The Bid-Ask Spread in Bullion Explained

Short answer: the ask is the price a dealer sells to you, and the bid is the price a dealer pays you. The gap between them, the spread, is the cost of buying and then selling again. A wider spread means the metal has to rise further before you break even.

Two prices for every product

A dealer might sell a coin for a price above spot and buy the same coin back for a price close to or below spot. Together, those two figures are the bid-ask spread.

A worked example

Suppose a coin's melt value is 2,000. A dealer sells it at 2,100 and buys it back at 1,990. The spread is 110, about 5.2% of the sale price. If you buy and sell at once, you lose that 110. For you to break even, the melt value has to rise by that much.

Why spreads differ

• Small and collectible items usually have wider spreads than large, popular products.
• Dealers with higher volumes can often offer tighter spreads.
• Spreads widen when the market is volatile or demand is thin.

Measure it before you buy

Ask for the buyback price as well as the sale price. The bullion profit calculator shows how a selling fee changes your result.

Think long term

The spread matters less the longer you hold, because the metal's price movement has more time to outweigh it. It matters a great deal if you might sell soon.