How A Gold Bar Price Is Set When Buying And Selling Your Gold Bars

We get many inquiries from people who want to buy and sell gold bars but what exactly is the current gold bar price and how do you arrive at it?  Gold bar prices are determined but a few factors the first being the current spot price of gold, secondly if you are buying a gold bar the bar charge or premium, thirdly, if you are selling a gold bar the percentage one is willing to pay and lastly the exchange rate of the country you are selling it in.

Current Gold Spot Price

Today’s current spot gold price is the main factor or basis that will determine how much you can sell you bar for or how much an ounce of gold will cost for you to purchase.  The spot price is derived from futures contracts, in North America the spot price is listed in US dollars and fluctuates throughout the day.

This chart lists the current spot price of gold in US dollars, this will serve as the first piece of  information you will need to determine how much you can buy or sell your gold bar for.

Bar Charges And Premiums

If you are buying a one ounce bar you will be charged a ‘premium’ or ‘bar charge’, so let’s say for example the spot price of gold is $1600 you will be charged $1600 plus the premium or bar charge.  Different companies and dealers have different premiums or bar charges.

For a one ounce bar it would be anywhere from $40 to $100 depending on the company or dealer you are doing business with.   The more ounces you buy the lower premium a company should be charging you per ounce.  The premium or bar charge represents their profit on the sale.  It pays to shop around to get the lowest bar charge you can from a reputable dealer.

Price When Selling Your Gold Bar

If you have a gold bar to sell the first thing you should do is look up the current spot price of gold.  Let’s stick with the same example above and say the current gold spot price is $1,600.00 US, you can not expect to get $1,600.00 for your gold bar, you can expect to get anywhere from 92.5 to 98% of spot price.

So if spot price is $1,600.00 US you can expect to get anywhere from $1,480.00 to $1,568.00 for a one ounce bar of gold.  Of course you want to get as much as you can so it pay to shop around for prices.

Exchange Rates

In North America and throughout much of the world spot prices are often listed in US dollars, if you are not in the US you have to take into account the current exchange rate if you are going to be paid in your own countries currency.

I am in Canada and currently the Canadian dollar is quite strong comparatively speaking, using the example above of a current spot price of $1,600.00 US that converts to $1,570.32 CAD.  So using my Canadian spot gold price of $1,570.32 I could expect to get anywhere from $1,452.25 to $1,538.91 for an ounce of gold.

Current Price Of A Gold Bar

Prices of gold bars vary according to their size, below you find some examples of common gold bar sizes and prices, at the time of this writing the spot price of gold was $1,663.30 US and the prices listed below are all in US dollars:

1 gram gold: $62.55
5 gram gold bar: $274.72
10 gram gold bar: $569.45
1 Ounce gold bar price:  $1,708.80
100 gram gold bar price: $ 5,474.24
5 Ounce gold bar: $8,564.00
10 Ounce gold bar: $17,138.00
1000 gram / 1 Kilo gold bar price (32.15 ounces): $54,135.42
100 Ounce gold bar: $167,730.00
400 Ounce gold bar: $667,720.00

As you can see you can spend a little or a lot when entering the gold market.   The prices listed above are excellent rates and something you should look for if you’re serious about getting into the market.  Don’t let the large bar prices intimidate you, as you can see you start small and work your way up!