How our pricing works

1. Spot value

Spot is the wholesale market price for one troy ounce (31.1035 g) of raw metal. We take it from a market data provider (named on every price page), refresh it through the trading day, and refuse to sell if the feed is stale — we never price from an old number while the market is open.

Spot value = spot per ounce × the product's fine metal content. A 1 oz Gold Eagle is 22-karat but contains one full troy ounce of gold, so its spot value is one ounce of gold.

2. Premium

The premium covers what it costs to turn raw metal into a coin or bar and get it to you — minting, distribution, insurance, packaging — plus our margin. It's quoted as a percentage over spot, and it falls as you buy more.

• Bars and rounds carry the lowest premiums.
• Sovereign coins (Eagles, Maples, Krugerrands) cost a little more but are recognised everywhere.
• Small pieces (1 g, 1/10 oz) carry the highest premium per ounce.

3. Card vs bank transfer

Our list price is the card price. Card networks charge us a fee on every card payment, so paying by bank transfer (ACH) or wire is 4% less. It's a discount for paying by bank, not a surcharge for paying by card.

4. The 10-minute price lock

When you reach payment at checkout, we lock every price in your cart for 10 minutes. Place your order inside that window and that's what you pay, whatever the market does next. Because we lock the price for you, an order is binding once placed: if payment doesn't arrive, the order is cancelled and any market loss since the lock is owed (see our terms).

5. When markets are closed

Metals markets close from Friday 5 pm to Sunday 6 pm New York time, for an hour each weekday from 5 pm, and on New Year's Day, Good Friday and Christmas. While closed we sell at the last market price plus 1%, because we can't see where the market will reopen. Product pages and checkout say when this applies.