Goldline Scandal

I understand companies need to make a profit but advertising one thing and then switching to another saying it's just as good and so you put $5,000 into it and end up with $2,900 in actual value?

sure some people do need protection from themselves but a responsible company would not have a nearly double mark up like that unless there was already evidence of such a market already existing out there...

I also understand there needs to be a dealer markup but a $2,100 mark up on a total sale of $5,000? seriously?

it sounds pretty cut and dry just from those facts presented but I would also like to see if there is any kind of justification for such a markup...seeing as they advertise one thing and sell another...


Alex

 

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It depends these places sell by retail value and buy at dealer value most of the time. the other thing is they usually tell you upfront that they charge a premium on all coins. it is usually 20-30% depending. so if someone orders 5000 worth of coins they are going to get 5000 in coins based on their price guides. they usually let people know upfront about it as well. i know i will be sitting on my coins for at least 5 years before i can make money off of them which is about correct for certain coins.

their justification is that is what they charge. they could mark their coins up 100% as long as they tell the people that they have a 40-50% markup on their stuff it is fully legal. again they go by retail prices most of the time.​

Correction he received 5000 dollars worth of coins according to them and their retail sheets. i don't know any dealer that will pay retail prices. what someone is willing to buy them for is completely different than the actual cost. as most dealers go buy what the dealer sheets say they are worth not retail.

 

The way that I see it that nobody put a gun to their head to, for example, buy a Swiss Franc at a crazy premium. If a person is not comfortable with a price they are quoted for a gold bullion coin (or any coin for that matter), then they should just walk away. Besides this forum, there is information on most gold and silver coins and bars out there on the internet. A person just needs to learn more about what they are interested in buying and to get an idea of how much it will cost before they actually go out and buy it.

I have never ordered anything from Goldline but Goldline has been known to charge high premiums on collectible gold and silver coins based on what I have read.

 

This whole investigation is targetted at Beck because he got on some big shots nerve and so they are using the levers of power to throttle him. It is purely political, as if those donks and elephants are more concerned about protecting americans and not just fighting over the commision on selling out the country.

 

Just curious if you have ever shopped at a jewelry store. It has probably been cut back a bit now, but their minimum markup used to be 300%. In other words, $3,750 mark up on a total sale of $5,000? seriously?

 

Quoted for truth...and I'm in the jewelry business...

 

During the run in the 80's, a bullion company offered to store your coins in their vault for a small monthly fee rather than ship them. Economical, safe, etc. Yep, you guessed it, sold the same coins to many different people.

No one should ever buy Bullion sight unseen. Grab that puppy with your own hand and take a good look at it before putting it in your pocket. As we have seen here time and again, the unlearned are targets for those individuals who cheat. Today, I might even take MY scale and chemical testing kit with my loupe. Too bad it has come to this.

 

Nathanial Hawthorne wrote a story some years back about a bonfire of everything that offended someone, the story made the point that there would be precious little left once we burned everything that offended us.

Me, I do not like those cash for gold places that refuse to say how much cash for how much gold, just send them gold they will send you cash, nothing about we pay 40 or 50 percent of spot, the most they will say are dodgy slogans like, we are now paying more than ever before.

I would not shut them down, just make them state what percentage of spot they give for your gold.

 

I feel sorry for the folks that feel the need to sell to shysters like Gold Line. Folks that feel they are backed into a corner and there is no other recourse......

 

it isn't that they sold they bought from goldline which has a very high premium on their coins. these people are sueing because they bought coins with a high premium and it is going to take a while for them to get that premium back.

they usually sell at the retail price of the coin. so if spot is 1000 bucks and retail is 2000 then that is what they sell it at.

so if someone spends 5000 they are going to get 5000 in retail value of coins. that is not what they are going to be able to sell them for. unless you know someone that buys at retail.

 

It is really plain and simple.

These people that feel they need protection or a back up plan, call a company, which they saw ads for on television. If you believe everything you see on television, there is something wrong with you. There is a smart and dumb way to do things, and believing an ad on television, or watching and calling in to buy something on an infomercial is the dumb way to do it.

It was said earlier, nobody put a gun to their head, that is absolutely right. I'm guessing the same people that saw that Goldline is a scam company, say that Pawn Stars are scammers too. People, the consumer, who didn't do any research, and hastily called in to spend whatever money they could in a recession to buy overpriced gold, is and will always be at fault. Wouldn't it be easy for them to do some research? Rather by the internet or watching CNBC?

It is just like my take on eBay, I can't feel sorry for somebody who bought something they knew nothing about in the hopes to protect their assets or invest in something. It is their fault for not doing any research or consulting anybody before purchasing.

There isn't much that can be done. Do I think Goldline was wrong? Well yes, a tad, I mean customers call in, for bullion, and they persuade them to buy Swiss coins, BUT for some reason this didn't raise any red flags to the customers, probably because they are dumb enough to call Goldline in the first place. Goldline, in my opinion has done nothing illegal, but because it is always someone else's fault in this world, I'd be willing to bet the customers, who were 'wronged', somehow get something out of this.

 

Sorry Doug, but I must disagree with one thing you are saying. I am far from an accounting expert, but that is NOT the definition of profit any place I am aware of. From that $1000 - $1500, you have to deduct overhead, payroll, taxation, and interest payments. My guess is that might leave Goldline with a profit of about $500. That margin is somewhat typical of most American business. In stead of complaining about Goldline, maybe we should be complaining about Google. The last I heard, their profit was actually greater than $1500 out of every $5000

 

Sorry, but I think Doug was referring to "Gross Profit" which is the amount received in excess of inventory cost base. "Net Profit" of course being the amount after the operating costs are deducted. It is quite possible to have a negative "Net Profit". At least that's how it was taught at the university 40 years ago. It may have changed by now of course. But there is something wrong with any company who charges such excessive numbers for bullion. I have always traded bullion exactly like any other currency exchange. The fees have never been more than 14% swing for any transaction I have been in. I mean 60% ? That's INSANE !

 

Someone disagrees with you. This is from Wiki, but it is what I learned 40 years ago.

 

I spent 30 minutes on the phone with a Vice President of something or other at Gold Line one evening. The wife had seen one of their ads and asked them to call me when I got home from work. The guy kept wanting to go into high pressure sells mode touting the benefits of owning gold. I had to keep interruting him to remind him that I was already a believer in gold and that we just needed to talk price. Then he had to go on and on about how if I bought gold from them, they would buy it back from me at any later date for 5% more than what they would pay me if I bought the gold from someone else. I'm going okay, but how much are you SELLING it for? I don't remember the numbers but it was a far higher mark up than a lot of other places ... enough higher to where that 5% extra when I sold it back, was not worth it.

Scandal? I don't see it. If you buy gold from them and are happy, great. If you buy from them and then later discover how much you over paid, too bad. You should have done your homework. (Of course, I hate their business model and would love to see them nailed for something!)

 

Unfortuantly no there isn't. they can charge whatever they wish to charge and if people pay it then that is on them. It isn't like they are the only gold group or gold provider out there.

if people weren't buying it then they would lower their prices. that is how the market works.
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I was offered gold coin the other day from the United States Rare Coin and Bullion reserve.