Quick Money?

[PAyoungin]

I have a good amount of money set aside to invest after recently selling several ounces of gold on eBay, but after doing so I realzied I could have made a few hundred dollars more selling it elsewhere. I am trying to get myentrepreneurial juices flowing!!
On eBay gold is selling $750-800/oz. but on other sites they are buying at around $1100/oz. So my idea is to buy gold from eBay and after getting it reselling it at a profit of $150+ in profit. Does anyone see any pitfalls to this plan besides buying fake gold? Are there taxes associated with this?! Where have you guys sold your gold to and at what percentage of spot? Thanks for your help.

PAyoungin

[savant365]

I'm not sure why they are selling it that cheap but I would start off kinda small before I jumped right in. There are a lot of variables you would need to watch out for, it seems like it would be too easy to lose a lot of profit if you get taken just one time. I see your reasoning for wanting to do it but in my experience if something sounds too good to be true it usually is 99% of the time. Good luck and make sure you have a reliable buyer lined up before you get in too deep, spot price can drop overnight.

Charlie

[DigginThePast]

Yes there are taxes associated with profiting from precious metal sales.

Years ago when the price was lower I bought a lot of metal on ebay, I resold when the price went up. In my experience it almost always traded just over the spot price and the more you dealt with the closer to spot price you would pay/sell. A $300+ sale below spot? Something wasn't handled right.

When I got better positioned I would buy in larger quantities from www.tulving.com and resell on ebay in smaller lots. I found that to be the best way to actually make money buying and selling precious metals.

edit to add: Based on the post I am under the assumption that the OP was the seller on ebay that sold at $800. Please correct me if I am wrong. Also, Do you have links to closed auctions at that price? I'm not trying to horn in on anything, just curious to see what is being sold these days.

[PAyoungin]

Here is a good example: it sold for $1125 for 54.5g
http://cgi.ebay.com/54-5-Grams-14K-G...item19bd88d54d

On this Calculator it has 54.5g of 14k for $1792; after refining charges it would be worth $1452. That is still a $300+ profit.
http://www.midstatesrecycling.com/karat_kalc

PM me. I would love for you two give me your two cents.

[DigginThePast]

Here is a good example: it sold for $1125 for 54.5g
http://cgi.ebay.com/54-5-Grams-14K-G...item19bd88d54d

On this Calculator it has 54.5g of 14k for $1792; after refining charges it would be worth $1452. That is still a $300+ profit.
http://www.midstatesrecycling.com/karat_kalc

PM me. I would love for you two give me your two cents.

You are looking at the price for a "pennyweight or D.W.T.". Change the unit of measure to gram and you will come up with about $1150 and receive a total of $790 after refining charges.

edit to add: The seller actually did well with this sale. The buyer, if they refine their own gold, came out okay but if they need to send it out, well.....

[cyberdan]

Here is a good example: it sold for $1125 for 54.5g 14K

Most likely it is only 13.5K, if I can't test in person I always deduct 1/2K

So based on gold right now ($1195) that is worth $1177 and you would get after refining $1154

to me not a good buy, you still have to pay ship to you and ship to the refinery.

[goldsilverpro]

Cyberdan's numbers are exactly what I came up with for a $1195 spot price. His refining figure is 2%, so I assume he would use aragold.com. Before about 1980, it was legal to use karat gold that was 1/2K lower than it was marked. I would think that most watch cases were made before 1980. It actually might be a little lower than that, since many manufacturers have been known to fudge a little on the karat. Even with stuff made after 1980, it's not uncommon for it to be 1/2K low and 1K low is not unheard of. Like Cyberdan says, it's always wise to knock off at least 1/2K in your calculations when buying.

You have to be careful with watch cases or other items made from several pieces. I have seen watch cases where only the piece that was stamped was karat gold. Test all pieces. I have seen cheap chains where the clasp was stamped 14K (and actually was 14K) but the links were plated.

Assume the worst when you're buying and assume the best when you're selling.