What Is Spot Price, and Why Isn't It What You're Paid?

If you've priced out gold or silver online, you've run into "spot price" within the first few seconds. It's quoted on financial news sites, bullion dealer homepages, and the ticker on our own live prices page. But spot price and the check you walk away with are two different numbers, and understanding the gap between them is the single most useful thing to know before you sell.

Spot Price Is a Wholesale Benchmark, Not a Retail Offer

Spot price is the live, world-market price for one troy ounce of raw, unrefined gold or silver, set by continuous trading on global commodity exchanges. It updates by the second and it's the same number whether you're in Bloomfield Hills or Hong Kong. It assumes pure, fungible metal changing hands in bulk between institutions — not a single coin, bar, or piece of jewelry crossing a counter.

Why Your Payout Sits Below (or Above) Spot

When a dealer buys from the public, the price paid is almost always adjusted from spot, and that adjustment covers real costs: verifying authenticity and purity, the capital tied up holding inventory until it's resold, and a margin to keep the business running. When a dealer sells bullion, the price includes a similar margin in the other direction. Neither adjustment is a hidden fee — it's the same spread every dealer works with, and a transparent one should be easy to see and explain.

On our own live prices page, that adjustment is shown directly next to spot for each product, updating automatically throughout the day.

Not Everything Is Priced Off Spot

Bullion — rounds, bars, Eagles, sovereigns — tracks spot closely because its value is almost entirely its metal content. Collectible and numismatic coins are different: a Morgan or Peace dollar in exceptional condition can be worth many times its silver content, because collectors are paying for rarity and grade, not melt value. That's why those items are priced with a base value plus an assessment of condition, rather than a flat spot-based formula.

The Takeaway

Spot price is the honest starting point for any conversation about what your gold or silver is worth — but it's a benchmark, not a quote. A dealer who shows you live spot next to their actual buy price, and explains the difference, is showing you the whole picture.