Bid vs ask: what the spread is.

Today's bid and ask

Kitco prices per troy ounce, live on this page.

How big the spread is

The spread is narrowest where the most metal trades. At the close of trading on October 22, 2026, Kitco quoted spreads of $2.00 an ounce for gold, $0.25 for silver, $10 for platinum, and $40 for palladium. Gold and silver trade in enormous volume; platinum and palladium are much smaller markets, so their spreads are wider in both dollars and percentage. Spreads can also widen when trading is thin, such as during the daily break in futures trading and over the weekend, when the quoted price stands still.

Which side a price is on

• When you sell, the bid is the honest reference: it's the most the market itself would pay. A buyer's offer is usually a percentage of the bid.
• When you buy, the ask is the reference, and a dealer's price is the ask plus a premium.
• "Spot" usually means the bid, as on Kitco's charts, but check: a quote that's a percentage of the ask is worth more than the same percentage of the bid.

How we use them

We pay a published percentage of the Kitco bid when we buy from you (our bids), and our typical selling prices are based on the Kitco ask (how to buy gold). The difference between what a dealer charges and what it pays is the dealer's spread, which is much wider than the market's. See physical premiums vs ETF fees.

Sources

• Kitco, gold price chart and notes (prices based on the bid); quotes captured October 22, 2026.
• LBMA, market making (two-way bid and offer prices).

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We pay top dollar for gold, at published rates set before you sell.