How shops price used gold
A shop first checks the karat of the piece, then weighs it, then multiplies the weight by its buying price for that karat. Shops usually buy used gold for its metal value, so the making charge you paid does not count.
If the piece has stones or beads, their weight is usually deducted first, because the shop pays for the gold only.
The buying price on this page is an estimate at the world price minus 1%, about SAR 431.81 for a 21k gram today. Each shop sets its own price, so an offer may be slightly higher or lower.
New gold price versus used gold price
When you buy a new piece, you pay the selling price and the making charge, plus 15% VAT on both. When you sell it, you get its weight × the buying price only.
For a 10-gram 21k piece with SAR 40 a gram making: it costs about SAR 5,627 new today, and a shop would buy it back for about SAR 4,318. The SAR 1,309 gap is the making charge, the VAT and the shop’s margin.
Selling for cash or trading in for a new piece
Some shops offer to take old gold in exchange for a new piece. If you do this, ask for the gram price given for your old gold to be stated clearly, and for the new piece to be priced on its own: gram price, making charge and VAT.
That way you can compare the trade-in with a cash sale at the price on this page, and see what you are really paying for the new piece.
Before you sell used gold
- Check today’s buying price for your karat on this page.
- Know the karat and weight; the original invoice shows both if you still have it.
- Ask more than one shop for its gram price before you agree.
- Ask how the weight of any stones will be deducted before the piece is weighed.
- Watch the scale, and ask for a receipt with the weight, karat, gram price and amount.