Gold pips confuse almost everyone at first, and it is not the reader's fault - brokers genuinely do not agree on the definition. Here is the convention this site uses, stated plainly, so every pip figure we publish can be converted into money without guessing.
The convention we use
So if gold moves from 2,400.00 to 2,401.00, that is a $1.00 move, which is 10 pips. A standard lot of gold is 100 ounces, so a $0.10 move on 100 ounces is $10 - hence $10 per pip per lot.
Why brokers disagree
In currency pairs a pip is the fourth decimal place, and some platforms carry that habit over to gold, calling a $0.01 move one pip. Others treat a whole $1.00 move as one pip. Both exist. The result is that the same trade can be described as making 10 pips, 100 pips, or 1 pip depending on whose platform you are reading.
Converting pips to money
The formula is simply:
Profit or loss = pips × lot size × $10
| Result | At 0.01 lots | At 0.10 lots | At 1.00 lot |
|---|---|---|---|
| +100 pips | $10 | $100 | $1,000 |
| +1,000 pips | $100 | $1,000 | $10,000 |
| −500 pips | −$50 | −$500 | −$5,000 |
Why we publish in pips at all
Because pips are the only honest unit for a result that different people will trade at different sizes. A dollar figure would be a claim about an account we do not have; a pip figure is a claim about the market, which anyone can check against a chart.
Our own record - currently +150,481.9p across 979 closed legs - is published in pips for that reason, and the worst-case page shows what the largest drawdown in that record costs at several different lot sizes so the number can be made concrete.