Gold today, much the same as the past few thousand years, is the measure of value. All the gold ever mined still exists today. It does not dissipate into the atmosphere, it cannot be burnt up, it does not tarnish and It has a low melting point, it’s malleable making easy to use for coinage.
The value of gold is known to central banks and reserves worldwide, these entities purchase, sell and trade in gold daily. Gold is the value standard behind all commodities! Gold reserves and holdings lurk in the shadows today, supporting the entire worldwide financial system. As fiat financial systems (debt-based currencies) come and go worldwide, Gold has always been and continues to be the only real money. This is why every business or private sellers should learn how to accept gold as a form or payment.
Why Should I Accept Gold
Gold and silver unlike all current paper currency maintains its buying power. What this means is gold and silver do not lose their value over time. A really good explanation for this is an analogy. In 1964 a gallon of gas would cost you a quarter, today that same quarter still buys a gallon on gas because it’s made of silver. The paper dollar from the same year only buys about a quarter of a gallon of gas. Gold is the same way, it’s a bit harder to give an example because of the higher price.
Why most business do not accept gold
The answer is simple. People, in general, are misinformed, ill-equipped and a bit lazy. Gold is easy to use as a form of payment but there is an extra step to accepting it, you need a scale, a way to authenticate and you need to know the current value. Most businesses are just not set-up to accept gold.
How do I start accepting Gold?
Getting started is simple. You are only going to need a few things.
- A Gram Scale
- Gold Meter or Acid Test Kit
- Internet Connection
- Calculator
- Some sort of signage – Let customers know that gold is accepted.
- Refiner to Purchase from You
Gram scales are cheap on Amazon these days, you can pick a decent one up for under $25.00. Gold Meter are pricey, they can range from $200.00 to $650.00, even at the high price they are worth it. Acid test kits are messy and take longer to use. If you’re on a budget they do work and sets are cheap, under $30.00. You will also need to know the current value, or spot price of Gold and Silver, so you’re going to need an internet connection to get these values. You will also need a refiner to purchase your gold. You will need either a local guy that can pick-up or a company that you can ship your gold out to. A good refiner will pay you between 93% – 98% of the gold or silver value.
A process will help. Using signage is a start but you may need to ask customers if they plan on paying with gold or other precious metal when they enter you place of business… This will give you time to figure out how much they have, to spend.
Who much is gold worth?
When you loaded this page we figured it out for you!
The current spot price of 1oz. of pure gold =
You can figure this out for yourself, here is the math.
The current spot price of gold divided by 31.1 this give you the value of 1 gram of 24k pure gold. When figuring out the value of 1 gram of 14k it’s pretty simple you divide 14 by 24 this gives you 0.583 this is the percentage of gold in 14k gold. You simply multiply the value of 1 gram of pure gold by 0.583. The next step is to figure out how much you are paying or the exchange rate you offer. As and example, we’ll use 80%. Multiply the 14k value by .80 and the result will be your own exchange rate that you offer for each 1 gram of 14k gold…
You should end up with
What are the Advantages?
There are many advantages to accepting gold and silver in exchange for your goods and services. We’ll start with profit and how it works. When you are accepting gold, you set the current rate meaning the percentage you trade a gram of gold to a dollar at. This really isn’t complicated let’s say your refiner pays you 95% of the gold value. You can set your price for gold at 85% for your services or products. In this example your product sold with a 10% mark-up. Widget that sell for $10.00 cash now sells for $10.00 in gold at your own rates. It’s important that you keep your rates fair and in line with current trends otherwise you may lose business. Here is another example. 3 grams of 14k gold is equal to about $105.00 (today) if you have a product that sells for $70.00 you can sell this for 2.5 grams of gold 78.50 and after your refiner pays you, you will end up 76.90 at 98%. This means you don’t need to process all of the gold in order to cover your cost and profit. You can sack it away!
What are reasonable rates of exchange? Today’s fair real world exchange rates for Gold to Dollars are anywhere between 70-85 precent! These are the rates reputable merchants offer. There are many shops, road shows and venue gold buyers, that will only offer 35-60 percent. These types of buyers should be criminally charged; however, they do exist, and they are extremely profitable. If you are offering a reasonable rate, you can increase your customer base and sell more. There are 100’s of thousands of people with hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in old gold jewelry. These potential customers simply don’t understand that it can be used as money. Offering this payment service will increase your business.
Bring customers back to the storefront. The current trend, at least in the United States, has been a reemergence of the local storefront. Thankfully, today consumers are turning away from big-tech and looking locally for the items and services they need or want. Offering these consumers gold and silver payment options is logical, especially with the current economic instability. Inflation in the United States, really around the World, in taking a toll on consumers in every economic class. Offering these payment options allows consumers to keep more cash in the bank for their monthly bills.