Gold buy/sell spreads explained

The spread is the true cost of owning gold for a while and then selling it. Two dealers can charge similar selling prices but pay very different amounts when you sell back. This guide explains how spreads work, shows a worked example from our own price check, and lists what to ask before you buy.

What is a bid-ask spread, in plain English?

Every gold dealer quotes two prices for the same coin or bar:

• The ask (or offer): what you pay to buy. It sits above the spot price, the live wholesale price for an ounce of pure gold. The amount above spot is called the premium.
• The bid (or buyback price): what the dealer pays you when you sell. It usually sits a little below spot.

The spread is the distance between the two. You pay it once over the life of your holding: part when you buy, part when you sell. A useful way to think about it is as a hurdle. The gold price has to climb over the spread before you make any money.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) puts it simply in its customer advisory on buying metals: a wide spread means the price of the metal must rise much more before you can profit, so you should ask for the buyback price before you buy.

Worked example: a real spread from our price check

On 10 October 2026 we recorded both selling and buyback prices at Hatton Garden Metals in London. Spot was £3,171.03 per troy ounce at the time (source: gold-api.com). The check was taken on a Saturday when wholesale markets were closed, so prices were not moving.

Prices from the dealer's product and buyback pages. The Sovereign was out of stock at the time of the check, so the selling price was shown but could not be bought. Break-even rise = selling price ÷ buyback price - 1. Full data on our premium tracker.

How to read this table

If you bought a Britannia for £3,281.19 and sold it straight back, you would get £3,067.15, losing £214.04. For that sale to break even, the buyback price must rise to £3,281.19, which is 7.0% higher. Because buyback prices track spot, that means gold itself needs to rise by about 7%.

Where you buy matters as much as where you sell. On the same evening, The Royal Mint charged £3,397.16 for a 2027 Britannia (7.1% over spot). Had you bought there and later sold at the same buyback price as above, the break-even rise would have been 10.8% (£3,397.16 ÷ £3,067.15 - 1). Buying at Chards for £3,259.95 (2.8% over spot) would have cut it to 6.3%.

Use it twice: once with the selling price and once with the buyback price. Add the two percentages together (ignoring the minus sign) and you have the spread as a share of spot. Our dealer buyback calculator does the same for selling.

What makes a spread wide or narrow?

Collectible coins deserve a special warning. The CFTC calls "semi-numismatic" a made-up term and says such coins are usually not rare and can be harder to sell than bullion. Read bullion vs numismatic coins before paying extra for one.

When does a spread become a red flag?

Normal dealer spreads on bullion are a few percent each way. Fraudulent sellers work on a different scale. The CFTC says some have charged spreads of more than 300%. In one case it settled in October 2023, against California dealer Safeguard Metals, customers paid an average markup of 71% while their agreement stated a maximum of 23%, according to the CFTC's announcement. About 450 people lost roughly $68 million, mostly retirement savings.

Warning signs include a seller who will not state a buyback price, who quotes prices that are hard to compare with spot, or who steers you away from standard bullion. Our guide to gold scams lists more.

What does this mean in the US, UK, Canada and Australia?

Spreads work the same way everywhere, but taxes, payment habits and the dealers you can use differ. Tax matters because it can turn a small paper gain into a smaller real one.

Our current price checks cover UK and US dealers only, so we do not quote Canadian or Australian spreads here.

How can you keep the spread down?

1. Stick to widely traded bullion. The more dealers that stock a coin, the more competition there is to buy it back.
2. Buy fewer, larger pieces if your budget allows, but keep some smaller coins if you may want to sell in stages.
3. Ask for the buyback price before you buy, and get it in writing, as the CFTC recommends.
4. Pay by bank transfer where the dealer prices it lower.
5. Keep everything original. Capsules, boxes, assay cards and receipts make resale quicker and can avoid testing deductions.
6. Get quotes from two or three buyers on the day you sell, and compare each with live spot. Start with our guide to buying gold and plan your exit at the same time.

Common mistakes with spreads

• Judging a dealer only on its selling price. A cheap seller with a poor buyback price can cost more overall.
• Comparing prices taken at different times. Spot moves constantly. Compare quotes taken within minutes of each other.
• Forgetting delivery and insurance. Posting gold back to a dealer costs money unless it offers free insured return labels.
• Treating a short holding period as low risk. With a 6 to 7% spread, selling within months can easily mean a loss even if gold has risen slightly.

Not financial advice. GoldVetted provides general information to help you compare options. It is not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Gold prices go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you pay. Check tax rules with the official source or a qualified adviser before you act.