Alright... so this one is really out of left field. I bought this .55 kg bar of germanium at what I think is a decent price. The question is it looks like different kinds of 99.9999% germanium sell for different prices. I have found some that sells for $1800 a kg and some small ingots (120g) that were selling for $1,220 alone. Anyone have any experience with this?
IN my experience, rare metal pricing is all over the board. Its not a very defined market, with the smaller the sample the higher the premium, but no real market accepted methodology. That is why I never bothered with the field, finding it too much like gems than something well defined like gold or silver.
I wish I knew more to help you out, but I do know that it is used in a sterling silver alloy that tarnished slower than traditional sterling silver. I don't know who has the patent or trademark for Argentium sterling, but that's probably where you might want to start.
Great site and comparison for LD Tif! I admit looking around a while. I was checking out their lead section as well. For those who work in their garage, I tell you nothing is handier than having a few chunks of lead around.
I found that... but then I see this on ebay... A fool and his money? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Germanium-m...171972?pt=US_Other_Metals&hash=item27e83f11c4
[shrug] Current spot for .99999 Germanium is $1950/kg on at least one web site I checked. I'm not sure if Rotometals is a wholesale-only store. As for the eBay ingot, factoring in fabrication and profit margin... I think it's rather cool and wouldn't mind having an assortment of high purity, attractively fabricated 1 ozt ingots of various metals. Just because
I agree. The one ouce ingots are a consumer item, with added value and consistent weight. Ingots like you bought Matt are wholesale, industrial items. Its like why an ASE is worth more per ounce than a bar of silver, the ASE and one ounce Germanium are finished consumer products, while rough silver bars and this germanium bar are more industrial supply products.
Hey, I never begrudge any dealer maximizing his returns. If someone will pay it, more power to you man.
I see the comparison but the rounds look to be selling for $4700+ per kilo... At $149 an ounce... That's a really hefty markup for a consumer metal.
Not for rare earth metals. I have seen some of those metals for collectors in the range of 10-20 times the wholesale price. Like i said, its a weird market with no set markup percentages, which is why I stayed away from it. Its not as bad as gems, but similar. Its not a great place for investment really unless you really know what you are doing, (kind of like gems in that regard as well). You want to see really high markups, look at the pricing of rare earth metal one gram pieces. But again, even further a consumer oriented product. Like I said man, if someone on Ebay will pay it, good for you. Go ahead and list it at Ebay prices and see if you get a bite.
It looks like that's getting on toward semiconductor grade, and I'd think people looking for metal at that purity might look only to known dealers/chains of custody. But, again, you can move just about anything on eBay. (Not mercury or reactive metals, though, at least not if they spot it before it closes...)
After reading all the intelligent and helpful answers I'm finding it difficult to make a remark about the pretty red flowers.
Am I missing something? I always thought semiconductor grade needs to be 99.99999999% pure, or thereabouts. Also, the 40-54 resistivity values don't seem inline with the 60 Ohm resistivity typically associated to semiconductor grade Germanium... unless, again, I'm completely misunderstanding the physics behind it. It does seem that 99.9999% 40 Ohm would be really good for mirror coating for high grade telescopes, though.
I'm not in the field, but Sigma-Aldrich lists "semiconductor-grade" germanium as >99.999%. I think actual semiconductor manufacturers want a reasonably pure feedstock, but they further refine it before turning it into devices.
Ahh, okay, that does make sense about the feedstock possibly being what needs to have 99.99999999% purity.
