Avoid getting Scammed buying Gold Nuggets Online - How to Buy Gold - Gold Weights - Prices - The value of Gold Nuggets
eBay is a great place for buying and selling gold nuggets. Buyers want to get a bargain, sellers want to get the highest price and fair competition decides the value of a nugget. There are always a lot of nuggets listed there and most of the sellers are honest. But I see buyers get ripped off every week, often paying US$5,000 per ounce or more because they aren’t careful. Here are some tips to help you get a lot more gold for your money. Put simply the two steps to get a good deal are:
Gold Value Before buying gold you should understand the value of gold. Everyone knows gold is expensive. The price of gold changes daily and is quoted on financial markets. To check the daily spot price look at www.kitco.com. Their web-page has a constantly updating graph and a lot more information on everything to do with gold if you wanted to dig deeper. The price of gold nuggets is related to, but NOT the same as the price of gold. Spot price refers to the daily price for gold bullion (refined gold which is melted down and cast as bars). Gold nuggets are more valuable than bullion because only a tiny fraction of the world's gold is found as nuggets. Most of the gold is extracted from crushed rock containing minute quantities of gold. Each nugget is a rare natural treasure. The larger the nugget, the rarer and more expensive it is. The shape of the nugget also affects the price. Collectors pay more for a nugget with an interesting shape or attractive appearance like these beauties than for a plain blob with little character.
You should be able to buy small flakes of gold panned or dredged from rivers (fine gold) for just a little above spot price but expect to pay well above spot price for a really nice nugget. Little nuggets up to a gram in weight are quite common and you'll see plenty on eBay and throughout the web, but pieces above 8 grams are uncommon and anything over an ounce is very rare. Know what you are buying (A fool and his money are soon parted) To buy wisely you have to know what you are buying. This is where careless buyers make most mistakes. The first thing you need to know about a gold nugget is how much does it weigh? It’s hard to understand but there are sellers that do not disclose the weights of the nuggets they are selling and only give a picture to indicate what is for sale. This should be a warning sign right away. The seller doesn’t want you to compare prices. It’s even harder to understand but there seems to be no shortage of buyers willing to gamble on no-weight gold. It’s very hard to judge the thickness and weight from a photo and often the pictures (pics) used leave much to be desired. Look for sellers that declare the weight of their gold clearly. But there is a particularly nasty trap here for people who don’t check carefully. On eBay and other auctions you will typically see three (3) different units for weighing gold. These are ounces, grams and grains. Ounces are easy but inexperienced gold buyers can be confused by grains and grams. Are you interested in owning gold? Then there should be just one choice: to buy gold grams from GoldMoney 1 ounce = 31.1 grams = 480 grains 1 gram = 15.43 grains There is an immense difference between a 3 grain nugget and a 3 gram nugget. The 3 gram nugget is more than 15 times heavier. The big difference in thickness doesn't show in the picture. Which would you like to receive in the mail?
Grains are tiny and because gold is twice as heavy as lead a 3 grain nugget is very small. Most sellers list in grams. When you find a seller listing their nuggets in grains it’s usually because their nuggets are very small. To help the illusion they claim the nuggets are fat, large, huge, generous "lunkers" etc. and use a photo that is greatly enlarged. Despite their best efforts a 3 grain nugget is still tiny. You should feel cheated if you paid more than $1 a grain for anything up to 10 grains. We have seen people pay 100 of their hard earned dollars recently for a 10 grain piece, believing they were buying a 10 gram nugget. That’s $100 USD for something about the size of a grain of wheat and it happens on eBay every week. Be CAREFUL, Read the auction before you bid. Before you bid, make sure the weight of the nugget is what you think it is. Be careful with a listing like Gold Nugget 10.0gr. If it is 10 grams and you win it for $100 you have a real bargain. But if it was really 10 grains you’ve just paid $4,800 USD per ounce (and most sellers would have happily given you 10 times as much gold for your money).The most important thing to remember is: Use a calculator to compare. 1 gram = 15.43 grains Shop around, there’s a very good chance you’ll find a better deal. Pricing Many sellers list their gold at $1 no reserve and let the competition determine the value. When you see a nugget with a starting price like $8.50 or $14.00, you can assume that this is the de facto reserve or the minimum price the seller wants to get. This should be a good guide to the value of the piece. If the nugget starts at $8.50 you would probably be paying way above its value if you bid $25. Shipping As with all online auction purchases, check the shipping price before bidding because there's a lot of variation. While many sellers have cheap shipping some are very expensive.
Gold mixed with substrata matter, typically quartz. You should use caution when examining pictures. Some nuggets are fused to substrata matter which is typically not removed from the nugget prior to sale or placement within a collection. By examining the above three pictures you should be able to easily determine two of the three pictures contain visual signs of substrata matter (quartz) surrounded by gold. When buying nuggets without having the ability to personally examine the nugget you should be sure to ask the seller about substrata matter like quartz being present in the specimen. Many sellers and even collectors are not sophisticated enough to separate the weight of this quartz or other material from the actual weight of the nugget itself. Therefore, you may actually be paying a far higher premium for a nugget which is fused to or surrounds a piece of quartz. If interested in help, assistance or further information regarding buying and selling gold nuggets please contact: info@nuggetfever.com
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