no brokerage fees, no intermediary commission, neither during nor at the end of the operation. And at our branch, your offer is established live, at the rate of the moment of your visit.
This page settles the contest between offers you already have in hand. If your question is still “who should I sell to?”, the chain of trades in gold, from the buyback office that resells your lot to the integrated refinery that melts it itself, is detailed in our guide “How to choose who to sell your gold to?”.
The six checks before comparing anything at all
1. The weight retained. Not the one from your kitchen scale: the one from a certified metrology-grade scale, its display turned towards you, to the hundredth of a gram. An 18-carat lot is never mixed with a 14-carat lot, and each lot appears, line by line, on the quotation.
2. The actual fineness of the metal. A piece of jewellery hallmarked “18 carats” may test differently under analysis. The question to ask: is the fineness measured, or assumed? And with what: touchstone alone, or spectrometry?
3. The testing method. The touchstone opens the appraisal, it is the trade's mandatory first step; the instrument settles it. A house that tests in front of you, with the appraisal filmed as proof, has nothing to hide about its method.
4. The reference rate. Which one, and from when? A “house rate” with no source and no time is not a reference. And a spot price waved on its own is not enough: it quotes pure gold, it does not say what your 18 or your 14 carats are worth. A serious professional announces his price carat by carat, with the pure gold rate to back it up.
5. The fees. Appraisal fees, file fees, melting fees, commissions, brokerage fees, taxes: every added line moves the announced price further away from the total amount paid. With us, the appraisal is free, with an itemised quotation if you wish, and without obligation: there is no other line.
6. The net amount paid. The only figure that can be compared between two offers. Demand it in writing, or write it down yourself, before you decide, and do so with everyone.
The reading grid: what each answer reveals
The same six checks, seen from the side of the answers. Ask the questions in order; the answers rank the offer before any calculation at all.
| Check | The answer that should alert you | The answer of a serious professional |
|---|---|---|
| Weight retained | “We round it off, it changes nothing. I mix the 18 and the 14 carats, it's all gold anyway.” | Weighing on a certified metrology-grade scale, the display turned towards you, to the hundredth of a gram, each lot listed line by line on the quotation. |
| Actual fineness | “It's hallmarked 18 carats, but it's 14 carats.” The fineness is decreed by eye, downgraded, never measured. | The fineness is measured in front of you and announced item by item. |
| Testing method | “No need to test, I have the eye: that one is 14, the colour is not like an 18. And no point weighing it, there are roughly 2 or 3 grams.” On an item that weighs 30. | The touchstone opens the appraisal, the instrument settles it, and the testing is done in front of you. |
| Reference rate | “That's our house rate.” A figure with no source and no time. Or a spot price waved on its own: that is the price of pure gold, not of your 18 or 14 carats. | The price announced carat by carat, with the pure gold rate to back it up, with source and time: you know exactly where you stand. |
| Fees | “You'll see the details on the invoice.” Or: “Don't worry about that, there are fees everywhere, it's the same with everyone.” | Every line announced on the quotation, before the operation, in writing. |
| Net amount paid | “The price per gram, that's what counts.” Refusal to put the net figure in writing, or a net amount calculated at the price of pure gold, 24 carats, for a lot that is 18. | The net amount paid, in writing, before your decision. |
None of these six questions is indiscreet. A professional who gets irritated by them has already given you his real answer.
How much for your grams, net?
Choose the fineness of your gold, 9, 14 or 18 carats, enter your weight: the calculator displays the net amount at the buyback rate in force, connected to the same price list as our prices page. The calculator's rate is updated several times a day and the time of the last update is displayed under the result. At our branch, our prices are established live, at the rate of the moment of your visit.
Enter a weight to display the net amount.
Rate updated on 12/08/2026 at 13h39. At our branch, our prices are established live, at the rate of the moment of your visit.
A “net” offer, at Gold & Silver Company, what does that mean
The net amount is what goes into your pocket once everything has been deducted. With us, the deduction is short: there is nothing to deduct. No tax withheld at source on the transaction, no appraisal fees, no commission. The difference with a tempting “gross” price shows at the bottom of the invoice, never in the shop window; which is precisely why the comparison is made on the net, and only on the net.
And if your lot is complex, scrap, dental gold, mixed alloys, melting is free on site and the fineness is determined by spectrometry after melting: the final figure rests on a measurement, not on a cautious estimate that protects the buyer at your expense.
The method in practice: before, during, after
Before. Sort nothing, set nothing aside: bring everything. Sorting is the expert's job, every item gets tested, including the one that seems worthless, a watch judged fit for the bin can turn out to be solid gold. Count your items, photograph the whole lot. Do weigh it at home, however, on your kitchen scale: it is not the true weight, but it is an order of magnitude, and that order of magnitude protects you. If you were promised a flattering price per gram and the amount offered on arrival represents only a fraction of the calculation you made at home, you will see it immediately.
During. Attend the weighing, lot by lot, the display of the scale turned towards you: the weight is read at the moment of weighing, not taken on trust. Ask the six questions of this page, in order, and request the itemised quotation, line by line: weight retained, fineness, price, net amount paid. You sign nothing, you collect.
After. Bring the offers back to the same basis: same weight, same fineness, net amount, and the same day. The gold price moves during the session: if a kilo of pure gold trades at 119,000 euros in the morning and another valuation is done elsewhere when it has moved back to 125,000, the gap between the two amounts says nothing about the quality of the offers. Have all your valuations done on the same day, at moments when the pure gold price is at roughly the same level, within a few euros. And if two professionals retain noticeably different weights for the same lot, that difference is already an answer. The calculator on this page gives you, at the same moment, the house's figure: your comparison is complete, and you know the real amount you could have received if you were, right now, with us.
The Gold & Silver Company memo
- A price per gram cannot be compared: only the net amount paid can be compared.
- Six checks: weight retained, actual fineness, testing method, reference rate, fees, net paid.
- Demand the itemised quotation, line by line, and the fineness measured, not assumed.
- The scale is there to be read: display turned towards you, at the moment of weighing.
- Have all your valuations done on the same day, at a comparable rate.
- At Gold & Silver Company (GSC): free and filmed appraisal, certified metrology-grade scale, spectrometry, prices established live at our branch.
- No tax withheld on the transaction, no brokerage fees: the prices displayed are the prices invoiced.
- The calculator on this page is connected to our buyback price list and displays the time of its last update.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the price per gram not enough to compare two gold buyback offers?
Because two prices per gram can apply to two different realities. One rests on a weight rounded in the buyer's favour, the other on a weighing to the hundredth of a gram. One assumes the fineness from the hallmark, the other measures it by spectrometry. One hides appraisal or file fees, the other has none. One refers to a “house rate”, the other to a public reference, with source and time. In the end, a seductive price per gram can produce a transfer lower than that of a more modestly announced offer. The honest comparison rests on a single line: the net amount that will actually be paid to you, with weight and fineness measured.
What is a net offer when selling gold?
It is the amount you actually receive, once all possible fees and deductions have been counted. At Gold & Silver Company, the offer is net by construction: no tax is withheld on the transaction, the appraisal is free, there are no brokerage fees and no intermediary commission, neither during nor at the end of the operation. The figure announced after weighing and testing is the figure of the settlement, and it can be read on the quotation, in black and white, before your decision. That is the whole difference with a price per gram trumpeted in a shop window: an itemised quotation binds the house that issues it, a verbal promise binds no one.
How can I check the weight and the fineness the buyer retains for my gold?
Attend the weighing, it is your most basic right, and “in front of you” means a visible display. Some weighings are done with the scale under the desk or the display turned towards the buyer: the weighing does happen in front of you, but you see nothing. Demand that the display of the scale be turned towards you and read the weight yourself, at the moment of weighing. With us, it is done on a certified metrology-grade scale, to the hundredth of a gram, lot by lot, an 18-carat lot is never drowned in a 9-carat lot, that mix is one of the most discreet ways of underpaying a client, and each lot is listed line by line on the quotation. The fineness, for its part, is measured: touchstone and traditional acids to open the appraisal, spectrometry for bars, coins and melted lots. The whole appraisal is filmed and detailed item by item, weight and fineness in support.
Can fees really change the ranking of two offers?
Completely. Appraisal, file or melting fees, commissions, brokerage fees, taxes, an unfavourable rounding of the weight: each line eats into the final amount, and these lines often appear only at the bottom of the invoice, at signing time, where a quotation would have announced them beforehand. An offer displayed as generous can thus fall behind a more sober but genuinely net offer. That is why the house recommends, everywhere and including with us, the same discipline: ask in writing for the net amount paid for a given weight and fineness, before any decision. At Gold & Silver Company, that net amount is the displayed price, there is no other line.
What is a “house rate”, and why be wary of it?
The gold market has public references: the international spot price, quoted continuously, with a buying price, the bid, a selling price, the ask, and between the two a gap, the spread. A “house rate” is a figure manufactured internally, with no source and no time: nothing tells you how far it sits from the reference. And that distance sometimes varies with the buyer's cash position of the moment: the spread swells, the buying price slides below the market or the selling price above it, driven by treasury rather than by the rate. Another misleading habit: waving the spot price as it is, when it quotes pure gold, without saying what your lot is worth in 18 or in 14 carats. The only honest reference is given carat by carat, with the pure gold rate in support, with its source and its time. At Gold & Silver Company, prices are published by carat and, at our branch, established live at the rate of the moment.
Does the calculator on this page give the exact amount I will receive?
It gives the net amount at the displayed buyback rate, for the weight and the carat you enter: it is the common basis for bringing all offers back to the same comparison. Its rate is updated several times a day and the time of the last update is displayed; at our branch, our prices are established live, at the rate of the moment of your visit. The final figure then rests on two measurements made in front of you: the weight, on a certified metrology-grade scale, display turned towards you, and the fineness, opened with the touchstone and settled by spectrometry when necessary. If the weight and carat entered match the measurement, there is no line of fees to slip in between the calculation and the quotation. That is exactly what you should demand of any competing offer: a net, comparable figure, with no surprise at the bottom of the invoice.
Do I have to decide on the spot, at the moment of the offer?
No, and a serious professional will not ask you to. An offer worthy of the name is given in writing, with the weight retained, the fineness measured, the reference rate and its period of validity: the rate moves, so an honest offer states until when it stands and on which reference it rests. The pressure of “it's now or never” is not a commercial argument, it is an alarm signal: it serves to deprive you of the only thing that protects a seller, the second offer. At Gold & Silver Company, the valuation is free, detailed item by item and without obligation: you leave freely with your items, or with our itemised quotation, and you compare. Comparing requires, by definition, having at least two figures.