As you know, the gold selling price depends upon where you’re planning to sell your gold.

If you’ve purchased gold as a commodity, then today’s gold price will give you an idea of what you can expect to gain from a sale.

But if you’re thinking of selling scrap gold, that’s a whole different story.

When it comes to scrap gold, there are several different things to keep in mind.

First off, you can expect most (realistically, all) buyers to make a profit from your sale. That means whoever is buying from you–jewelery store, pawn shop, gold dealer–is usually going to give you less money for your gold than the market tells you it’s worth.

That makes sense, because any business has to make a profit in order to stay in business. Businesses that trade and deal in precious metals are no different. You can expect that the gold selling price you’re offered will be less than the stock market would tell you your gold is worth.

If you’re planning to sell your gold in the marketplace–as opposed to through the stock market–you can use our free gold price calculator to get an idea of how much money you might expect to get for the sale. Our calculator automatically figures in the average amount of cash a dealer will expect to keep, in exchange for buying your gold. This gives a more realistic idea of how much money you can expect to put in your pocket.

Click here to use our our free calculator.

Also keep in mind that any precious stones in your jewelery should be considered separately from the gold. Be sure to get an estimate of their value, apart from the actual gold metal. And if your jewelery is well-made, and the craftmanship is exceptional, make sure you consider getting an estimate for the jewelery as a whole–not just as scrap gold. Your gold jewelery may be more valuable when sold “as is,” if it shows excellent craftsmanship.

The gold selling price also varies depending on location; even just from city to city, you can find a lot of variation. Take the time to compare offers with several dealers, in order to get the best value for your sale.