How to buy gold?

[imokg2g]

Rather than starting a new thread I thought I might ask my question about purchasing gold here.

[imokg2g]

Does anybody know whether American Express is accepted by any of the gold shops in Chinatown area. I have cash, but I have a rewards program linked to my card that would benefit from a large purchase.

Thank you in advance.

[ATF]

The best way to buy gold for an investment is through an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) or investments in individual gold miners, this can be done through an ETF also. You can also buy leveraged ETFs so if the price of gold goes up you get double or more the increase. The same applies if gold goes down of course. You can also buy short ETFs to profit on the falling price of gold.

In my personal opinion if you believe gold is going to advance buy gold mining shares on dips, but remember every government in the World wants to steer us into a high interest rate environment, this will be detrimental to the price of gold.

If you own ETFs or Shares they cannot be stolen from you or mysteriously disappear.

[ATF]

Does anybody know whether American Express is accepted by any of the gold shops in Chinatown area. I have cash, but I have a rewards program linked to my card that would benefit from a large purchase.

Thank you in advance.

Yes but they will probably charge the credit card fee, about 2%.

[Naam]

Does anybody know whether American Express is accepted by any of the gold shops in Chinatown area. I have cash, but I have a rewards program linked to my card that would benefit from a large purchase.

Thank you in advance.

Yes but they will probably charge the credit card fee, about 2%.

when it's Amex they either refuse or charge 5% minimum.

[ATF]

On a German website I read one time not any gold shop in Thailand has a gov sale licence , and if one avalible is faked !

How it can happen that a trained stuff

Eye can cheated by people sale the gold to the shop?

And then sale the gold fake again to you or me, no thanks! I buy the old

Only in my home country direct from the national bank then im sure I not get cheated!

Nowadays you can buy electronic gold and diamond testers or just rely on the good old tried and true Archimedes' principle for gold without gemstones attached. It's worked for over 2200 years so there is no reason for it to stop working now.

[thaiman]

What is a name of a good shop to buy gold bars in Bangkok without getting scammed? What's the best way to check to see if the gold is indeed real before you buy it?

[Naam]

On a German website I read one time not any gold shop in Thailand has a gov sale licence , and if one avalible is faked !

How it can happen that a trained stuff

Eye can cheated by people sale the gold to the shop?

And then sale the gold fake again to you or me, no thanks! I buy the old

Only in my home country direct from the national bank then im sure I not get cheated!

Nowadays you can buy electronic gold and diamond testers or just rely on the good old tried and true Archimedes' principle for gold without gemstones attached. It's worked for over 2200 years so there is no reason for it to stop working now.

measuring water displacement in a Thai gold shop?

Edited June 15, 2014 by Naam

[SheungWan]

Why do you lot buy and sell so much gold? More money to be made buying and selling fruit and veg.

Not all people buy gold to speculate on gold prices, but on the contrary as a long or medium term investment.

Hedging against a possible collapse of the Thai baht is a good reason.

Gold price has collapsed far worse than the Thai baht this last year. A better bet would have been the worthless fiat $US or even better still the DOW.

That was ‘ then ‘..........you would be delusional if you still believe that now

Talking of delusional, the price of gold the last 6 months has risen about 2.5%, the DOW up about 4%.

[mcmudden]

I want to buy some Thai gold bars for investment purposes (in, say, 1, 2, or 5 Baht weights). And I want to know that I’m in the best position to resell the bars in the future, without being reliant on the particular dealer from which I purchased, in the event they’ve disappeared.

- How to be sure the gold isn’t fake in some way?

- Typically, what should the dealer charge me per Baht weight above the posted “sell” price for bars of these sizes?

- I know there are a few reputable private Thai companies which cast these bars, with their name included in the casting. One of these is Hua Seng Heng (which I’ve heard some good things about), or Lu Yoo Huad. Is it preferable to buy from one of these casting companies in particular, or are they all the same?

- In the interests of me selling in the future, should the dealer provide me with some sort of certificate for each bar purchased?

- Must I necessarily assume that I have to use the same dealer when I decide to sell, in order to avoid receiving a much lower purchase price?

Many thanks for any helpful thoughts on this!

[RandomSand]

Buyer #1 will say "I'll buy your gold for 25% less than the accepted price". Because he can still make 25% on his money RISK FREE.

Buyer #2 will say "I'll buy your gold for 20% less than the accepted price". Because he can still make 20% on his money RISK FREE.

Buyer #3 will say "I'll buy your gold for 15% less than the accepted price". Because he can still make 15% on his money RISK FREE.

Buyer #4 will say "I'll buy your gold for 10% less than the accepted price". Because he can still make 10% on his money RISK FREE.

Buyer #5 will say "I'll buy your gold for 5% less than the accepted price". Because he can still make 5% on his money RISK FREE.

Buyer #6 will say "I'll buy your gold for 3% less than the accepted price". Because he can still make 3% on his money RISK FREE.

Buyer #7 will say "I'll buy your gold for 1% less than the accepted price". Because he can still make 1% on his money RISK FREE.

IN THAILAND. Do you think there's someone who will take 0.5% RISK FREE ?

Yes there certainly is for enough weight of gold.

Edited August 21, 2014 by RandomSand

[RandomSand]

I want to buy some Thai gold bars ...

Do you realise that a bar of gold bullion is worth over USD$ 0.5 Million and you can't buy them on ebay and they usually stay in bank vaults ?

All Thai people buy ring, chain, etc. They make bar for you? ..sure, they make bar for you, if you have money.

Edited August 21, 2014 by RandomSand

[96tehtarp]

There are many reputable brokers in Thailand that sell gold futures and certificates. I've never done it, and never heard of a broker going broke or disappearing. The OP should at least investigate this option at some large Thai brokerage firms. They have offices in every major city.

An alternative to selling gold outright is to use the government loan facility. Every province has a shop where the government will pawn your gold for you at very reasonably interest rates (or interest free, I'm not sure). You will receive a receipt and can make minimal payments to keep your loan current until you are ready to get your gold back. A lot of rural folk benefited from this when the price of gold doubled a year or so ago.

I've bought and sold gold here many times. Purchasing gold is as straightforward as the OP mentioned in his post. One walks in chooses his weight and pays his money. I've never been charged a 10% fee upon selling, however I have noticed every time I sold a 5 or 10 baht chain upon resale it was always not quite exactly the same 5 or 10 baht weight that I paid for it. It always seems to be about 5-600 baht underweight. I have never sold to the same shop where I purchased.

Naturally there is a spread between selling/buying price.

The normal procedure when I sell chains is the purchasing goldsmith will weigh it and then examine the seal marked by the manufacturing goldsmith through an eyepiece. Then he will place the chain in a vice and cut through it with a hacksaw about 4 or 5 times in different places examining that the chain is indeed solid gold. Next he places the chain on an asbestos coated wire mat an take an acetylene blowtorch to it, melting the chain slightly to examine its properties. The destroyed and melted chain then disappears into the back room and the goldsmith returns with a big wad of cash and pays me. It's the same drill all over Thailand.

If one is unsure of the buying and selling prices check with several shops and have wife or GF call to the province and ask someone there to check, only just to make sure to avoid the farang price.

Edited August 21, 2014 by 96tehtarp