Bought paydirt on ebay 5 pounds only .12 grams, is this normal ?

GoldMine21

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I bought for the first time paydirt. It was 5 pounds of Whiskey Petes Gold on ebay. I paid $27.75 for the 5 pounds and was super excited. I expected to get at least 10 dollars worth in gold but I only had .12 grams of gold. I sluiced it and panned it about 10 times. I couldn't believe how little was in there. I know paydirt is for learning experiences, but is this normal for 5 pounds of paydirt for that price ? He has such good reviews I assumed it would be good dirt. Is .12 grams a lot for 5 pounds of paydirt bought online ? Can you recommend anyone that has better paydirt ? Like I said I know its for learning experiences, but I still expected a bit more than that, or is this normal ?
 

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kcm

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GoldMine21 - check out this thread:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/m...metal-detect-when-there-dirthogg-paydirt.html

Forget which post it is but there is a link to a website that has reviews specifically for different paydirt sellers. I had never before heard of Lynch Mining before this article, but will probably try them out some time. Otherwise, Dirthogg seems to consistently be the best, although shipping from Canada does bring the overall cost up slightly.

ALWAYS do your research first!!
 

placertogo

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Go to Lynch Mining, lynchmining.com, and get their highest grade of paydirt, about $65 plus shipping about $6. I bought a couple of bags getting better than 2 grams per bag which is actually better than it cost me.
 

deserdog

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I guess if I sell some more, I will call it a concentrate sample from such and such mining district
 

Terry Soloman

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Anyone who sells paydirt is a crook, including people in this forum

Just make your own pay dirt. You can go to any pawn shop in Sacramento and they will sell 22k placer for under spot like 92%

Only reason to buy pay dirt is to give it away a present

I won't say "crook," I'll just say morally challenged. Anyone that sells paydirt should put this on their bags: "For entertainment value only." If you pay $30 for a bag-o-fun, expect $7.00 of gold or less. It is a Gimmick, a ruse for greenhorns.:skullflag:
 

Laz7777

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seen paydirt for sale in the Mining Journal.
Eureka Joe's....guaranteed 1.5 .ozt nug or better in every 25th bag....limit 5 bags per customer:laughing7:
there are people selling something worthwhile, but if you understand the one thing that goes with gold is BS and I don't mean black sand, welllllll...caveat emptor!

I've sold my S. Yuba placer fines to someone in AZ making bags of paydirt. paid me 85% of spot for it, which was very fair.
perfectly legit in my book, just depends what he's charging for what he's selling, that's all.
he's got a family to feed and why should anyone be denied a profit?
 

kcm

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Over on the GPEX forum, most of the folks there live in Canada which, as we all know, has snowy winters. That means no mining. Dirthogg is a sponsor there and is very well liked!! ...And it's not because he's Canadian!

What many people fail to realize is that there is labor, shipping and even packaging that goes into these paydirt bags. Also, they have to weigh out the dirt. Printing labels, advertising, promotions (like adding extra value to a bag now and then), and probably a couple of details that I can't think of offhand. PLEASE do not expect to get $30 of value out of a $30 bag!!

There are 3 primary reasons that someone might need to buy paydirt: 1) to help fill that void during winter 2) to learn how to pan 3) just for the fun of it.

It really is that simple. And some sellers can provide a better value than others. That, too, really is that simple.
 

OP
OP
G

GoldMine21

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Thank you for all the great advice. I wrote Whiskey_Petes_Gold on ebay and this was his response

Hi, I'm a happy to hear you found gold in your dirt. As you know our items are unsearched raw dirt and to find any gold in only 5 lbs of dirt is great. Everyone ones experience is different and we have no way of knowing if there dirt contains gold or gems or not. We do our best to pick out the best spots on our claim but as stated there is no guarantee's what you will find in the dirt.

I can say that the only place I know you might expect to find quarter gram of gold ($10) in current market, in just 5 pounds of dirt, might be in Alaska. I myself pan all the time and the results are always different from nothing at all in my pan, to a couple of small nuggets.

If you want to find a certain amount of gold in your dirt you may want to look for sellers on ebay that put gold in there dirt. They normally state how much gold they put in there bags in their item description and also state guaranteed gold in their bags. That way you will not be disappointed when panning.

I do hope you enjoyed panning our dirt. Thank you for your business!

He was nice about it however, I still dont feel like for the price it was worth it. I feel like there is better paydirt out there and I will definitely check out some of the places you guys have recommended. I have heard of Lynch mining before so I may give them a try. Although .12 grams may not be bad for 5 pounds, its the price that gets me. Instead of them making double or triple their money and letting both seller and buyer win, they make so much more off of it. Also from his message, it seems some people may get nothing at all. It was fun finding the gold, but the specs were so small I did not find it worth that price I paid. If it was $20 dollars then it would have even been worth it, but asking almost 30 dollars for that is crazy. Ill try a few more places to see if I can get more even if I have to pay more to get a decent amount. I also agree with the people who said when they state there may be no gold in there dirt. I should have took that as a sign there would be little to none in it. Thank you for all the great advice !
 

agolddigger

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Thank you for all the great advice. I wrote Whiskey_Petes_Gold on ebay and this was his response

Hi, I'm a happy to hear you found gold in your dirt. As you know our items are unsearched raw dirt and to find any gold in only 5 lbs of dirt is great. Everyone ones experience is different and we have no way of knowing if there dirt contains gold or gems or not. We do our best to pick out the best spots on our claim but as stated there is no guarantee's what you will find in the dirt.

I can say that the only place I know you might expect to find quarter gram of gold ($10) in current market, in just 5 pounds of dirt, might be in Alaska. I myself pan all the time and the results are always different from nothing at all in my pan, to a couple of small nuggets.

If you want to find a certain amount of gold in your dirt you may want to look for sellers on ebay that put gold in there dirt. They normally state how much gold they put in there bags in their item description and also state guaranteed gold in their bags. That way you will not be disappointed when panning.

I do hope you enjoyed panning our dirt. Thank you for your business!

He was nice about it however, I still dont feel like for the price it was worth it. I feel like there is better paydirt out there and I will definitely check out some of the places you guys have recommended. I have heard of Lynch mining before so I may give them a try. Although .12 grams may not be bad for 5 pounds, its the price that gets me. Instead of them making double or triple their money and letting both seller and buyer win, they make so much more off of it. Also from his message, it seems some people may get nothing at all. It was fun finding the gold, but the specs were so small I did not find it worth that price I paid. If it was $20 dollars then it would have even been worth it, but asking almost 30 dollars for that is crazy. Ill try a few more places to see if I can get more even if I have to pay more to get a decent amount. I also agree with the people who said when they state there may be no gold in there dirt. I should have took that as a sign there would be little to none in it. Thank you for all the great advice !

People will charge what other people are willing to pay :-)

You're buying the suspense, not the gold.
 

Goodyguy

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Thank you for all the great advice.

I feel like there is better paydirt out there and I will definitely check out some of the places you guys have recommended. I have heard of Lynch mining before so I may give them a try. Although .12 grams may not be bad for 5 pounds, its the price that gets me. Instead of them making double or triple their money and letting both seller and buyer win, they make so much more off of it. Also from his message, it seems some people may get nothing at all. It was fun finding the gold, but the specs were so small I did not find it worth that price I paid. If it was $20 dollars then it would have even been worth it, but asking almost 30 dollars for that is crazy. Ill try a few more places to see if I can get more even if I have to pay more to get a decent amount. I also agree with the people who said when they state there may be no gold in there dirt. I should have took that as a sign there would be little to none in it. Thank you for all the great advice !


Please do not take this as any disrespect, it is not meant that way..............

It's just that I am a little surprised that after being disappointed and reading all the above posts that you are still willing to purchase paydirt.
Proves Goldwasher and agolddigger are right.

Selling paydirt is here to stay and folks do not mind paying almost as much for the dirt as they do the gold due to the suspense factor of not knowing exactly what they may find.

I suppose when it comes down to it that's not much different than me spending money going prospecting in new territory not knowing how much gold I'll come home with. Something to be said for the thrill of the hunt. :icon_thumleft:







By the way I have a 1 lb mystery bag for sale that may or may not contain anything of value and it's only $10 plus shipping and handling.
index.jpg
(sorry I couldn't resist.)




Go for the Gold
GG~
 

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Goldwasher

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A crook really? The majority of people who buy dirt to pan it for gold are taking part in the only gold panning they will do. I'm not selling gold to prospectors to make them feel better. I'm selling it to people who want to pan gold.

That is why I would never sell "unsearched" paydirt or concentrates.

I'm not morally challenged either I don't even have to talk people into it. There are thousand and thousands of people that want to buy dirt with gold in it and pan it. For me it's a no brainer because I don't have to buy the gold I sell.

I do not apologize for netting an average of $61.00 for the gold I dig out of the ground.

Call me whatever you want. Do you net that much? :tongue3: Every ten panners...that doesn't count the bags that walk out of the store.

Here's a fun story about how bad people want to pan for gold and what they are willing to pay.


In 1999 I was a "History Interpreter" at Denali National Park, Ak. I wore the same pants all summer at work and played the part of a "Sourdough" I was twenty two years old. The Neil Young song "Powderfinger" was my favorite song that summer, the fella in the song just turned twenty two...

Anywho...People came to me by the busload to learn to pan for gold. They paid fifteen bucks for a bag from a mine we sourced paydirt from north Of Fairbanks.
We actually shoveled the dirt from under a bar grizzly into a truck and filled the bags once we were back at the Park.

It was "unsearched" cut run material from a gravel deposit at a placer mine. Due to the price of gold at the time( look it up) the mine wasn't in operation per se but, the family that owned it was running a trommel and I guess stockpiling the gold they got to sell when the price went up. It was private land.

If someone got a crappy bag I would just give them another Until they got gold. The avg. was about 1/20 of a gram and people were hootin' and holerin' .

Guess what, they didn't get to keep it. Unless they wanted to buy it at spot. Also they could pay for a necklace and Bezel to put their gold in.

I spent a lot of time drying gold and putting little Bezels together. It was a great summer. For THOUSANDS of people I taught to pan.

I am one of two places you can pan for gold " for entertainment" if you go visit Coloma. I am the only place that will actually help you be a better prospector. You can pay to have a college kid that hates gold mining show you or you can come to me and actually learn and help support a small scale miner.

I'm not a crook or immoral. I'm smart!! I'm also selling my gold for more than than the average prospector. Not something I will apologize for!
 

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Goldwasher

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A half gram for $50.00 :o

Here is a half gram of placer with free shipping for $26.75
Beats the twelfth of a gram that the op got for $27.75 ...... Just sayin'

View attachment 1416509

Alaskan Yukon BC Gold Nuggets #25 Mesh .5 GRAMS 1/2 GRAM | eBay[/

Look I understand I won't buy gold or paydirt I don't have too. There are however probably hundreds of thousands of people who will and want to.

Yes it is a good thing to not be the person selling dirt that "may" have some to a little gold in it.
 

Goldwasher

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Anyone who sells paydirt is a crook, including people in this forum

Just make your own pay dirt. You can go to any pawn shop in Sacramento and they will sell 22k placer for under spot like 92%

Only reason to buy pay dirt is to give it away a present

How about if you follow the forum rules and not insult members Todd.

Your statement is your opinion. I am not stealing from anyone or misleading them.

They is demand I supply.
 

johnedoe

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Goodyguy

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Folks please quit pm'ing me to buy my mystery bag it was just a joke.
Dang Goldwasher I see what you are talking about.

GG~
 

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