Buying / Selling Gold

[Iccz]

Figure this is the best way to invest some cash at the moment, only problem is I know very little about doing so, or where to do so. I'm looking at both GoldCore and Gold Investments Ltd.

Seems like 5gm is about £220.

Does anyone put money in to gold?
How are you finding it?
Where do you do it?
How do you sell it?


Cheers

 

[nheather]

Sore subject for me.

About two years ago when it became clear I was getting very little interest from savings accounts I considered investing in gold.

I did a lot of research and the common consensus was "don't risk it, gold is on a high and is likely to drop in price".

So being quite 'risk averse' I didn't go through with it.

Gold is now about twice the price that it was then

I don't blame the advice, as it was my decision in the end, but I'm still quite regretful all the same and wish I'd followed my gut feel. I don't feel as confident now because there is a lot of focus on gold with lots of people buying or using these 'sell your gold for cash' companies and I think that will keep any future rises low (or even negative) - my gut feeling, not from any authoritive source.

Cheers,

Nigel

 

[Iccz]

I don't blame the advice, as it was my decision in the end, but I'm still quite regretful all the same and wish I'd followed my gut feel. I don't feel as confident now because there is a lot of focus on gold with lots of people buying or using these 'sell your gold for cash' companies and I think that will keep any future rises low (or even negative) - my gut feeling, not from any authoritive source.

I can totally understand your view on that as I was wondering the same, but if gold does go down it will always come back up at some point, surely?
Or does this seem like a peak that isn't likely to come back round again too quickly if it does drop?

I would have thought with the Euro crisis and the outlook on that not being so great that gold seems like it could actually go back up if/when the Euro dies out a little more?

I'm certainly no expert on financial stuff though but having looked around at savings accounts and such I'm wondering if my money is better off elsewhere for now.

 

[imightbewrong]

Take a look at bullionvault - you can buy stored physical there.

If you are more adventurous take a look at ETF Securities - there you can buy leveraged ETFs that track gold at 2x or 3x the rate of increase OR DROP!!!

They also do short ETFs that give you the gain when gold drops, and vice-versa.

You can also spread-bet it somewhere like Tradefair - tax free! With spread-betting you can of course lose more money than you put in.

Disclaimer

Do not listen to me.

 

[Ned Senior]

Do NOT take this as a GIVEN but everything goes up over time!!!! so, if you are in it for the long haul I should imagine it would be a decent investment so long as you do not stuff your whole worth into it.... last year I wanted to sell a bracelet; most of the pawnbrokers were offering £114 for it to buy off me, I shopped around and after googling found a local store (now closed ill health) who paid me £185 the same day WOW!!!!
however on ebay the same bracelet was on ebay (or similar gem) for around £225 -£245

small nuggets would probably do ok selling them privateley yourself should ebay be around at the appropriate time which no doubt some outlet will be there

merry xmas btw

pg

 

[johntheexpat]

I can totally understand your view on that as I was wondering the same, but if gold does go down it will always come back up at some point, surely?
.

Intersting graph here: http://www.kitco.com/charts/historicalgold.html and at the bottom of the page click on the multi year gold 1975-2011 box

Gives the gold price from 1975 to present. Between Dec 82 and Dec 02, it hardly moved at all. In Dec 06 it was the same price as Dec '80. Two twenty year periods when it didn't move one jot.

But it all depends on your investment strategy. If you want a huge gamble in return for a small quantity of something useless that you can hold in your hand, then gold is for you.

 

[johntheexpat]

I should point out that I am a huge dis-approver of gold as an investment, mainly on the grounds that it is a completely useless metal with no real applications (other than jewelry etc). In ancient times it was a rare curiosity in that it exists in the metallic state, but was much less common than say lead or other metals that can be found in an elemental state in nature. Because of this relative rarity, it became a plaything of the powerful and acquired a staus that it has never lost. The price fluctuations are due entirely to sentiment but the physical entity has no intrinsic value. Thus the market for gold has no other basis than an emotional one. As such, it is perfect for those who want to manipulate and pervert the market price. The astonishing hike in prices recently can just as easily be followed by an astonishing collapse in price as happened in the early 80's when the price more than halved. But this spike is even more severe, so the collapse could be even more spectacular.

If you want to be further convinved, read up about the activities of Nelson Bunker Hunt and his brother who tried to corner the silver market in the 80's and caused the price to rocket. They almost made it, but just failed. But what happened to silver could easily happen to gold.

Spend your money on a well researched investment that you believe in, be it shares of a favourite company or a rare earth metal that has a myriad of industrial uses and supply problems. But not gold. It is pointless.

 

[imightbewrong]

> I should point out that I am a huge dis-approver of gold as an investment, mainly on the grounds that it is a completely useless metal with no real applications

I'm sure anyone with a gold filling or who uses a computer or indeed any electronics would have something to say about that!

And also, how does it differ from money by your definition?

 

[Iccz]

I should point out that I am a huge dis-approver of gold as an investment, mainly on the grounds that it is a completely useless metal with no real applications

You raise some good points, but I'm not totally sure I agree with this one. Gold has plenty more uses than what you've stated. Electronics, Medicine and even NASA used "a lot" of it.

I do agree it has risen an awful lot and could fall, and you are also probably right about research, I should really think things through and look in to other avenues before just jumping on the gold bandwagon.

It's just the way currency is lately, especially with the Euro, I'm thinking that something like gold may be a good thing to go for.

 

[imightbewrong]

Personally I prefer shares - it's much easier to look at a company and look at it's worth than gold or FX. Of course you can still be willdy wrong, but there is much more of a process there. I have a basket of seven stocks at the moment which I hold in the short-middle term, and I do the occasional leveraged FTSE ETF if I think there's going to be a quick rally or rout. Would like to have a bash at spread-betting, but the risks are very high so just trading a test account at the moment

 

[lynx]

Buy 5 gr. Gold Bullion / Goldbarren, 5 Gram, 999 / 1000 at CoinInvestDirect

 

[johntheexpat]

. Gold has plenty more uses than what you've stated. Electronics, Medicine and even NASA used "a lot" of it.

The problem is that there is a huge supply of gold available and the uses you have described account for absolutely miniscule quantities. Coating the electrodes of microchips, - the electrodes are tiny. Medicine - you aren't going to inject anything more than a disappearingly small amount of a metal into someone and as for say coating the visors on an astronauts helmet, have you seen how thinly they beat gold for gold leaf? The uses of gold are nothing when compared to the amount mined each year. Thats the problem.

Have a look at platinum. Very useful metal, much smaller quantities are mined each year and currently cheaper than gold.

The rare earth metals that have a myriad of uses, especially those that are used in touch screen technology, there is a huge supply problem with them and an increasing demand from industry.

Copper - easy to acquire and hold physically. Price is rocketing.

 

[Mr_Wistles]

Copper - easy to acquire and hold physically. Price is rocketing.

Church roofs, train power cables......

 

[Woodywizz]

Best site is this : CLICKY

...and rather than buying a share of some gold in a vault which you will never see, here they will send you the gold. Also - with ETF's - it's essentially a bit of paper, on this site you get physical possession. An interesting point is that if you buy sterling coins then they are free from capital gains tax upon disposal.

 

[imightbewrong]

Best site is this : CLICKY

...and rather than buying a share of some gold in a vault which you will never see, here they will send you the gold. Also - with ETF's - it's essentially a bit of paper, on this site you get physical possession. An interesting point is that if you buy sterling coins then they are free from capital gains tax upon disposal.

Why on earth would you want that though?

 

[John]

If you had asked last week I would have told you to stick it on tommy cook and wait for the bail out. You would have almost tripled it if you had sold at the right time this morning.

You could have been investing £400 on gold this afternoon with a bit in your pocket for new toys.

 

[danmc_82]

This is the site I always check to see gold prices. Seems like they buy for good money...

Cash for Gold, Silver, Scrap Gold, Diamonds, Scrap Gold Prices, Sell Jewellery

 

[imightbewrong]

If you had asked last week I would have told you to stick it on tommy cook and wait for the bail out. You would have almost tripled it if you had sold at the right time this morning.

Well if you're going to go for risky plays why not go spread betting - could double your money with any stock

 

[Woodywizz]

Why on earth would you want that though?

Rather than having a 'virtual' piece of gold bullion, and a piece of paper - people like having the security of actual physical possession. Admittedly yes that raises issues of storage and security but many people take comfort from the fact that the gold they have is in their physical possession, rather than it being on a piece of paper which could prove to be worthless if a particular company goes bump and you are then left as a creditor chasing what is owed to you...along with thousands more.

 

[imightbewrong]

Just for context, do you keep your money in a bank, or under your mattress where it is 'real'?

At somewhere like bullion vault, it's a real piece of gold that you own, that is stored in a vault - it's not just made-up 'virtual' gold.

 

[Dan2008]

My dad has been buying gold and that for several years, He usually buys it at Carboot sales and ebay.

 

[Mr_Wistles]

Rather than having a 'virtual' piece of gold bullion, and a piece of paper - people like having the security of actual physical possession. Admittedly yes that raises issues of storage and security but many people take comfort from the fact that the gold they have is in their physical possession, rather than it being on a piece of paper which could prove to be worthless if a particular company goes bump and you are then left as a creditor chasing what is owed to you...along with thousands more.

If you bought any substantial amount the insurance costs for it would negate any possible short term gains. IMO a crazy idea to keep it at home.

 

[imightbewrong]

There are also audit costs aren't there? When you take custody you need to know what you are getting, and when you return it it needs to also be 'checked'. You can't just wipe it with a flourescent pen

 

[Mr_Wistles]

I was not aware but it just adds to the fact that for anything more than a token amount it is a crazy idea.

 

[Mr.D]

Gold is great for locking up wealth. Its shot up over recent years primarily because its used as a hedge for the rest of the stock market. Investors park their money up in gold when the rest of the market is tanking or currency is devaluing.

When the rest of the market improves you see the gold getting liquidated.

I was buying gold when it was about $700 an ounce . There was quite a lot of talk as to why Gold was so pricey ( lack of confidence in the rest of the market basically and people looking for better long term investment than property).

Quite a few people and companies reckon it costs about $600 an ounce to get the gold out of the ground ( which is actually quite pricey) however a lot of gold ( most of it possibly) is obtained as a consequence of other metal mining ( copper for example).

Pretty much all the gold in the world is still in existence , silver and platinum by comparison are destroyed in industrial processes and are not used for the same type of safe have "gold standard" that gold offers.

ETFs are often differentiated from physical gold holdings as ETFs do not necessarily reflect true gols availability as they are not actually backed with real physical gold but rather are a companies promise to honour such ( like fiat money). However you can short the market as well with ETFs. If you tried to exchange all the etfs in circulation for physical gold you would probably find that there was a shortfall.

So people who buy gold are mixed, hedge funds looking for a safe haven parking space for money whilst the rest of the market improves , then you have long term investors , then you have China using it to lock up wealth away from the influence of western markets and industry, and last of all you have the crazy people who believe the end of the world is coming and the only way to buy a loaf of bread is with Krug , brittania , eagle or other solid gold coin.

I use goldmoney for buying gold as its cheaper than walking into a bullion dealer and I can buy and sell it immediately , its also backed by physical gold , you own the actual gold itself not just a promise to pay.

I made 12k profit from a 60k investment in gold not that long ago. If I hadn't tried to be clever it would have been 17k.

My suspicion is that gold is going up for a bit longer.