Abu Dhabi ATM swaps cash for gold [video link] -from BBC News [5/13/2010] Thomas Geissler and the gold ATM was in news last year on Gold Newswire.net in this story, German company unveils gold ATM [May 20, 2009]
Most certainly there's a significant mark up. Worth noting that there are no taxes on gold in the UAE. I don't know how much cash they are feeding into that ATM for a 10 gram bar, but by comparison Apmex is currently selling 10gm Pamp Suisse bars for $414.51 as of this writing.
I was recently in DE (Germany) and my buddy said he has to pay 30% over spot because of taxes. Is that normal for physical?
I wouldn't feel comfortable carrying so much cash to sell in return for gold. It has, "look at me look at me" all over it.... Now, if you could somehow get the gold without the cash, say access your account electronically, at least you have one side to worry about. Making it home after people have seen you put some gold in your pocket is another issue...
The gold ATM is in a hotel and likely a novelty idea for tourists visiting the country. I didn't hear in the video which hotel it was in. Probably if BBC did a spot on it, there's got to be more buzz in the media today/soon to come about where it's at. I believe the airport in Abu Dhabi also has a lot of gold merchants that target travelers.
I assume the purchases are made by inserting a credit card. But announcing to onlookers by using the machine that you are carrying gold may not be the smartest thing to do.
The 'Gold to go' ATM is located currently at the seven-star Emirate Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Check out the virtual tour. -from CNBC.com Regarding pricing of the gold in the ATM, according to this article, Plus... from Gizmodo / SkyNews
I wonder how the ATM makes change from the transaction... If one pays in cash, say you insert 2,000 Emirati Dirham notes, a round amount approximately USD$500 into the ATM, what do you get back? You get your 10 gram gold bar and does it also spit out notes and coins in the local currency or is the remainder a surcharge for the luxury and convenience of using the ATM?
Okay so after digging back a bit in earlier reports last year in May 2009 about these 'Gold To Go' ATMs, Mineweb published this story in which they broke down the then premium of a 1 gram gold bar at 30% to the spot price. The company's initial plans rolled out that they: So, it sounds like initial plans changed quite a bit in the nation(s) they first decided to roll out the Gold ATM, what size and type of product the ATM will dispense and where the ATM would be set up. Railway stations and shopping malls hardly occur to me to be as secure as maybe a seven-star hotel and airport location might be capable of providing security for gold buyers.
I can't remember, but I wonder if cash ATM's had the same "fear". "Oh great idea, a machine with cash, that will really last!" Yes it is everywhere and so normal now. Do people get robbed? Yeah sure, if you're getting cash at 2AM in a dark alley... Initial fees were cheap, I do remember how they said it wouldn't be that expensive. Now it's pretty expensive to use an ATM outside of your bank.... Since gold seems to be so taboo in the U.S., I wonder if this idea would ever take off here...
People are always resistant to change, the US is no different, maybe only in degree of resistance. A key difference of Cash ATMs vs this gold ATM, the banks and credit unions put out and maintain the network of ATMs and an asset management company is behind the gold ATM idea.
Yeah and I guess the biggest thing of all is "acceptance". So you get your cash, walk down the street and buy something with it. With gold, well, try spending it at McD's....
I would use it, as long it wasn't more than $20 over spot. On a separate note, I doubt very much that these ATM machines would be set up in sleazy areas and I would think that they would only be set up in snooty areas $$$. That said, they would be safe enough in snooty hotels, that's for certain!! At least the snooty hotels I've been to. Another thing is, I would think that you could only get gold from them and not be able to get a cash and gold transaction, that makes more sense to me. :thumb:
Guess it depends on what you buy. For "investment gold" that is pretty much nonsense. Even bullion coins are tax exempt, EU-wide. But if you buy a collector coin, you may well have to pay much more than BV here. Christian
