How we calculate prices and premiums

Spot prices

Spot prices come from a commercial metals data feed, quoted in Canadian dollars per troy ounce. We convert to grams (31.1035 g per troy ounce), kilograms and pennyweight (1.5552 g) ourselves. Spot prices refresh every 2 hours, and every page shows the time the price was set.

Daily change compares the latest price with the previous day's closing price. Chart ranges of a week or longer use daily closing prices.

Melt value

melt value = weight in troy ounces × purity × spot price. Purity is a fraction: 24k gold is 1, 14k is 14/24 (0.583), sterling silver is 0.925. For a product, we use its fine metal content, so a 1 oz Gold Maple Leaf has a melt value of exactly one ounce at spot.

Dealer premiums

The premium is what a dealer charges above melt value (some columns say "over melt value"; on this site that is the same figure as "premium over spot"). premium = dealer price − melt value, and premium % = premium ÷ melt value. Melt value uses the spot price from the moment the dealer's price was collected, not the price at the time you load the page, and the page says which spot quote it used. We use the price for a single unit. Shipping, insurance, payment fees, tax and volume discounts are not included; each dealer's shipping and payment terms are on each offer, behind its shipping chip, so you can work out your own total.

Prices are shown as the dealer lists them. Investment-grade bullion (gold or platinum of at least 99.5% purity, silver of at least 99.9%) is GST/HST exempt, so the price is what you pay. Anything below those purity thresholds, such as a 22 karat coin at 91.67%, is taxable: its price carries a "plus GST/HST" note and the tax is added at checkout. We decide this from the metal and purity alone, never from the product name. See the GST/HST guide.

Like-for-like products

Each product has one specification: weight, purity, and a named brand or mint (for example Royal Canadian Mint, Asahi, PAMP Suisse), or "assorted" for bars sold without a named refiner. A branded bar is only compared with the same brand in new condition. Assorted bars are mostly secondary-market stock, and they are compared only with other assorted bars, never with new branded ones; their pages say so. Coins are compared by mint and may be any bullion year. Bullion coins of different mint years are treated as comparable. Every row shows the actual brand and year, and a listing a dealer does not describe clearly enough to tell its condition is left out.

Payment method

Dealers usually charge less for bank payment than for credit card or PayPal. Bank methods are e-Transfer, wire or bank draft, depending on the dealer. We record both where the dealer publishes them, compare on bank (e-Transfer or wire) by default, and let you switch to card. When a dealer only publishes one of the two, or does not say which method a price is for, the row shows that price with a label and it is never ranked against the other method. Where a dealer's card price is calculated from its bank price (for example, the bank price plus 4%), it is marked "est.", and a card price above the dealer's per-order card limit is shown but never ranked.

The lowest price marker

The tag reads "Lowest item price". It goes to the cheapest offer you can actually buy: it is in stock or available to order, the dealer ships it, its price was checked in the last 3 hours, and it is priced on the payment method you selected. It compares item prices only, not what you pay at checkout, because shipping differs by dealer and order size. Out-of-stock, stale, pickup-only and other-method offers stay in the table but are never marked lowest.

"Available to order" means the dealer takes orders now with a delivery delay (a back-order or pre-order). Those offers are ranked and show the dealer's delivery estimate ("Ships in 5–10 days"), or "Available to order" when there is none. The "In stock only" filter leaves them out.

Shipping

Dealers charge for shipping in different ways: a flat fee under a minimum order and free shipping above it, a fee they do not publish, or insurance that is limited or unclear. Each offer has a shipping chip that opens the terms the dealer publishes, and where a dealer does not publish a fee we say so instead of guessing. A figure from one of our own test carts is shown as "about" with the month it was checked, never as a fixed fee. Free in-store pickup is listed where a dealer offers it. A cheaper item price can cost more at checkout, especially on small orders, so check the terms for your order size.

How dealer prices are collected

We read each dealer's public product pages once an hour, and only where the dealer's robots.txt and terms of use allow automated access. Dealers that do not allow it are left out until they agree to share a feed. Every price shows when it was last collected.

Which dealers we list

• They sell to Canadian buyers and price in Canadian dollars.
• They publish prices online or on request for the products we track.
• They have a physical address in Canada.

Dealers cannot pay to be listed or to change their position. Sorting is always by the figures in the table.

Corrections

If a figure looks wrong, tell us through the about page and we will check it against the source.