Last updated: 28 May 2026
BullionFerret compares bullion prices across dealers in multiple countries. This page explains how we collect, process, and display that data.
How we calculate premiums
Comparing bullion by absolute price is misleading: a 1/10oz coin and a 10oz bar have very different price tags but may offer similar value relative to the metal. We use premium instead: how much a dealer charges above the metal's current spot value, expressed as a percentage. Lower is better.
- Calculated on fine metal content, not total coin weight. A 1oz Krugerrand (22ct) contains 31.1g of fine gold in a 33.9g coin. We use the 31.1g.
- Purity is factored in when a product is classified. The stored weight always represents pure metal, so products with different purities are compared on equal terms.
- The formula:
((price − spot value) / spot value) × 100, where spot value = spot price per troy oz × fine metal weight in troy oz. - Tubes and monster boxes are divided to show the per-coin price.
Why premium works
Premium normalises away the variables that make direct price comparison misleading:
- Size: a 1/10oz coin and a 1kg bar are compared on the same scale.
- Purity: a .9167 Krugerrand and a .9999 Maple Leaf are compared by fine metal content.
- Tax: all premiums are calculated on the price excluding VAT and sales tax.
- Currency: premiums are percentages relative to spot, so they are inherently currency-neutral.
All prices are shown excluding tax
- All prices on BullionFerret are shown excluding VAT and sales tax.
- When a dealer's listed price includes tax, we detect and strip it before calculating the premium.
- Tax treatment varies by country, metal, and product form. For example, investment gold is VAT-exempt in the EU and UK, while silver typically carries full VAT.
- This ensures premiums are comparable regardless of where a dealer is based.
What we track
We focus on generic investment bullion, products bought primarily for their metal content, where the price closely tracks the underlying spot price plus a dealer markup.
- Physical bullion for delivery: coins, bars, and rounds.
- Gold, silver, and platinum.
- Minimum purity: 999 fine (plus 22ct/916 sovereign-type coins).
- Both in-stock and out-of-stock products. Restocking moments matter.
- Prices shown are the dealer's listed price before any quantity discounts.
- Minimum price threshold applied to filter accessories and non-bullion items.
What we exclude
We exclude anything where the price is significantly driven by factors other than metal content: collectibility, rarity, licensing, or numismatic value.
- Proof and burnished coins: premiums reflect collectibility, not metal value.
- Graded and slabbed coins: NGC, PCGS, and other third-party graded products carry numismatic premiums.
- Licensed and themed products: Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, etc.
- Plated, replica, and non-precious metals: not bullion.
- Vaulted and stored products: we only track physical delivery.
- Ancient, medieval, and numismatic coins: collector market, not bullion market.
- Historical currency: pre-decimal coins, crowns, florins, francs, guilders, pesos, and similar circulated items.
- Low-purity items: 9ct, 14ct, 18ct jewellery-grade gold, 40% or 90% silver.
- Accessories: capsules, storage boxes, gift cards.
Over 400 exclusion patterns are applied automatically when products are discovered and on every subsequent price check.
How products are grouped
Grouping lets you compare the same product across dealers on a single page, so you can find the best price for the exact item you want.
- Coins are grouped by weight, metal, and series. A Britannia is distinct from a Maple Leaf.
- Bars are grouped by weight and metal. Named product lines (Fortuna, CombiBar, Kinebar) get their own groups. Plain bars from different refineries are compared together.
- Pre-owned products are tracked separately. They carry lower premiums and should not be mixed with new products.
Display criteria
We'd rather show fewer results that are reliable than more results that include stale prices or extraction errors. Not every product we track appears on the site. To be shown, a product must:
- Be classified: identified by metal type, weight, purity, and product category.
- Have a confirmed, recent price.
- Have passed several successful price checks (to filter extraction errors).
- Not have a premium that is statistically anomalous for its product group.
- Belong to an active dealer.
Product groups (e.g. "1oz Gold Britannia") appear on browse pages only when at least two dealers offer that product. Single-dealer products still appear in search results and on dealer pages.
Price checking
Frequent checks keep prices current, but checking too aggressively would burden dealer websites. Our intervals balance freshness against being a good neighbour.
- Active products are checked every 10 to 90 minutes depending on the dealer.
- Out-of-stock products are checked less frequently.
- Spot prices are refreshed every 5 minutes. These are indicative mid-market prices sourced from third-party market data, not real-time trading quotes.
Premium history charts
Historical premium data helps you judge whether today's prices are high or low in context: whether the current premium is near a multi-year low or elevated by a supply squeeze.
- Charts show the best dealer premium, worst dealer premium, and average spread over time.
- Historical data sourced from web archive research, covering 2017 onwards.
- Premiums are calculated excluding VAT/GST, so they are comparable across countries regardless of local tax rules.
- Historical data is primarily from US dealers. Data from other countries appears as those dealers are onboarded.
- Legitimate premium spikes during market events (COVID 2020, silver shortage 2022) are real data.
- Historical data may have gaps on some dates.
Countries and currencies
We focus on English-speaking markets where bullion buying is most common, expanding to more countries over time. We include any dealer with an English-language website that sells bullion to the public at listed prices.
- We currently track dealers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Ireland, and parts of Europe.
- Nine currencies supported: USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD, NZD, ZAR, SGD, HKD.
- Prices are shown in your local currency, auto-detected on first visit.
- You can switch currency and weight unit (per gram or per troy ounce) at any time.
- Exchange rates are sourced from the European Central Bank and updated daily. Converted prices are approximate. The rate you receive from your bank or payment provider will differ.
Dealers
Trust in comparison results depends on independence. Commercial relationships never influence what you see.
- Dealers are sorted by premium. No dealer can pay for preferential placement in our comparison results.
- We may earn referral commissions from some dealers through affiliate programmes, but this never affects display order.
- We review dealers before adding them and will remove dealers that appear untrustworthy, consistently misrepresent prices, or cease trading.
- A dealer's inclusion is not an endorsement. We recommend researching any dealer before purchasing.
- Dealer country is indicated alongside each listing.
Glitch detection
Pricing errors happen: a decimal point in the wrong place, a stale cache, a currency mismatch. When a price drops far below normal, it could be a genuine opportunity or a mistake. We flag these so you can act quickly while being aware of the risk.
- When a product's premium drops unusually far below its normal range, the system flags it as a suspected glitch.
- The product page is then re-scraped and reviewed by an AI model (Claude) that independently reads the dealer's page, locates the price, and cross-references it against comparable products from other dealers.
- Only glitches confirmed by this validation process are published. Unconfirmed detections are held for manual review.
- Glitch detection is automated and imperfect: it may flag intentional price drops or miss genuine mistakes.
- Glitch alerts are informational only. Always verify directly with the dealer before purchasing.
Data quality
Automated price extraction from dealer websites is inherently imperfect. Rather than showing everything and letting errors through, we apply multiple layers of validation so that what reaches the site is trustworthy.
- All prices are sourced directly from dealer websites.
- Automated checks flag and remove extraction errors, multi-pack pricing mistakes, and other anomalies.
- Historical data comes from web archive research and may not cover every dealer or every date.
- We continuously review and improve data quality.