Gold--A Seller's Market?

The buyers tried all kinds of stuff. "Maybe it's only 13 carat. It doesn't have a stamp from Italy." Or, "The pink gold is only 10 carat."

I don't blame the buyer for getting the best deal. I think we had more info that a lot of people. I knew the pennyweight of the piece. And with Thomas there, we knew the market price up to the second. I think the buyer should be able to make a profit. But a fair profit.

I learned a lot.

1. No is a powerful tool.
2. Take Thomas along.
3. I'm a bit too trusting. But greed prevailed.
4. Take Thomas along. He was a bit too untrusting.

(Hey, Thomas. Remember the code you didn't want me to use. Got a 6 percent higher offer.)

The premise of your question is false: You don't compete with these morons, because there's no communication between buyers about the prices they got. Hence, a gold buyer can pay reasonable prices to well-informed sellers and still rip off the morons.


You can't be underbid on the piece of gold you're selling. Morons may offer a lower price on the gold they're selling, but that doesn't the price at which buyers will buy from you. (Remember, there's no communication between sellers.) Rather, buyers will buy at any price at which they make a cut, which is any price below market value. But of course they prefer to make a big cut over a small one, so they check if you might be a moron first.

We definitely did

Yes---and we did pretty good for first-timers. But making the whole round for a second time, maybe we could have made another $50---not worth giving you a heart attack on this hot and humid day.

The gold market is not really a good investment market in terms of gains. The only thing good about investing in gold is that it will help you to maintain your wealth from the falling dollar.

Gold is not going up in value, it is the dollar that is plummeting. Which gives the appearance that gold is going up. It's really just staying level but when you compare it to the dollar that is when you see it's price going up rapidly. It is really the rate the dollar is dropping.

Take any gold market index and invert the line and you'll see how fast the US dollar is declining.

Yep---well done!

Background for our correspondents: Last week, when Roberta got in her first round of bids on the telephone, the last place we went to gave her "a promotion code for first-time sellers". I worried that by presenting this code, we would basically tell them, "we're newbies---please rip us off!" So Roberta negotiated without the promotion code at first. Then, when the haggling hit a stalemate around $1450, she did present the promotion code and innocently asked, "does that make a difference?" That's when the buyer offered the $1518. Good idea saving the promotion code until the end, Roberta!

Or expectations of how fast the dollar will fall or rise.

How does this comment relate to Roberta's situation? She's not investing in gold, she's disinvesting (selling).

Thomas, did they collect any seller information, like name and social security number?

with cash?

I doubt it highly...



B are you gonna show us your new undies?

It means that she shouldn't because that gold actually helps to maintain her wealth. Selling it for cash is going to be a loss of capital.

No. I signed a form that said that I was not a minor and that the gold was mine to sell. All they got was my name. They also asked for ID, and they copied it to the form.

I asked for a copy of the form and got it.

We're talking about taxation, 1099's and stuff like that. You are trying to drag reasoning into the situation.

I understand cash.

it is it's own color of grey...

Correction: There's no communication between sellers about the prices they got.

Let me take this opportunity to describe the typical setting in which the haggling happens. Imagine some small booth (four by twelve foot perhaps) that is divided in the middle by a bullet-proof, bank-counter-like wall of glass. Buyer and seller face each other through that wall of glass. In the wall to the buyer's back is a door to "the back office", where the buyer may go to "consult with my boss". Behind the seller's back is a door to the business's general waiting area. That door is closed during the negotions. The haggling, as well as the final deal, are fully private.

Well, not fully private. Security cameras are everywhere in the building, and as I said, one of them is on the seller's side of the booth. So when the buyer goes to "the back office" to consult "his boss", he can look at the monitor connected to the camera, and listen in on the buyers' conversation. I can't prove that buyers actually do this---but it's an obvious opportunity, and they'd be foolish not to take it.

Nevertheless, there is complete secrecy between sellers and other sellers. The diamond district is not the New York Mercantile exchange; there is no unified market and no consistent market price. And because there's no transparancy between sellers, buyers can pay very different prices to different sellers.

I don't have any wealth. If I'm selling a bracelet to pay the rent, I really can't be worried about maintaining wealth or a loss of capital.

sounds a lot like used cars.

passing it with the boss is an old game.

Oh, so you're saying that gold is a good investment given the circumstances. It certainly has been over the few years. On the other hand, I don't know that this is still true at today's prices. I also disagree with your proposition that the value of the dollar is falling. But I'll resist the temptation to argue about it, because I don't want to sidetrack Roberta's thread.

I understand many undertakers keep their ears open to comments from the sales room.

excellent thread Boida - so glad you had the mensch with you hug him for me when you see him again thankee.

so pleased you got a good price and you learned a lot - hoping the rent pressure will ease off a little now. love... x

That's a weary excuse. I would like Thomas to argue about it. What he had for lunch is boring and, bearing in mind what it is by the time we read about it, somewhat distasteful.