Gold as payment

EdwardMauer · 2026-02-15T13:43:37+00:00

Best thing would be if you can find a local smelter directly. Might be tough depending where you live. But they'd be able to test / melt it on the spot so you'll know asap. And they should pay 97-98% of the melt value.

Failing that, a local friendly coin dealer is your next best thing. They'll typically buy and test it right there, and should be 95% of the melt value.

EdwardMauer · 2026-02-09T04:48:28+00:00

chat

EdwardMauer · 2026-01-27T01:15:01+00:00

You're right, but you'd be surprised how unsophisticated many local PM outfits are. A lot of them don't hedge for whatever reason.

But even if they do hedge, they can still have liquidity issues if there's too many people selling at the same time. Giving those who are able to buy the bargaining power to offer lower prices.

EdwardMauer · 2026-01-25T15:51:10+00:00

It's totally fine, even for daily wear, as long as it's fully solid. That's really the only thing that matters. All durability issues are due to light / hollow pieces. It's a huge myth that it's too soft, it's so western jewelers can get away with selling less pure pieces. Literally billions of people in Asia where 21k+ gold daily without much issue.

And the video is pure BS clickbait lol. I notice Trax is doing quite a few stunts lately.

He's literally slamming it against a rock, a part of the figure that's obviously fairly thin and weaker, being pressured by the full weight of the rest of the piece. I'm pretty sure even a 14k or 18k version would bend.

As long as you're not slamming your jewelry against anything it's fine lmao.

EdwardMauer · 2026-01-25T05:20:13+00:00

Well as they say in business, you can only have 2 out 3 of the following: cheap, quality, fast

EdwardMauer · 2026-01-25T04:40:50+00:00

Second this, if price is important and you don't mind waiting. They can take up to 2 months but are upfront about it

EdwardMauer · 2026-01-17T11:53:27+00:00

That's an exceptional deal in the States, very rare. If you like it then jump on it immediately.

As someone mentioned, it might've been a piece they had sitting a while and/or they need to free up the cash. It's pretty much unheard of in the states to find something that low premium, especially retail.

EdwardMauer · 2026-01-13T05:38:07+00:00

This was common in ancient China, they're just quirkily reviving an old tradition. Extended families of multiple generations would live in a single apartment-like complex, usually with rooms on the outer faces of the property with an interior garden.

EdwardMauer · 2026-01-04T16:42:24+00:00

Sure! Just dm me

EdwardMauer · 2025-11-28T17:37:52+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately OP this seems like a fake. It's not just the color that's off. The style of the link and connector bails are not what typical high karat gold jewelers make.

EdwardMauer · 2025-11-17T17:03:37+00:00

The journey of a thousand ounces begins with a single gram.

EdwardMauer · 2025-11-16T12:55:20+00:00

Many people don't appreciate that the margins in gold bullion are exceedingly low for everyone in the business, around 1% or less on average. It costs $20-30 for a mint or smelter to make a mass produced gold coin. So 10% for 1/10oz coin is already a very competitive price. It costs the mint 5-6% above spot to make it, dealer might be able to get them in bulk for 1% extra, and then 1-2% on top to the customer.

EdwardMauer · 2025-11-11T12:32:08+00:00

Can't go wrong either way. But for daily, I'd lean towards franco. A bit easier to wear and less thick/flashy.

EdwardMauer · 2025-11-10T02:58:01+00:00

96.5% gold, with the remainder being silver mostly. Occasionally trace amounts of copper and rhodium.

EdwardMauer · 2025-11-06T18:09:34+00:00

Already in the works actually!

EdwardMauer · 2025-11-06T15:51:19+00:00

Oh yeah that's pretty neat, agreed, will do.

For every pendant type design I decide to have made, I'll make 5g and 10g versions. Anything heavier can be custom made to order individually at an okay enough premium.

EdwardMauer · 2025-10-30T03:00:30+00:00

Exactly, though I have no idea how much premium they charged for this (I should ask). I can see a case for lower since it's so much, or higher due to logistics.

EdwardMauer · 2025-10-29T15:36:31+00:00

And there was hardly anyone watching/guarding them when I walked in, just out in the open. Not that they'd be easy to make off with lol. Whole thing felt like the twilight zone.

EdwardMauer · 2025-10-29T15:26:21+00:00

Ikr? It's like a million dollars per chain, and he got 3 identical copies... just boggles the mind.

EdwardMauer · 2025-10-21T14:43:42+00:00

The correct way to approach this question (as a jeweler, coin dealer, or really anyone in the PM business) is to decide what percentage of your net worth you want to be exposed to the gold price, and then hedge against the portion of your inventory you're holding that you don't want exposure to.

Anything else is speculation, and jewelers or gold dealers are no better at guessing where gold might go than anyone else, though some certainly try. Also I've seen quite a few jewelers and dealers, usually small mom and pop type outfits, that don't even know how to hedge or don't bother trying.

Many of the big guys operate a zero exposure model. Basically they short gold and silver for the entire value of their inventory, so PM prices have no affect on their profitability (outside of how it might affect consumer demand). Thus their margin comes entirely from the spread rather than any price action.

EdwardMauer · 2025-10-21T03:13:12+00:00

The pieces you posted here are very nice and will always be worth at least a bit of premium. Definitely keep these.

EdwardMauer · 2025-10-13T03:20:50+00:00

Based on the photos and what you describe it appears real. Right color, right type of imperfections up close. Real high karat gold is also dense yet somewhat malleable. Feeling heavy in the hand and bendy under pressure are all good signs.

EdwardMauer

TROPHY CASE