If you are looking to sell gold in Kelowna, 5 Star Gold Silver & Diamond tests and weighs each piece in front of you and calculates the offer from the live gold spot price at the time of your visit. We buy karat gold jewellery, broken and unmarked pieces, coins, bars and dental gold at our Banks Road office. Assessments are free, there is no obligation to sell, and if you accept, you are paid before you leave.
Not all gold is priced the same way, and understanding the difference helps you know what to expect before you arrive. Gold jewellery is stamped with a karat mark, usually somewhere between 10k and 24k, which tells you what percentage of the piece is pure gold rather than alloy. A 10k chain and a 22k bangle of the same weight are worth noticeably different amounts, which is why testing purity is the first step in any accurate offer.
From there, most items fall into one of two categories. Scrap gold, broken clasps, single earrings, outdated styles, is valued on a per-gram basis tied to its karat and the current spot price. Collectable or designer pieces, on the other hand, can carry value beyond their metal content, so those are assessed separately before a scrap price is ever applied.
Spot price itself moves throughout the trading day, set by the global gold market rather than any local business. We check the live spot price at the time of your visit and calculate your offer from that figure, so the number you’re quoted reflects the market in that moment, not a rate from last week or last month.
Gold arrives in forms that are valued in genuinely different ways, so it is worth knowing which category your item falls into.
Karat jewellery (10k to 24k). Priced per gram against the karat and the live spot price. A 10k piece is 41.7% gold, 14k is 58.3%, 18k is 75%. European marks 375, 585 and 750 mean the same three purities. Two chains of identical weight in different karats are worth substantially different amounts.
Broken, tangled and unmarked gold. Condition does not reduce metal value. A snapped chain is worth the same per gram as an intact one of the same purity. Unmarked pieces are tested on site to establish purity before an offer is made.
Bullion bars and investment coins. Assessed on their gold content against spot rather than on collectability, so a Maple Leaf, a Krugerrand and a refined bar of the same fine-gold weight sit close together in value.
Dental gold. Crowns, bridges and inlays are usually a lower-karat alloy blended for hardness, so they are tested rather than assumed. Non-gold components are separated out before weighing.
Gold-filled and gold-plated. These carry a fraction of the gold of solid pieces of the same size, and thin plating is often not worth processing. We test and tell you on the spot.
Pieces that are worth more as jewellery than as metal are set aside and assessed separately before any scrap price is applied. See sell jewellery Kelowna and sell estate jewellery Kelowna. For platinum, see sell platinum in Kelowna.
Purity is established first. Every piece is tested rather than taken from the stamp alone, since stamps can be worn, absent or wrong. Testing is done at the counter where you can watch it. Our article on how gold is verified explains the process.
Each purity is weighed separately. A mixed lot is sorted by karat and weighed group by group, not averaged down to the lowest purity in the bag. Gold is weighed in grams; bullion is usually quoted in troy ounces.
Non-gold parts come out of the weight. Steel clasps and springs, base-metal findings, watch movements and old solder repairs do not count toward what you are paid for. Gemstones are removed and either returned to you or valued separately, whichever you prefer.
The live spot price is checked at that moment. Gold trades continuously on the global market, and the figure used is the one showing during your visit rather than an in-house rate set earlier.
You get a figure per group and decide. Sell all of it, part of it, or none of it. If you would rather keep the gold, loans against gold or silver are available instead.
There is no waiting period built into selling gold here. Testing, weighing, the offer and payment all happen during the same visit, usually in minutes for a handful of items. Nothing is sent away for assessment, nothing goes on consignment, and no offer depends on us finding a buyer first. Weighing a sale against a pawn loan? Read pawn shop vs gold buyer.
What that looks like in practice:
The only requirement is government-issued photo ID, which we need before any purchase can be completed. Bring it with you, because without it the transaction cannot be finished on the day regardless of how straightforward the items are.
You are under no obligation at any point. If the figure is not what you hoped, you take your items and go, and there is no charge for the assessment.
These answers cover what determines a gold offer and what to expect at the counter.
Because you are paid for the gold content, not the object. 10k is 41.7% gold and 14k is 58.3%, so 14k carries roughly 40% more gold in the same weight. The rest of the alloy is copper, silver, nickel or zinc and does not carry meaningful value.
Yes. An unmarked piece is not automatically low quality, it just means the purity has to be established by testing rather than read off a mark. Plenty of older, handmade and overseas jewellery was never stamped.
Yes. Gold trades globally and the price moves through the trading day, so the same item can be worth a different amount next week in either direction. The figure you are quoted reflects the market at the time of your visit and is not held open.
Bullion coins such as Maple Leafs and Krugerrands are bought on gold content. Older and scarcer coins can carry numismatic value beyond their metal, and those are assessed separately rather than weighed as bullion. See sell coins Kelowna.
The whole transaction is completed in a single visit. A few pieces are typically assessed in minutes, and payment is made as soon as you accept the offer. Larger collections take longer to work through but still finish the same day. Bring government-issued photo ID, which is required before we can complete a purchase.
Government-issued photo ID, which is required before any purchase, and the items themselves. Nothing needs to be cleaned, sorted or repaired first.