How Do I Get the Most for My Gold?

What actually determines your gold's value

There's no mystery to gold value. It comes down to how much pure gold an item contains and what gold is trading for that day. Three measurable factors do nearly all the work:

• Purity (karat). Karat tells you what share of the metal is actually gold. 24k is pure gold; 18k is 75% gold; 14k is 58.3%; 10k is 41.7%. The higher the karat, the more gold per gram — and the more value per gram.
• Weight. More gold means more value, so weight matters directly. Gold is measured in grams or troy ounces (one troy ounce is about 31.1 grams). Even a handful of small, broken, or mismatched pieces can add up.
• Current spot price. The spot price is the live market rate for one troy ounce of pure gold. It moves throughout each trading day with global supply and demand, so the same item can be worth a little more or less depending on when it's evaluated.

Put simply: purity and weight tell you how much pure gold you have, and the spot price tells you what that gold is worth right now. If you'd like to go deeper on the math, our guide to how much your gold is worth walks through worked examples.

Actual value is determined during the in-person evaluation; this site schedules appointments only.

Know what you have before you sell

Walking in informed is the simplest way to feel confident about your evaluation. You don't need any tools — just a few minutes and good light. Before your appointment:

• Find the karat stamps. Look on the inside of rings, on chain clasps, and on the backs of pendants. Common marks are 10k, 14k, 18k, 22k, 24k, or the European numeric versions — 417, 585, 750, 916, 999 — which mean the same thing.
• Get a rough weight. A basic kitchen or jewelry scale in grams gives you a ballpark. It won't be exact, but it helps you understand the scale of what you have.
• Sort by karat. Group 10k with 10k, 14k with 14k, and so on. Mixing purities makes everything harder to follow.
• Note pieces with stones. Set aside anything with diamonds or gemstones. Stones are weighed and considered separately from the metal — gold value is based on the metal weight, with the weight of stones excluded.
• Don't discard "broken" gold. A single earring, a snapped chain, or a bent ring still contains gold and still has value.

For more on how items are tested and verified, see how gold jewelry is evaluated.

Overhead is the hidden factor

Purity, weight, and spot price are the same no matter who you sell to. What differs from one buyer to the next is overhead — the cost of running the business — and that cost has to come from somewhere.

A retail storefront carries rent, utilities, display cases, signage, insurance on inventory, and staff to keep the doors open during business hours. Those are real, recurring expenses, and they create pressure on the margin a shop needs to take out of every transaction.

An appointment-based, no-storefront evaluator is structured differently:

• No storefront means no rent or retail overhead. So more of your gold's value can stay with you, instead of covering the cost of keeping a shop open.
• Time is dedicated, not split across a sales floor. Your evaluation happens in a focused, unhurried appointment rather than between walk-in customers.
• Lower fixed costs mean less built-in margin pressure on each individual evaluation.

Actual value is determined during the in-person evaluation; this site schedules appointments only.

Get a licensed, in-person evaluation

Gold can't be accurately valued sight-unseen. The real number comes from professional testing in person — acid or electronic testing to confirm purity, and a calibrated scale to confirm weight — applied to that day's spot price. That's why this site doesn't quote prices online: a fair figure depends on actually seeing and testing your items.

What an in-person evaluation with a licensed buyer looks like:

• By appointment, including in-home options, so you choose the time and place.
• Confidential and no-obligation — you're free to walk away.
• Your items never leave your sight during the evaluation.
• Licensed and local, serving communities across Orange County and beyond, including Newport Beach and Irvine.

This website schedules appointments only — it does not buy gold, make offers, or quote prices. All buying is done in person by the licensed evaluator. You can learn more about what to expect on our gold evaluation service page.

Actual value is determined during the in-person evaluation; this site schedules appointments only.

Frequently asked questions

What determines how much I get for my gold?

Four things: the karat purity of each piece, its weight, the current market (spot) price of gold, and the seller's overhead. Purity and weight set how much pure gold you have, spot price sets what that gold is worth that day, and a lower-overhead evaluator faces less margin pressure on the evaluation.

Does it matter whether I sell to a storefront or an appointment-based evaluator?

It can. A retail storefront carries rent, staffing, and other recurring costs that come out of the margin. An appointment-based evaluator with no storefront has lower overhead, so more of your gold's value can stay with you rather than covering the cost of keeping a shop open. This is a difference in business structure, not a guaranteed price.

Can I get a price online before my appointment?

No. Gold has to be tested and weighed in person to be valued accurately, and the spot price changes daily. This site schedules a confidential, no-obligation, in-person evaluation with a licensed buyer — it does not quote prices or make offers online. For background reading, see our guide to how to tell if a gold buyer is legitimate or our FAQ.