Five questions to ask any buyer before you hand over your gold

Selling your gold is usually not a casual decision. Maybe it is a wedding expense, a hospital bill, or just the month running tight before the salary comes in. Whatever the reason, you are handing over something that has been sitting in your house for years, sometimes decades, and you want to know the person on the other side of the counter is being straight with you.

You do not need to be an expert to check that. You need five questions. Ask them at any shop, including ours. A buyer who is confident in how they work will answer all five without blinking. A buyer who changes the subject, laughs it off, or tells you not to worry about it is telling you something important.

The five questions

1. Will you test my gold in front of me, and on what machine?

This is the most basic question and the easiest one to dodge. A shop that tests your gold behind a curtain, or tells you to "trust the result," is asking you to skip the one part of the transaction you can actually watch. A karatmeter test takes a couple of minutes and the reading appears on a screen you can see. If a buyer cannot show you the machine and the reading, walk out. We have written about exactly how this reading is taken, step by step, if you want to know what to expect before you go anywhere: how a karatmeter reading is taken.

2. What is today's rate, and how does my jewellery's rate differ from it?

The rate you see on the news or on Google is for 24k fine gold traded in bulk. Your jewellery is almost never 24k, and it was sold to you as a finished piece, not raw metal. A buyer should be able to tell you the rate they are using today, and explain in plain terms why your 22k necklace or 18k ring is not paid at that headline number. If they just repeat "aaj ka rate yehi hai" without explaining the gap, ask again. We have a full explanation of this if you want the background: [why the gold rate in the news is not what you get paid] (/blog/why-the-gold-rate-in-the-news-is-not-what-you-get-paid). You can also check the current reference rate anytime at gold rate today.

3. Will you weigh my gold before and after any cleaning or cutting?

Some shops clean a piece, or snip a small sample for testing, before they weigh it. That is normal. What is not normal is doing this without showing you the weight first. Ask the buyer to weigh your piece in front of you before anything touches it, and again if any part of it is altered during testing. Two numbers on a scale, both of which you watched happen, are hard to argue with later.

4. What exactly are you deducting, and how much is it?

Making charges, wastage, a "processing fee," a round-off against your favour — these show up under different names at different shops. None of this is dishonest by itself. What matters is whether the buyer states the deduction as a clear number before the final payout is calculated, or whether it only appears as a smaller-than-expected figure at the end with no explanation. Ask for the deduction in rupees, not a vague percentage you cannot check. If the rate per gram, the weight, and the deduction are each stated separately, you can do the arithmetic yourself and see if the final number adds up.

5. Will I get a signed receipt or memo for what I sold?

This is the one question that costs a buyer nothing to answer yes to, and yet some shops still avoid it. A memo with the date, the weight, the purity recorded, and the amount paid protects you if any question comes up later, including for your own records at home. If a buyer hesitates on paperwork after having no trouble weighing and testing your gold, that hesitation itself is worth noting.

Why hesitation is the answer

None of these five questions are hard to answer if a shop actually works the way it claims to. That is the entire point of asking them. You are not trying to catch anyone out. You are watching how quickly and plainly they respond.

A good buyer will:

• Point you to the karatmeter and let you watch the reading
• State today's rate and explain the difference for your purity
• Weigh in front of you, before and after any cutting
• Name every deduction in rupees before the final number
• Hand you a memo without being asked twice

A buyer who is worth walking away from will do the opposite: rush you past the scale, quote a number with no breakdown, or tell you the paperwork is "not needed for small amounts." None of these are illegal, but none of them are how a transparent shop behaves either.

What to expect when you ask us

If you bring your gold to us and ask these five questions, here is what happens. We test on a karatmeter while you stand at the counter and watch the reading yourself. We tell you today's rate and walk you through why your piece's purity changes the number. We weigh before and after any testing cut, in front of you. We break down any deduction in rupees before we tell you the final payout. And we give you a memo for the transaction, whether your piece is small or large.

We are not asking you to take our word for any of this. We are asking you to watch it happen, and to ask the same five questions at any other shop you compare us against. If you want to know what to bring with you so the process goes faster once you arrive, we have covered that separately: [what to bring when you come to sell gold] (/blog/what-to-bring-when-you-sell-gold).

Purana sona is not something you sell every day, so there is no reason to rush the questions before you do. Ask them, listen to how they are answered, and only then decide where you hand it over.

How the karatmeter reading is taken ·

Questions people ask

What is the first question to ask a gold buyer? How purity is measured. If the answer is not a machine reading you can watch, the price cannot be checked, whatever rate is quoted.

Should I get quotes from more than one buyer? Yes, as long as each gives you purity, weight and rate separately. A single total number cannot be compared against another single total number.

Can I ask for the rate over the phone? Yes. Call or WhatsApp 9217742656 and we will give you the day's 22 karat buying rate and a range for your piece from a photo and rough weight.

Why the published rate is not your payout