What's happening to the prices for raw placer/nuggets?

[bcfromfl]

Hi everyone --

I was checking out possible ways and places to sell nuggets found with my detector, and have been watching a few eBay sales to get an idea of what the current market is supporting. I thought the general idea was spot + a premium for nuggets, based upon size and unusual shape...however, the recent auctions are closing for prices under spot, with free shipping to boot -- even on larger pieces! The same goes for small baggies of finer placer material. There's certainly a lot of gold moving on eBay, seems like a couple sellers are selling their findings from dredging in Alaska.

I also noticed that the "buy-it-now" auctions are listed with spot + premium prices, but those auctions just sit with no takers.

What's up with that? Is there perhaps a better way to get a higher price? I don't know how much of a cut you'd have to give a refiner these days, but the way things look on eBay, I'm not sure there's much difference any longer. (Maybe refiners make up the bulk of gold purchasers online?)

Thanks for your input!

 

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[foiler]

Gold has be static or trending down in the gold market for several months now. Hold your nuggets till the market starts moving up again. Always sell in a rising market.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Gold has be static or trending down in the gold market for several months now. Hold your nuggets till the market starts moving up again. Always sell in a rising market.

??

Gold is up over 25% this year.



Heavy Pans

 

[Goldwasher]

if your paying spot for placer you are already paying a premium. Every thing on ebay is over spot. A 2.29gram nugget selling at 131.00 buy it now is quite the premium.

 

[Terry Soloman]

I laugh at what some call a "nugget." If it isn't four-grams or better it's a "picker" in my book.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Terry....
Well I guess that for those that have never seen a REAL nugget, what we consider as only a picker would be huge to their mind Terry. Now I wouldn't say that a weight of 4 grams is required, but it should at least be large enough to be used in a nice piece of jewelry on its own. (And I don't mean tiny little ear rings here either)

Bruce.....
As to the price for raw placer gold, that is going to vary quite a bit from place to place. In my experience the color can give you an idea as to the makeup of the nuggets. Bright buttery yellow is a good sign of a higher silver content where darker colors usually indicates a higher copper content. The actual ratio of gold to other metals has to be taken into account when buying and selling. Most jewelers that make nugget jewelry are willing to give you the best prices for nuggets that they can use in their work and will often pay well above spot prices for nuggets with a lot of character. I'm lucky in that I've got an old friend (40+ years) whose wife owns a shop that does custom work. We get together from time to time and haggle on the prices for each nugget individually and we all walk away happy, well fed and more than slightly inebriated. I've still got a couple of nuggets that have so much character that they were willing to give me double spot price but I couldn't stand the thought of giving up such nice pieces. They've become something of a running joke between us over the years as they still try to talk me out of them whenever we get together.

 

[winners58]

24K spot $1333 / 31g = $43 per gram
natural gold is 18K (75%) to 22K (91.7%),
melt price = +/- = $35 per gram
since everything is based on the ounce price that's $1080

on eBay for one gram I would start the bidding between $48 and $52 that includes eBay's fee of 10%
you get less for lot's sell your nuggets individually
1/3g nugget start it out at $18 or 1/2g at $26 that's a premium at over $1600 an ounce
you just have to do some serious number crunching, don't put a starting price less that you'll accept.
your other options are
pawn shop = 18k scrap price plus a handling fee
refiner = $1080
buyers in gold country area 80%-90% of spot those are the "buy it now" eBay sellers for $55g
to sell as jewelry quality has to be demand, fly to Alaska or San Francisco or know someone

last nuggets I sold on eBay in February I got
0.644g $31.00
0.579g $31.00
0.509g $30.00
0.497g $30.00
0.405g $19.00
0.365g $16.50
0.394g $16.50
0.482g $23.50
price and demand are up now, unique pieces will sell for more...

 

[Terry Soloman]

24K spot $1333 / 31g = $43 per gram
natural gold is 18K (75%) to 22K (91.7%),
melt price = +/- = $35 per gram
since everything is based on the ounce price that's $1080

on eBay for one gram I would start the bidding between $48 and $52 that includes eBay's fee of 10%
you get less for lot's sell your nuggets individually
1/3g nugget start it out at $18 or 1/2g at $26 that's a premium at over $1600 an ounce
you just have to do some serious number crunching, don't put a starting price less that you'll accept.
your other options are
pawn shop = 18k scrap price plus a handling fee
refiner = $1080
buyers in gold country area 80%-90% of spot those are the "buy it now" eBay sellers for $55g
to sell as jewelry quality has to be demand, fly to Alaska or San Francisco or know someone

last nuggets I sold on eBay in February I got
0.644g $31.00
0.579g $31.00
0.509g $30.00
0.497g $30.00
0.405g $19.00
0.365g $16.50
0.394g $16.50
0.482g $23.50
price and demand are up now, unique pieces will sell for more...

Solid information, empirical numbers, superior post!

 

[Terry Soloman]

Terry....
Well I guess that for those that have never seen a REAL nugget, what we consider as only a picker would be huge to their mind Terry. Now I wouldn't say that a weight of 4 grams is required, but it should at least be large enough to be used in a nice piece of jewelry on its own. (And I don't mean tiny little ear rings here either)...

This is a "Nugget." Clay took this photo of me holding the Wilcox Nugget, after introducing me to the "Nugget Man" in Stanton, AZ. After holding something like that Feather River beauty, you start judging nuggets a little differently

 

[bcfromfl]

Thank you everyone for your helpful answers. Here are the results from just three of the many auctions I was watching last week:

2.09 gram nugget sold for $86.00 (spot = $89.71)
4 gram nugget sold for $167.71 (spot = $171.69)
7.51 gram nugget sold for $306.00 (spot = $322.34)

I'm glad that some of you are successful in getting good prices for your gold, but I'm not seeing it on eBay. And those eBay fees really eat into the margins even further...

 

[Terry Soloman]

If you are pulling the gold out of the ground yourself, know what you are doing, and selling directly to the public on Ebay you are probably doing fine. If you are buying and trying to resell - you are going to get eaten alive.

 

[Goldwasher]

Thank you everyone for your helpful answers. Here are the results from just three of the many auctions I was watching last week:

2.09 gram nugget sold for $86.00 (spot = $89.71)
4 gram nugget sold for $167.71 (spot = $171.69)
7.51 gram nugget sold for $306.00 (spot = $322.34)

I'm glad that some of you are successful in getting good prices for your gold, but I'm not seeing it on eBay. And those eBay fees really eat into the margins even further...

and most likely the seller is a prospector and is getting a good margin. Or paid less than 80% The majority of gold on ebay is spot or above

 

[Clay Diggins]

Thank you everyone for your helpful answers. Here are the results from just three of the many auctions I was watching last week:

2.09 gram nugget sold for $86.00 (spot = $89.71)
4 gram nugget sold for $167.71 (spot = $171.69)
7.51 gram nugget sold for $306.00 (spot = $322.34)

I'm glad that some of you are successful in getting good prices for your gold, but I'm not seeing it on eBay. And those eBay fees really eat into the margins even further...

You are using the wrong pricing per gram. There are 31.1 grams per Troy ounce. Current spot price is $1333 divided by 31.1 = $42.86 per gram. It was about $42.50 when those sold.

So...

2.09 gram nugget sold for $86.00 (spot = $88.82)
4 gram nugget sold for $167.71 (spot = $170)
7.51 gram nugget sold for $306.00 (spot = $319.17)

Considering those nuggets were probably less than 90% gold those adjusted values at spot would be:

2.09 gram nugget sold for $86.00 (spot = $79.94)
4 gram nugget sold for $167.71 (spot = $153)
7.51 gram nugget sold for $306.00 (spot = $287.26)

All those nuggets sold well above current spot for gold.

The going price per nugget varies considerably but until you get above 1/2 ounce size your "collector" market is very small. Basically if you don't like the current price nuggets are bringing just wait around awhile. I guarantee the prices will go up ... or down. The only thing they won't do is stay the same.

Heavy Pans

 

[bcfromfl]

You are using the wrong pricing per gram. There are 31.1 grams per Troy ounce. Current spot price is $1333 divided by 31.1 = $42.86 per gram. It was about $42.50 when those sold.

I did a little rounding, but the figure I used was $1335 from last week, 31.1035 grams per troy. Close enough to give the general idea.

Considering those nuggets were probably less than 90% gold those adjusted values at spot would be:

2.09 gram nugget sold for $86.00 (spot = $79.94)
4 gram nugget sold for $167.71 (spot = $153)
7.51 gram nugget sold for $306.00 (spot = $287.26)

I didn't realize that nuggets were adjusted according to their purity, and have never read that anywhere. Perhaps that explains what I've noted.

 

[winners58]

from OP; I don't know how much of a cut you'd have to give a refiner these days, but the way things look on eBay, I'm not sure there's much difference any longer.

compared to the melt price if you are getting 24K spot price for 18 to 22K gold you're doing good.
you also have to consider the buyer, people are looking for the best deal they can get.
I like to search gold nuggets then change to high to low and see some nice specimens.
you can also select advanced/completed listings there are ounces and ounces being sold,
I haven't seen it like that for a while, good for the buyer good for the seller.

if you held nuggets for ten years that would be some good profit.

 

[Hoser John]

There is only 1 rule of commerce in anything-Worth only what a willing buyer will pay and you settle for. I only sell to jewelers who produce fine quality nugget inlaid style jewelry. They are making a huge profit and have historically paid a premium for good quality,high karat gold. Your public sales are TAXABLE 100% and by online sales you have paid paypal etc + related costs and exposed yourself to tax liabilities and evasion for not reporting. Now the IRS even wants taxes on garage sales, selling your old clunker omg taxed now , swap meet they come around with envelopes for your taxes sic sic sic...John

 

[goldog]

Here in Ca the gold is hi k. 92% maybe. It can be substantially less. 60% gold nuggets could be $25/gram.

 

[Hard Prospector]

There is only 1 rule of commerce in anything-Worth only what a willing buyer will pay and you settle for. I only sell to jewelers who produce fine quality nugget inlaid style jewelry. They are making a huge profit and have historically paid a premium for good quality,high karat gold. Your public sales are TAXABLE 100% and by online sales you have paid paypal etc + related costs and exposed yourself to tax liabilities and evasion for not reporting. Now the IRS even wants taxes on garage sales, selling your old clunker omg taxed now , swap meet they come around with envelopes for your taxes sic sic sic...John

Very well stated John and I couldn't agree more with your assessment. The only nuggets(or pickers) I've sold were to a jeweler and spot price had little to do with the sale. After examining what I had brought he simply asked "How much?" to which I replied; "make me an offer" and thats where we started. Ten minutes later a deal was reached that both of us were satisfied with.

 

[Oakview2]

Gold buyers who buy well over spot are at a premium, and usually expect pieces in the complete matrix or of some of the rarer crystaline shapes
https://mockingbirdgoldmine.com/store

PS I am not affiliated with this site, other than admiring the beautiful pieces Mr. Emmett recovered.

 

[Hoser John]

And you've posted some of the most amazing outrageous righteous specimens I've seen in years. Quality always worth more as attested to by over 60 years of selling gold. Thanx for the entertainment. Minelab is selling a extremely accurate gold/silver/pt tester for a much better price than I've ever seen by the way. John