The same gold items can be worth €800 or over €1,128 — depending on who you sell them to. We obtained offers from five different buyers for the same bag of three pieces of jewellery. The difference between the best and worst offer was over €320.
The results are below. We report honestly how Gold Lab fared in the comparison.
The comparison setup
Buyers compared:
- Helsingin pantti (Kamppi branch)
- Holmasto (Alexanderinkatu)
- KultaRahaksi (Ateneum customer point)
- Laatukoru (Pohjoisesplanadi)
- Gold Lab (all of Finland)
Gold items:
- Bracelet, 14K, approx. 11.4 g
- Ring, 14K, approx. 9.4 g
- Cross and chain, 14K, approx. 2.05 g
Overall result — all three items combined
| Buyer | Offer | Difference vs. best |
|---|---|---|
| Helsingin pantti | €800.00 | −€328.78 |
| Holmasto | €893.00 | −€235.78 |
| KultaRahaksi | €895.77 | −€233.01 |
| Laatukoru | €1,039.00 | −€89.78 |
| Gold Lab Best | €1,128.78 | — |
Gold Lab paid for three gold items €328.78, i.e. 41% more than Helsingin pantti. The gap between Laatukoru and Gold Lab is the smallest — approx. €90 — but Gold Lab still pays the most for gold.
A difference of over three hundred euros in different buyers' offers for the same gold items is typical in an industry where prices are not public. The same gold can be worth €800 in one place and €1,128 in another.
What happened when we looked at individual items
Bracelet — 14K, ~11.36 g
| Buyer | Offer |
|---|---|
| Helsingin pantti | €400.00 |
| Holmasto | €445.00 |
| KultaRahaksi | €445.53 |
| Laatukoru | €516.77 |
| Gold Lab Best | €541.45 |
Gold Lab paid the most. The difference compared with Helsingin pantti was €141.
Ring — 14K, ~9.43 g
| Buyer | Offer |
|---|---|
| Helsingin pantti | €330.00 |
| Holmasto | €368.00 |
| KultaRahaksi | €369.45 |
| Laatukoru | €428.97 |
| Gold Lab Best | €442.71 |
Gold Lab paid the most; the difference compared with the pawnbroker was €113.
Cross and chain — 14K, ~2.05 g
| Buyer | Offer |
|---|---|
| Gold Lab 5/5 | €65.13 |
| Helsingin pantti | €70.00 |
| Holmasto | €80.00 |
| KultaRahaksi | €80.79 |
| Laatukoru Best | €93.26 |
For the small item of just 2.05 grams we came last out of five buyers. Laatukoru paid €28 more than we did for the small item. That was a surprise even for us — and it reveals something important about our pricing model.
Why Gold Lab lost on the small item
Gold Lab's model is simple:
world market price − refining fee (8.9%) − service fee (€39.75) = what we pay you
Our service fee is fixed. It covers insured postage (€24.75) and laboratory assessment (€15.00). These costs do not depend on the size of the item, so transporting and assessing a small cross costs us the same as a heavy bracelet.
For a very small item (2.05 g) the fixed service fee eats too large a share of the gross value. For the bracelet (11.36 g, 14K) the same service fee represents proportionally only 6.2% of the gross value. That is why Gold Lab is a clear winner for larger items.
What this means for the gold seller
Gold Lab makes sense when the value of the item is above approximately €150–200 (approx. 2–3 grams of 14K gold). For smaller amounts the fixed service fee eats too large a share of the price and a local shop may be a better option.
Important to note: Laatukoru was the best option only for the very small cross. As soon as the item's value exceeds approx. €200, Gold Lab paid the highest price for all items compared by HS.
If you have a mixed batch of gold items — both small and larger — Gold Lab is in practice almost always the best overall option. Our service fee is charged for the entire shipment only once. This means that when you send several small items in the same batch you get a very competitive price for each item.
Why Laatukoru was so close to Gold Lab
Laatukoru was a clear second in HS's comparison — and for the total bag it trailed Gold Lab by only approx. €90. That is a good result, and it is honest to acknowledge it.
However, Laatukoru has an important difference: the HS article notes that at Laatukoru, gold jewellery is sent to a workshop for a more thorough assessment by a goldsmith, and the final price offer is only given after that. If the customer does not sell the jewellery to Laatukoru, the assessment costs €10.
Gold Lab's model works differently. You can always calculate Gold Lab's price in advance from the public spot price, the refining fee percentage (8.9%) and the service fee (€39.75). You don't need us to calculate what you would receive for your gold — you can compare it against any other offer before sending items to anyone.
That is the heart of radical transparency. The price is not an opinion or a matter for negotiation. It is the mathematical result of three public figures: weight × purity × market price.
Summary
| Item | Best buyer | Gold Lab's ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Entire bag (22.84 g) | Gold Lab | 1 / 5 |
| Bracelet (11.36 g) | Gold Lab | 1 / 5 |
| Ring (9.43 g) | Gold Lab | 1 / 5 |
| Cross and chain (2.05 g) | Laatukoru | 5 / 5 |
Gold Lab pays the most when the item's value is approximately €200 or more. For smaller individual items our fixed service fee of €39.75 takes a significant share of the price and a local alternative may be more sensible.