Questions, answered.

Our bids are a percentage of the Kitco bid, the wholesale price most dealers use. Scrap gold is priced from its gold content:

Weight × purity × Kitco bid × our bid

Purity is the karat as a percentage: 14K gold is 58.3% gold. Our current bids are on the bids page.

Kitco is a long-established precious metals company that publishes live prices for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium around the clock at kitco.com. Its bid is the price the wholesale market is paying for an ounce of metal right now; its ask is the price to buy one. Dealers and collectors widely use it as a reference.

We think it's the fairest basis for a price because it's public and independent. We don't set it and can't adjust it, and you can check it yourself at any moment, including the moment we price your metal. That leaves our percentage as the only number in the deal, so you can compare our bids directly with anyone else's. We're not affiliated with Kitco.

Your written estimate fixes your rate as a percentage of the Kitco bid. The bid percentage in your written estimate holds for 7 days from your request and doesn't change once you ship; the dollar amount always follows the Kitco bid. For scrap, the dollar amount uses the Kitco bid at assay; for coins and bullion, the Kitco bid when we verify your package. Your payment confirmation shows the Kitco bid we used. Metal prices move, so the amount can be higher or lower than an estimate made earlier.

An assay measures exactly how much gold, silver, or platinum a piece of metal contains. For scrap, we melt your lot into a single bar so the metal is uniform, then test a sample of it to find its purity. The bar's weight times its purity gives the fine metal content we pay for, at the Kitco bid at the time of the assay. Your payment confirmation shows the melted weight, the assay result, and the bid we used.

Coins and bullion aren't melted or assayed: they're checked without damage and priced at the Kitco bid when we verify your package.

Scrap is paid on its final weight and purity after melting, so the exact karat of each piece doesn't need to be known in advance. Your payment confirmation lists the figures. Not sure what you have? Send photos before you ship and we'll tell you what to expect.

Some of the weight was never gold: dirt, stones, glue, the steel spring in a clasp, lower-karat solder, and any plated or gold-filled pieces in the lot. Stamps can also run under: before October 1981, federal law let a piece stamped 14K be up to half a karat under, or a full karat counting its solder. And the other metals in a karat alloy partly burn off in the furnace, so the bar gets lighter but purer. We pay on the fine gold that's actually there, and your payment confirmation shows every figure. More on melt loss.

Yes. Send it as is; there's no need to remove stones. We pay on the metal's weight after melting, so if there's a stone you'd like to keep, take it out first.

Our minimum is $1,000 per order, and smaller lots are considered case by case. Scrap gold needs at least 1/2 troy ounce of scrap material, and scrap sterling at least 1 kilo.

Not yet. We don't currently buy from residents of Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, or Utah. From Texas and Washington we buy only coins and certain bullion, and from Arizona, Arkansas, and Maryland, coins only.

Precious metals dealers are required to know who they buy from, and it protects everyone from stolen goods. We ask for a photo of both sides of a current government ID and a signed statement that you own the items. We keep these records securely, and we never share them for marketing.

We recommend USPS Registered Mail. It's the most secure way to send precious metals, and insurance up to $50,000 is included in the fee. You choose the carrier and cover the postage. Our shipping guide has packing tips.

We send our shipping address with your accepted estimate, so every package that arrives is one we're expecting and can be handled promptly.

Zelle, wire, ACH, or PayPal, within 7–10 business days of delivery. We pay only to an account in the seller's own name; for an estate or trust, that's the estate's or trust's account. Wire transfers have a $25 fee, deducted from your payment. In a few states, the law requires us to hold scrap and jewelry for a set number of days after they arrive before we can melt it, so payment for those items takes longer; your estimate will say if that applies to you.

You can, and you'll walk out with cash the same day. That speed is what you pay for. A pawn shop is a lender, not a gold buyer: it offers what it can safely lend or resell against, usually far below melt value. A cash-for-gold counter has rent, staff, and security to cover, and it makes its offer on the spot, when you're least likely to shop around.

Selling by mail takes a little patience: we pay within 7–10 business days of delivery. In return you know our rate up front, as a published percentage of the Kitco bid, and you get a written estimate you can compare at home. Wherever you sell, ask two questions: what percentage of melt value they're paying, and a percentage of what. Some buyers quote a good-sounding percentage of their own "spot" price, or of one from earlier in the day. Ours is always the live Kitco bid, a public price you can check at kitco.com. If a buyer won't answer either question, that tells you something. See what consumer tests found buyers pay. The best place to sell gold, compared.

We give free evaluations and offers to purchase. We're a buyer, not an independent appraiser, so our offers aren't appraisals for tax, insurance, or probate purposes. See estates.

Yes. Send an order request with what you'd like and how much, and we'll reply with a written estimate. Orders shipped to California have a $2,000 minimum, which makes qualifying coin and bullion orders exempt from California sales tax.

We don't buy bullion in the specific products and quantities that dealers must report on IRS Form 1099-B. If part of your lot falls into that category, we'll let you know before you ship. Either way, a gain is taxable whether or not anything is reported: see do gold dealers report to the IRS? and taxes on selling gold.