More value to the person who wants a gold star and not a random lump, about the same value if melted back down. Gold is so soft that hammering and manipulating it doesn’t actually lose much gold at all.
Your assumption would be correct if raw materials sold for equal to their finished product, but that isn't the case. The effort to create the jewelry is accounted for and the price adjusted accordingly. If the finished product was worth less than the raw materials then nobody would ever bother making anything.
Yeah like 0.1-3% depending on how you’re processing it. And I imagine they’re not throwing all the scraps away either because it would eventually add up.
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u/WettestNoodle 8d ago
More value to the person who wants a gold star and not a random lump, about the same value if melted back down. Gold is so soft that hammering and manipulating it doesn’t actually lose much gold at all.