How much could I lose if I bought gold and immediately sold it back?

If you bought gold and sold it straight back, you would lose the gap between the price you pay and the price a dealer buys it back at. For common bullion that is usually somewhere around 3% to 8% of the value, before any delivery cost. It is the main reason gold suits a long-term hold rather than a quick trade.

Where the loss comes from

You buy at spot plus the dealer's premium. When you sell, the dealer buys back at, or a little below, spot, so they can resell at a profit. The round-trip cost is the buy premium plus the sell discount. On a low-premium 1oz bar that might be a few per cent; on higher-premium coins or small bars it is more.

A worked example

Say spot is around £3,230 an ounce (September 2026). You buy a 1oz bar at a 3% premium, so about £3,327. If the dealer buys it back at spot, you would get about £3,230, so selling the same day you are down roughly £97, close to 3%, plus any delivery you paid. Buy a coin at a 5% premium and sell at spot, and the gap is nearer 5%. These figures are illustrative, so always check each dealer's live buy and sell prices.

Delivery and buy-back terms matter too

Delivery adds to your buying cost, and buy-back terms vary: some dealers pay full spot, some a little under, and some only buy back their own products. A dealer with a low buy premium and a strong buy-back price costs you the least over a round trip, which is why it pays to compare more than just the purchase price.

The takeaway

Gold has to rise by at least the spread before you break even, so it fits buying and holding rather than short-term trading. When you compare dealers, look at the buy-back price alongside the premium. Our tool shows the buy-back figure where dealers publish it, so you can weigh the full round-trip cost, not just what it costs to buy.

This is general information, not financial advice.