How to read a jeweller’s bill for gold

A gold jewellery bill is five or six numbers multiplied and added together. Once you know what each line is, you can check the total yourself in a minute, and you can see exactly where one shop is dearer than another.

The lines, in order

Gross weight. The piece on the scale, in grams, usually to two or three decimals. Stones, enamel, lac and any non-gold parts are weighed with it.

Net weight. Gross weight minus stones and other non-gold parts. This is the weight you pay the gold rate on. A piece with heavy stones can have a net weight well below its gross weight, so a bill that shows only a gross weight for a stone-set piece is worth questioning.

Purity. The fineness of the gold, written as a karat and a number: 22K916, 18K750, 14K585 or 24K999. The number is parts of pure gold per thousand. The BIS hallmark on the piece carries the same grade, so the bill and the hallmark must agree.

Rate per gram. The gold rate the shop is applying for that purity on that day. Most shops quote 22K per gram or per 10 grams; the two differ only by a factor of ten. This is the line to compare with the benchmark: the IBJA publishes a national rate for each fineness twice a day, and the gold pages on this site show it for 24K, 22K and 18K. A shop’s rate is normally a little above the IBJA figure — that difference is the shop’s margin on the metal, before any making charge.

Gold value. Net weight × rate per gram. If the bill’s gold value does not equal those two lines multiplied, ask.

Making charge. The price of the work, either as a percentage of the gold value or as a flat amount per gram. The percentage form is common for plain and machine-made pieces; per-gram charges are common for hand-made and stone-set work. Making charges vary far more between shops than the gold rate does, which is why two bills for the same weight can differ by thousands of rupees.

Wastage, if shown separately, is an old practice of charging for gold lost in making. Many shops fold it into the making charge; if it appears as its own line, it is part of the price of the work and should be compared as such.

Hallmarking charge. BIS fixes a small fee for hallmarking each article at an assaying centre; shops pass it on per piece.

GST. Under the CBIC rate schedule, gold and gold jewellery carry 3% GST, and jewellery job work carries 5%. Shops bill this either as 3% on the whole invoice or as 3% on the gold and 5% on a separately billed making charge. Either way, the tax lines should state the rate and the base they apply to.

Checking the total

Take the net weight and the rate from the bill and multiply them: that is the gold value. Add the making charge as the bill states it (percentage of gold value, or per gram × net weight), add the hallmarking charge, and apply GST. If the shop’s total is higher than yours, one of the lines is being applied differently from how it is printed — usually the making charge, which is sometimes calculated on gross weight instead of net.

The gold price calculator on this site does this arithmetic at the IBJA benchmark: put in the weight, the purity and the making charge, and it shows the gold value, the making charge, the GST and the total. The gap between that figure and the shop’s total is the shop’s own margin on the metal.

What the bill should always carry

• the shop’s GSTIN and the invoice number and date;
• gross and net weight, purity and the rate per gram, each as its own line;
• the hallmark’s identification (see the guide on the BIS hallmark and HUID), so the piece can be traced;
• the making charge stated the way it was calculated.

A bill with these lines is also what makes selling the piece back later easier: the weight and purity are on paper, and the buyer can check the hallmark against them.