Gold buying: publishing the rate is the whole marketing
The published rate does the work a slogan cannot. A total price is defined as the price payable including VAT and other components, and where a price is itemised the total has to be highlighted, so a rate published with its date and its deductions answers the only question a seller has. Everything else is decoration on top of it.
Why the rate is the marketing
Someone selling gold has one question: what will I be paid, and how was it calculated. Every other message competes with that question rather than answering it.
Publishing a rate answers it in public and invites comparison, which is exactly what a seller is going to do anyway across an average of six sources. Not publishing it asks them to travel in order to find out, and a seller who travels to three buyers remembers which one made them ask.
The legal frame points the same way. A total price is the price payable including VAT and other price components, and where a price is itemised the total has to be highlighted. Applied to a purchase rate, that is a readable habit: state what is paid, then the deductions, then the resulting figure.
And trust is the product. 68 percent of consumers will only use a business at four stars or better and 31 percent require 4.5, so in a trade where the customer cannot verify the assay themselves, the published number and the rating carry the entire decision.
What a published rate has to contain
Four items, and all four are countable. The rate per gram or per unit. The date and time it applies to, because the underlying market moves during the day. The purity it refers to, since 333, 585 and 750 are three different numbers. And the deductions, stated as a figure rather than as a phrase.
That is 4 values, updated as often as the market requires. A page carrying all four can be compared, and being comparable is the point: a seller who can compare you without travelling arrives having already decided.
The recency rule applies to reviews at the same time. 74 percent of consumers look for reviews from the last three months, and at 3 a month the window holds 9. In a trade with a trust problem, nine recent reviews do more than any wording on the page.
| Item | Why | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Rate per gram or unit | The question being asked | As the market moves |
| Date and time | Without it the number is not a price | Every update |
| Purity referred to | 333, 585 and 750 differ | Once, then maintained |
| Deductions as a figure | The total must be recognisable | Every update |
What to avoid
Do not publish a rate without its date. A number without a timestamp is not a price, it is an impression, and the first seller who is offered less will say so in public.
Do not describe deductions in words when they are a number. Where a price is itemised, the total has to be highlighted, and a deduction hidden in a sentence is the opposite of that.
Questions and answers
Do I have to publish my rate?
How often should it be updated?
Can I state deductions as a percentage?
Why do reviews matter so much here?
Sources
- Section 3 Preisangabenverordnung (PAngV) The duty to state total prices and highlight the total
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 Thresholds, sources consulted and recency
