How accurate are kitchen scales?
Every scale should indicate its accuracy in its manual.

A good guess if you have no manual is that the accuracy is approximately half of the size of the smallest unit it reports (for example, my digital scale reports down to grams, so its accuracy is probably within about 1/2 gram).  If the scale is analog, you can get an idea by the smallest interval on the dial or indicator.

Still, only the manual will tell you for sure.



Scales that go up to 5 kg are unlikely to be good for measuring 0.5 gram quantities like coffee.  You will want a scale specialized for that level of quantity.

The exception is laboratory quality scales, which have higher accuracies and greater accurate ranges, but they are not pretty and are expensive.