Why a Mixed-Karat Lot Isn't Priced Like a Single Item
A single ring or chain is straightforward: one karat, one weight, one value. A scrap lot is different — many buyers weigh a mixed pile all at once and price the entire lot at its lowest karat unless you've sorted it first, since testing each piece individually takes them time. Sorting by karat before you sell (a cheap at-home magnet test plus a jeweler's acid test, or asking the buyer to test each piece separately) can meaningfully change what you're offered on a mixed lot. This calculator lets you enter each piece at its own real karat and weight so you can see what the lot is actually worth sorted, before you decide whether it's worth the extra step.
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24K Gold
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22K Gold
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18K Gold
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14K Gold
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10K Gold
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Cash for Gold
Single item, buyer estimate
Jewelry Value Calculator
Ring, chain & bracelet presets
Main Calculator
All karats in one tool
Methodology
Data source & formula
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the total gold content across everything you're selling — add each piece's weight and karat above and the calculator sums the melt value automatically. The buyer-offer range shown below the total reflects that most buyers pay a discount off that melt value, not the full amount.
Melt value = weight in grams × the live price per gram for that karat — this is what people often mean by a "gold melt value calculator." For a mixed lot, each piece is calculated at its own karat and then added together — that's exactly what the multi-item calculator above does, rather than assuming one karat for the whole lot.
Often, yes — many buyers weigh an unsorted lot together and price it at its lowest karat present, since testing each piece separately takes them extra time. Sorting your gold by karat before selling (or asking the buyer to test each piece individually) can get you closer to the lot's true blended value instead of the lowest-karat shortcut.
Use whatever your scale actually reads. Many US pawn shops and jewelers weigh scrap gold in pennyweight (dwt) rather than grams, and larger lots or bars are sometimes weighed in troy ounces. Pick the matching unit for each row and the calculator converts everything to grams internally before totaling.
A refiner melts the lot down, assays it (chemically tests the exact purity) and separates the pure gold from any alloy metals — that's their core business, so they're often set up to pay closer to true melt value on larger lots. A pawn shop or general gold buyer usually resells or sends items to a refiner themselves, so their offer typically includes an extra margin for that middle step.