Selling gold in Singapore — whether it’s old jewellery, a gift, or bullion bars and coins you bought as an investment — comes down to picking the right type of buyer for what you actually have, and knowing enough about how pricing works that you can tell a fair offer from a lowball one.
This article explains how gold-selling channels and pricing generally work. Always check the live spot gold price and get more than one quote before selling — don’t rely on a number from any single source, including this one.
The main places you can sell
Pawnshops
Licensed pawnshops (regulated under the Pawnbrokers Act) are a common option for gold jewellery, especially if you’re selling something you’d pledged before or want a fast, no-questions transaction. They typically weigh and assess purity on the spot and pay out quickly, often in cash. The trade-off is that pawnshops build in a margin to cover their own resale risk and costs, so their outright purchase offer is usually below what a specialised bullion dealer might pay for the same weight of pure gold, particularly for jewellery where craftsmanship value doesn’t carry over into a resale offer.
Jewellers and goldsmiths
Established jewellers, particularly ones that also buy back gold (not all do), are another option for jewellery specifically. Some offer a trade-in credit toward new purchases that’s more generous than their cash buyback price — worth asking about explicitly if you’re open to trading in rather than needing cash. Jewellers assess purity and weight similarly to pawnshops but pricing structures vary a lot between individual shops, so this is a category where shopping around matters more than usual.
Bullion and precious metals dealers
For gold bars, coins, or other investment-grade bullion (as opposed to jewellery), specialised bullion dealers tend to offer pricing closer to the actual spot gold price, since they’re not discounting for jewellery craftsmanship or retail markup considerations — they’re buying and reselling essentially standardised product. If what you’re selling is investment gold rather than jewellery, this is usually the category worth prioritising for the best price, though you should still compare a couple of dealers rather than assuming any one is the most competitive.
Gold buyback programmes tied to where you bought it
If you originally bought your gold from a specific dealer or bank programme that offers a buyback option — like UOB’s Gold & Silver Savings Account — it’s worth checking their current buyback terms — some buy back at a spread close to the live spot price with minimal hassle, since they don’t need to reassess authenticity as thoroughly for gold they sold you in the first place.
What actually determines the price you’re offered
- Purity (fineness) — usually expressed in karats for jewellery (e.g. 22K, 18K) or as a percentage/fineness for bullion (e.g. 999.9). Higher purity gold is worth more per gram, and any buyer should be testing or verifying this, not just taking your word for it.
- Weight — measured precisely on a calibrated scale; ask to see the reading yourself.
- Current spot gold price — the live global market price of gold, which moves throughout the trading day. Any legitimate buyer’s offer should be traceable back to a spot price you can check independently at the time of the transaction.
- The buyer’s margin — the difference between the spot-price-equivalent value of your gold and what they actually offer you. This margin is how the buyer makes money and covers their risk, and it varies significantly between pawnshops, jewellers, and bullion dealers.
- Item-specific factors — for jewellery, gemstones or non-gold components typically aren’t valued as gold at all and may be priced separately, or not at all, depending on the buyer.
How to check you’re getting a fair price
- Check the current spot gold price yourself before you go anywhere, from a live market source, and know roughly what price per gram that translates to at the purity you’re selling.
- Get quotes from more than one type of buyer — a pawnshop, a jeweller, and a bullion dealer if applicable — rather than accepting the first offer.
- Ask how they’re testing purity and whether you can watch the weighing process. A reputable buyer won’t have an issue with this.
- Understand the margin you’re accepting. A quote noticeably below the spot-price-equivalent for your item’s weight and purity is either compensating for their resale risk (fair) or is simply a lowball offer (not fair) — the way to tell the difference is by comparing multiple quotes.
- Bring original documentation if you have it — receipts, certificates of authenticity, or assay certificates for bullion can sometimes support a better offer since it reduces the buyer’s verification effort.
For more on building a low-risk portfolio alongside any gold you hold onto, browse our Passive Income & Beginner Investing hub.
The bottom line
Jewellery generally sells best through pawnshops or jewellers, while investment-grade bullion generally gets closer to spot price through specialised dealers. Whatever you’re selling, the single best thing you can do is check the live spot price yourself and collect more than one quote before deciding — the spread between the best and worst offer on the same item is often larger than people expect.