How we count

The market rate

IBJA’s rate for a piece’s own purity (999.9 and 999 at the 999 rate, 995 at 995, 916 or 22K at 916), plus the 3% GST every buyer pays on gold. IBJA, the India Bullion and Jewellers Association, publishes its rates twice a working day; they are India’s benchmark and carry no GST and no making charge. Amazon’s prices include GST, so this is the fair line to hold them against.

Above or below market

What you pay, against the same gold at the market rate. Green, below market: you pay less than the gold and its tax are worth. Red, above market: you pay more, for making, packing or margin.

Coupons and cashback

When Amazon runs its own promotion on gold, such as Amazon Pay cashback or a coupon, Gold1A reads the terms on Amazon’s page and counts it only on the pieces those terms name, only between Amazon’s own dates, and only when what you pay after the card reaches its minimum. Cashback arrives later, so each card shows what you pay at checkout and what it works out to. Some of these offers are for select customers: check that your account has it before you buy. A switch on the page leaves them out.

Card offers

Amazon’s API does not carry bank offers, so Gold1A reads each bank’s own page for its Amazon sale offer every five minutes.

SBI Credit Card, Thu 8 Oct to Tue 20 Oct:

• Thu 8 Oct to Sun 11 Oct: 10% off up to ₹1,500, on orders from ₹2,490
• Mon 12 Oct to Tue 20 Oct: 10% off up to ₹1,250, on orders from ₹2,490
• Up to ₹500 more on orders from ₹24,990
• Up to ₹1,000 more on orders from ₹39,990
• ₹1,000 more on orders from ₹49,990
• ₹1,500 more on orders from ₹69,990

On gold, Amazon showed the offer on pendants and Vedhani rings, not on plain coins and bars, and only the extras above; SBI lists more that a card may also get. Amazon’s page says “Buy for” the lower price when it applies.

The Amazon Pay ICICI Bank card is not counted. Amazon’s page shows 3% back (5% for Prime members) on some gold pieces, but the card’s own terms, linked from that offer, say there are no earnings on gold purchases on Amazon.

Prices

Every price, picture and link comes from Amazon’s own Creators API, read every hour and shown with the time it was read. Pictures are Amazon’s, never copied. Only new, in-stock offers are ranked.

A listing is left out when its title does not state both a weight and a fineness, and when it is plated, silver, 18K or 14K, or set with stones: it cannot be valued as gold. A title that says only “24K” is valued at 995, the lower of the two 24K grades, so it never looks better than it is.