Selling gold

Hi, We are enquiring for information re selling gold. We are not knocking any buyers, just after the best possible deal for our efforts. We have sold some gold on Ebay with some very good results but it is very time consuming to photo every piece and then download pics and list. We found we got more for gram for the smaller bits, ie less than about .7gram. The larger bits were just over gold value. (we got between $56 and $505 per gram before selling fees and charges)
We enquired last year to sell to the perth mint and they pay gold value plus a processing fee (we thought high). We have since contacted Becks in adelaide and they also pay gold price with a processing fee of $150.00(I stand to be corrected) and also a small fee if there is specimens included with your nuggets.
Our first question is are specimens worth more and if so how do we sell them? They are quartz, mostly golf ball size or a bit bigger and have gold nuggets hanging out of them and gold visable through sections of the specimen. Wet and dry weights suggest gold content between 5 and 25 grams. Other specimens just have veins of gold through them.
We have approx 10 oz that we want to sell and would like your opinions as to what may be the best possible outcome for the sale of our gold as does cost to travel and retreive this marvelous mineral. We would not have it for sale except that we are renovating our home and could do with this $$$$ instead of borrowing $$$$.
Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated, or if you know of anybody who would pay above gold value, we would be interested to hear.

Thanks for looking at this
Travelergold

Best luck and good swinging

personally i think your best bet is ebay. yes it is time consuming, but if you focus on 6 - 12 pieces each day with the auctions finishing at around 7pm 10pm you will cover a larger area of the market australian wide.

you can recover some of your costs in postage, ie. minimum registered post cost i think is about $5.50. so if you charge $8.00 this will help cover your paypal fees. but this only works on nuggets upto a couple of grams.

another way to increase the value of each of your nuggets is to have good quality photos so people can see any unique features of the nugget. i personally have paid a little more for a nugget that looked like a rabbit. i have seen a 1.3g nugget close to the shape of Australia sell for almost $200. 4 times spot price.

if you can get people to pay you via direct bank deposit, then you have no paypal fees. but ebay does screw you around and you are forced to offer paypal.

GDAY TRAVELERGOLD
was that a misprint $505 PER GRAM
good scratchin
cheers the speciman

Hi the specemin,
No that is not a misprint. Two people obviously wanted the small peice and they bid accordingly. The purchaser was very happy with the item when he recieved it and has bought more of me privately. We have been lucky to sell some privately to poeple who first purchased from us of ebay. I just wish that some more of the purchasers were interested in larger lots at a set price, would then get rid of some more of our peices.
Somebody has told us that the americans love specemins and pay a surcharge for them, does that mean that we would list on ebay.com instead of ebay.com.au?
At least gold is slowly going up in value and with the world economic problems in the US and the euro having there problems.
Cheers travelergold

Hi Travelergold,

If some of the specimens are pretty and have most gold on the outside i would give them a run on ebay. You would need to clearly state the total weight and size with a good calculation of the gold weight.

To make life easier i would dolly the lot and chop up the slug a few times with a chisel and redolly it a few times to get most of the quartz out and send the whole lot to Beck or similar. The $150 refinining cost is not much if you send close to 10 ounces. You will lose 15% as silver and rubbish but you will have the cash in you bank within 10 days.


Tributer

Hi Travelergold.
This reply ended up a lot longer than I thought. Apologies in advance.

The fastest, safest and easiest way to sell your gold is to put it on Ebay - unless you have a buyer that will regularly buy your gold directly from you. That's what most serious sluice/dredge/detector operators are always hoping to arrange.

Listing each and every piece of gold on Ebay can be a pain. It's a little tedious sometimes, even for me. But when it comes to nuggets over a gram it gets easier. It can even be fun. But if selling fine alluvial gold from a sluice or a pan, it's easier to find dozens of buyers if the gold is broken down into lots of no more than 3 grams per parcel. If you list a 5 gram or more parcel, the buyers can be fewer because there's more people out there that just want to buy a small, affordable sample than a larger, more expensive one. Several people bidding on a 20 gram nugget often means there's room to sell another similar sized nugget a day or two later and those who failed to win the first nugget might go for the second one. Listing a few nuggets to finish at around the same date means you can attract bidders who will want more than one nugget from you. You may want to offer them a discount on postage for more than one item or free combined postage with just one postage fee. Never overcharge for postage.

We sold quite a few ounces over the last month with a number of nuggets going through Ebay. We've sold gold on Ebay for years but Sunday night is when most bidders are at home and when most gold ends at Auction. Sometimes if it's a larger piece, we'll allow it to end on the Monday to allow anyone who missed out on a Sunday nugget from another seller to bid and win. The customers on Ebay will want a bargain and you will attract more bidders by NOT listing them with a buy-now price but allowing them to run for a 5 or 7 day auction. The most serious bidding always takes places towards the second last day and any last minute bidding usually takes place within the last 60 seconds of the auction.

About that Bargain your customers will want, you'll need to remember that most buyers will use a calculator to determine what they will pay. Usually they will pay around $49-$59 per gram at this time. More if the nugget looks particularly nice. Some of the more expensive bids may come from overseas. It will cost you about $30 to post via Registered Post International with tracking and Delivery confirmation. It will cost you about $11 for Registered Post Australia with Delivery and insurance to about $500. Remember that the gift allowance in many countries is only $60 (or less) compared to our Australian Gift Allowance of $1000. Talk to your buyer if you need to send the item overseas and ask him how he would like you to mark the item's value. False declarations can be a bummer.

Start Prices
For larger nuggets over 10 or 20 grams, we usually kick the item off at either $199 to $399 to get rid of the riff-raff that hope to buy it for less and only bid because the item is low. Plenty of hopefuls who won't want to bid much in case nobody else sees the item. They regularly bid $1 to $10 on any item they see and surprisingly they win many items this way. Don't be afraid to list your smaller nuggets at $99 or even $0.99 to create interest from bidders. Sometimes we'll list at $28 per gram to attract early bidders. You will find that this will attract more competitive bids than listing at a Buy Now price. This means more competitive bidding towards the end of Auction. Look at what other nuggets are selling at per gram to determine what you can expect bidders to pay. We listed 15 nuggets last month on the one day at "Buy it now" and every single one was passed in without a single bid at the end of Auction. We resisted all of them immediately but will low prices for bidding.... and they all sold for MORE than the original Buy it Now price. People like to bid against one another more than they like to Buy Now.

Nuggets over 5grams are rare enough that they can sell over their Spot value. Nuggets over 10 grams are listed as "Rare" in the USA and most Australian bidders will try hard to win them. Nuggets over 15 grams almost always attract a few serious bids earlier on.

About your Photographs:
Be sure to use clear photographs that show the nugget in a natural color. Do not use tiny pictures that may give the impression the nugget is prettier than it is. If there's any pick-strikes (which lower the value of the nugget), be sure they show clearly in any photographs to the buyer isn't in for a surprise. You don't need to mention the pick strikes in your description but be sure not to conceal any damage to the nugget. For larger nuggets I like to upload larger images (over 1024 pixels wide @ 72dpi) and pay the extra buck to obtain the Large Images Option which allows up to 12 images. For small nuggets I show both sides and display the weight.



Most small sub-compact digital cameras will produce excellent close-up (Macro) photographs.

Some people will ask you about the purity of the nugget - but since the nuggets are sold for their appearance rather then purity (which in Australia is always high anyway) it's not something they ought to be worried about. Remind them of this and try to find out what the purity the gold in the region usually comes up as before you list your item. No need to mention purity in your ad. Only weight. When selling specimens, you can give a gold weight estimate plus a gross weight for the entire specimen. I don't bother with doing specific gravity tests with specimens that are under 10 grams but some people ask.

You can use props to show how large or how small your nugget is. Props that are helpful are coins (use a smaller coin like a 5c coin). A Ruler is also a VERY good idea. If the nugget literally looks large in the hand but weights a smaller amount, then take a picture of someone holding it - but again, be honest. Don't use a child's hand for the photograph but if you have a friend with smaller fingers, it probably doesn't hurt to use their hand for a prop rather than your own if you have large hands or fingers. You want to show the seller what it will look like in their hands.

For larger nuggets and smaller ones, it may help to photograph it on a digital set of scales. Be sure to weigh the nugget carefully, even if you have to recalibrate and restart the scales several times for each nugget. This prevents errors. Most scales are accurate to one decimal place so I often mention this. Specimens are tricky because Ebay bidders need to be reminded that they can bring higher prices than clean nuggets with no host rock attached to them. Yes, specimens can sell for much more than their gold value but the last specimen I sold (2 weeks ago) was the only item we sold that went for a few dollars less than expected. You will find it hard to get top dollar for specimens and larger nuggets on Ebay unless the right bidders happen to be browsing that day. If you have a lot of specimens where the gold is not well displayed or exposed... and can sell them to a buyer/refiner, for close to Spot price then I'd suggest you do so. If the specimen is attractive, then try auctioning it. There's an expression used in the gold and jewelery industry that goes: "The only 'Honest' Refiner is the one who only rips you off just a little bit". Translated, this simply means the refiners need to buy at a profit. Otherwise it's not in their interest to buy your gold. Too much profit means they might be taking advantage of the situation.

Remember that the refining/assaying cost is a flat fee no matter how much gold you deliver that day.

When photographing your nuggets, try to do it where there's plenty of light to avoid washing out the image with the flash at night. Late afternoon is good and even in daylight without direct sunlight on the nugget works nicely too. Direct sunlight or flash makes the highlights blow out and a metallic nugget will do this quite easily. A lot of my handheld shots (including the one of the specimen below) are taken in the car. If I'm wearing a red shirt the gold color appears warmer. Under white neon lighting the nuggets may appear greenish-yellow. Cloudy days outside are good and so are sunny days with your back to the sun.



Using a coin for scale may help show the size in a fair manner.


Use your hands to emphasize the size or larger specimens.


Using a ruler is ALWAYS a great way to show the scale most effectively.


Sometimes the smaller nuggets look more impressive in a small Gem Jar.


Allow people to see the thickness of the nugget if possible.


Showing the nugget on a digital scale is useful sometimes but not always.

With larger nuggets, it helps to use a traditional "Redheads" matchbox for scale although a $20 coin is always better because it's a large coin and the dull-silver finish makes the bright yellow of the gold more noticeable. If the color looks off, the buyer may think your nugget is very impure or even man-made so be sure to set the white-balance of the camera correctly or shoot the nugget using some aluminum foil to reflect light onto the darker areas of the nugget. DO NOT USE BLURRED PICTURES. But if you happen to be watching Ebay and know the seller is reliable and he's managed to upload a blurry photograph, less people will bid on it and you can probably win it for less... then photograph it again yourself (more clearly) when it arrives and re-list it on Ebay to generate a profit when it sells. But be careful... there might be a good reason for the picture being blurry. Perhaps the prospector doesn't understand his camera but perhaps the nugget was damaged during extraction by the guy who found it.

One of the most annoying things I saw was a seller with NO feedback who was selling a nugget on Ebay for $75,000 with a SMALL picture that was BLURRED. You could tell he was doing his best to sell it and had one picture of it in his hand and another picture of it next to an out-of-focus matchbox for scale... but the problem with large nuggets is that few people on Ebay will shell out that kind of money without more assurances (and clearer pictures). They might if the nugget was featured in Gold Gem & Treasure Magazine but with MEGA nuggets you should consider getting a broker in Victoria to arrange a buyer for you. This way you can do business safely and get good money for your nugget. The problem on Ebay is that there's too many people there who don't want to spend much. They'll buy a nugget if they think they're making a profit from the deal. You want to get top dollar and they want to buy your nugget for the least amount possible. If you can instill value in the item in your description, people will justify paying a little more to win it.

Try to keep your Ebay adverts lean with as little complicated text as possible.

* Display or List the Nugget Weight clearly in your description.
* For small nuggets, put the weight in the title.
* For nuggets over 5 grams, use a picture that suggests it's large but don't list the weight in the title... make them look at your ad.
* Identify it as a NATURAL nugget (ie not manmade)
* Embed your pictures if you can and upload at least two photograph. More if the nugget is interesting or large.
* Be honest in your description. Don't claim it to be something (eg "Pendant worthy") if you wouldn't think it to be yourself.
* Describe the terms of your sale (eg "Items must be paid for within 3 days of Auction End").
* Anticipate that at least one buyer may drag his feet paying (per every ten items you sell).



Problems:
Your biggest problem will be Non Paying Bidders or a lack of communication after the Auction has ended. They show up occasionally in gold sales and often it's from overseas bidders. Do yourself a favor and go into the Account Preferences for your Ebay account and be certain to block bidders with more than two negative feedback etc. And be sure to block any non-paying bidders as they reveal themselves lest they try fooling with your later auctions for "revenge".

DO NOT ARRANGE DEALS OUTSIDE OF EBAY. If a buyer offers to purchase your item say, after it didn't sell at Auction, don't be tricked into doing the deal without relisting it and selling it via Ebay. You will not be protected and neither will he. Any problems you might encounter (stolen account, stolen credit card, stolen identity etc) will then be yours alone since you will have violated Ebay's selling policy. All the nugget sellers (and buyers) who were ripped off on Ebay usually made the mistake of doing the deal outside of Ebay privately. Seller Protection will not apply. Ebay will shrug and tell you there's nothing they can do. So always protect yourself by not completing transactions OUTSIDE of Ebay. I've done this once for a very expensive item but I used Paypal and I trusted the Overseas seller whom I had bought from before. This was to save him the substantial handling fee from Paypal and we cut a deal on the price. Do NOT do this unless you know and trust the seller/buyer.

Beware of E-Cheques. Paypal has supposedly stopped accepting them but from memory, an E-Cheque is a payment (usually via Credit Card) from a buyer that is deposited into your Paypal Account and does not clear for up to 14 days. You cannot send an item until such an E-Cheque has been processed... if ever you get one of these.. just in case the E-Cheque doesn't clear. When the E-Cheque clears, then post your item. If you get them to deposit into your Bank Account, you can probably post your nugget as soon as the payment has been received. It will take at least one working day or more to appear in your account. Then post the nugget.

Communication
Communication is very important and you should endeavor to reply as soon as possible to questions from bidders. Also be sure to assist bidders who are new to Ebay so they understand how long a parcel will take to arrive. Be sure not to be rude, no matter how stupid their questions might be as some will simply communicate with you to test your communication skills before doing business with you.

Some of your bidders may only have purchased a couple of items before on Ebay so be patient with them as they may be inexperienced. Many gold nugget buyers will only use Ebay to buy gold. Others who may buy your nuggets may be gold collectors or even nugget dealers who may want to sell it again later. Look at the feedback of your buyers to see what their history is like. If they haven't paid for the item in a few days and are overdue, their history may reflect that they are normally fast to pay and reliable, repeat customers. This should suggest to you that the seller may be reliable but could be busy or on vacation. They may have bid automatically with a proxy bidder program and were not around to see they'd won the item. So don't be surprised if they don't respond to your emails for a few days. Some Ebay users still think they automatically get 7 days to finalize payment. This is no longer the case and you can now list an item as "unpaid" in just 4 days now.

Feedback
There's no need to hold back on feedback unless you had problems with the buyer. Remember also that Sellers cannot leave detailed negative feedback but the buyer can do this to you. Leave your feedback as soon as they have fulfilled their obligations as a buyer. I have one buyer that I chose not to leave feedback for since he was originally a non-paying bidder who paid after I activated a complaint for non-payment via the Resolution Center. If you need to relist an item because of a non-paying bidder, note that 99% of the time they will pay on the last day if you initiate a complaint against the transaction for non-payment. people who do no pay for more than 2 items within 12 months can be struck from Ebay. Do not be tempted to relist your item until the matter has been completely resolved. You can list an item as not being paid for just 4 days after an Auction has ended. Try to protect your seller rating but accept that eventually some jerk might eventually mess with it. That's life.

I usually include a private email on my outgoing messages if the item is expensive. If the item is valued in thousands of dollars, the buyers will sometimes be nervous and i don't mind passing on my mobile phone number so they have the means to contact me. But if you use Registered Post, you'll probably never have a problem. It's probably not worth passing out your personal details unless you have dealt with the buyer previously and trust them. Or if the item is expensive enough to warrant personal communication.


Postage:
Be certain the use foam or bubble wrap to protect your nugget. Specimens can be tricky to wrap if delicate. Be sure the nugget cannot be damaged if dropped to a hard surface from about shoulder height. I keep blocks of red-polymer foam and cut a hole in it to support a gem jar (plastic) to protect a small nugget. The envelope is lined with bubble wrap (they come that way) and a waterproof marker is used to address the parcel. I try to use Capital Letters when addressing an envelope so any feeble postal workers can easily make out the delivery address. Offer to combine items for the same seller at no extra postage fee because it costs you nothing to do this. I have a policy of posting the next business day and go to excessive lengths to be sure I fulfill this obligation. Buyers who know you will post as soon as they pay may pay sooner.

I don't recommend offering free postage but if you want people to pay quickly and it's a local delivery within Australia, this can be an attraction to them.

ONLY post to the listed address on the PAYPAL account from your buyer if Paypal is used. If his requested delivery address differs (if he asks you to post to a different delivery address or person), have him ALTER the Paypal address. I've had someone do this for me before to protect me as a seller. If you post to ANY other address than the one on their Paypal account, there's room for fraud to occur.

ONLY Post using Registered Post and pay the extra few dollars to INSURE your item plus tick the box (and pay for) "Delivery Confirmation". If you don;'t do this, you may someday run into someone who will try and mess with you by claiming they did not receive his parcel. Paypay and Ebay may request Proof that you posted the item... If you have done as I've suggested above, it also doesn't hurt to take a picture of your package with stamps etc on it at the Post Office after you've paid for the postage. Registered Post items (including overseas Registered Post International parcels) can be tracked via Australia Post by calling the 131318 phone number.

If paid via Paypal (which you must offer as an option for payment if using Ebay), transfer the money OUT of your Paypal account and into your Bank Account before you post the item. Paypal have assured me that the buyer cannot request a 'Payment Reversal' from the moment you have transferred the money. You can post the item now, even though the money has not arrived in your account. It will show up in your account in about 3 business days.

"Mineral Specimens"
When listing the description of your parcel contents, it is against the Postal Laws (according to Australia Post) to use the mail service to post "Gold Bullion, refined or unrefined". The thing is, they allow you to post gold jewellery so why not nuggets? Well, it probably goes back to the days of the Gold Escort which had to be used in the 1800s to avoid attracting the attention of Bushrangers to the regular Royal Mail. They forced the prospectors to pay a high fee for this service but it protected the Mail from interference. These days, they don't want bullion to be used in the mail service so as not to attract professional thieves and opportunists, potentially putting the lives and safety of Postal workers at risk. You can use a courier. But you may notice that the Perth Mint uses Australia Post and it's a Government office. Whilst opinions on this forum differ, I asked Australia Post to make a ruling on nuggets today since they hold more value as a nugget than they do melted down with any impurities removed. The people i spoke to felt that if the nugget "loses value" if damaged, then it probably doesn't need to be considered Bullion. And the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) has already previously ruled that since Nuggets are impure and do not bear an internationally accepted guarantee of purity (in the form of a Hallmark), that in the absence of refining, natural Gold Nuggets (specifically "Alluvial Gold nuggets") are not recognized as "Bullion" by the Government, refined or not.

To make it simple - yet protect both the seller and buyer, I recommend labeling your nugget as a "Mineral Specimen For Study". It is an honest, accurate description and can reasonably be relied on in the event of loss and an insurance claim. I usually insure any nugget over $100 because Registered Post automatically covers any parcel for the first $100. It's only like an extra dollar per hundred in value to do this. For nuggets over 60 grams, we would only use a courier. Some people use Express Post Platinum although that's not the correct service for nuggets... however, the parcel is tracked and is unlikely to be interfered with (I have received nuggets via this method but will not send them via this service).


Protect yourself by taking a snapshot of any expensive items you happen to be posting. I do this after they've been paid for and stamped by Post Office personnel.


It may help to take a picture of your parcel at the post office after being stamped just to back up your case in the event of a problem later.

If you make a simple Ebay advert for your nugget and list your terms with clear pictures and a simple description,you should find it easy to sell your gold online with minimal fuss and few safety concerns. You don't ever want to list gold as an item that can be "picked up" or "COD". Plenty of seller out there make a living selling gold or supplementing their income this way.

Good post Nero that covers everthing, I sold some nuggets on ebay not long ago and got $51.50 per gram I was happy and transaction went smooth and buyer was happy. Ebay is the way to go if you want to do everything from home.

Good post Nero, very informative. Now just have to get some of that stuff...

Excellent lucid and comprehensive post nero.........one point I would like to draw to members attention:
I enquired at the post office about "tracking", and was informed that the item is not tracked until it reaches the post office in the town/city of delivery ??????

Gday

As most bases have been covered I have only a couple of things to add, the first thing is due to the time and effort required in listing a multitude of small nuggets on ebay I now just sell them in small lots, say of ten grams each, or in lots of one ounce, nice or unusual nuggets from a couple of grams up I might sometimes list individually and the same with specimens.

Specimens that sell quickly have to be clean and attractive with lots of the gold content showing, some buyers are not convinced of gold content if its hidden and will be wary, as you would be, no matter what your description states.

Ugly gold and species is best dollied and cleaned, then the fines can be sold by weight, with the price of gold being high its simply quicker and easier to just bag it up and send it to a refiner, like PW Becks, you will get a good price from them and as earlier stated the monies in the bank reasonably quickly.

Picking your start and finish time is important to get the best final price as well, so is sometimes starting your listing at a later time/date if there is a lot of similar gold already listed for sale, if you can find someone who is willing to by your gold directly from you then even if you have to take a few dollars less per gram from them than you would get on ebay for it then that might make sense to you, if you do the sums and work out what the actual cost to you is when you sell it that way, considering listing fees, final value fees, and also paypal fees etc etc.

cheers

stayyerAU

great post Nero

Once again an excellent post Nero - It's always a pleasure to read the detailed explanations and amazing photo's.
well done. cheers Vasilis

Thanks Nero, Very well written.
It was interesting reading about how you post your items. We have sold to over 50 ebay buyers (well over 250 items) and really struggle to come to terms with australia post. We have always post be registered mail and on 4 occasions we had items that went missing or 3 to 4 weeks later the mail was returned back to us. With compaining to australia post they say that items sometimes miss the scanner so it only ever shows that the item was posted by you and recieved over the counter on a certain date. there is no more history then until it is returned to us. We have been lucky that in each occasion the purchaser was very understanding and they did eventually recieve there items. We have only had one registered mail item with tracking that showed it had been recieved over the counter and then vanished never to be seen again. no history on tracking of article either.
We will try and list a couple specimins and see how we go.
Out of interest, Can the TAX OFFICE say this is an income and want there share of our hard work.
We consider this just a hobby
Cheers travelergold

travelergold wrote:
Out of interest, Can the TAX OFFICE say this is an income and want there share of our hard work.
We consider this just a hobby
Cheers travelergold

Thank you. Yes, the ATO can pursue you for money made on Ebay but usually this is if you are turning over tens of thousands per year. A couple of years ago the ATO forced Ebay to turn over the details of all Australians who had made more than $30,000 on Ebay the previous year. They then pursued those persons who appeared to be avoiding Tax. However, it used to be my understanding that you were allowed to make up to $50K from your hobby before being obliged to declare it as a business and doing a specialized tax return for it. Perhaps one of the accountants here could clarify this for you. They can't tax you on the gold you find (which is also GST free) but they can if you make a substantial amount of your annual income via this process should you be selling it.

nero_design wrote: However, it used to be my understanding that you were allowed to make up to $50K

It used to be 50k Nero, but I believe it is now 75k.
But may pay to check with your accountant.

GoldstalkerGPX wrote:

nero_design wrote: However, it used to be my understanding that you were allowed to make up to $50K

It used to be 50k Nero, but I believe it is now 75k.
But may pay to check with your accountant.

I sold $28000 of things on Ebay up to June 2010 and got an email from Ebay to say my details had been passed onto ATO, as I am a self funded retiree I heard nothing, when I went to my accountant in July 2010 the accountant could tell me what I had taken from my super fund as this gets passed onto ATO from the super fund. I was told that if you are on the dole or a pension then they looked at your income from Ebay to see if it matched what you told CentreLink you had earned, apparently caught quite a few out. I am told one guy, a back yarder who was selling three caravans a week for about $8000 each over six months or so has been charged.
JMP333

I can confirm that if you have a job of any kind and find gold as a hobby and sell it you will not pay any tax...no matter how much gold you have found you do not have to declare it on your tax. If you find $300,000 worth on a three month trip to WA or North QLD you pay no tax.

The gold you find is treated as a windfall like from a win at the horses. It does not matter if you sell it on ebay.

The tax law re gold all revolves around "whether you are running a business or not". So as long as you are not finding gold as a business fulltime or near fulltime the income from your gold is tax free. Do not declare it on your tax, even if it is over $75,000 ... (the $75000 threshold or whatever it is, is related to when you need an ABN as a business) it has nothing to do with finding and selling gold as a hobby.

The above info is straight from an ATO friend who deals with business tax and also verified a tax accountant. Of course seek your own verification from your tax proffessional.

cheers Tributer

very informative Nero.
good effort
cheers dave

Was looking up info. about selling gold, & saw Nero Designs post (10.47pm. July 18).
It would have to be one of the BEST & most informative posts ever on this site, & the photos are brilliant.
Just wanted to remind others in case they missed it.
Congratulations & thank you Nero.
Geronimo.

I like the fact the ATO doesnt "get the gold" as they are destroying my small business with all the tax laws the buggers!!
Im sure they will change it soon so you get taxed 99 dollars in the gold gram in effect the prospector is down -26bux

Top post Nero. Full of good advice. Just got to go and get me some nuggets now! your photographs are very professional. up there with the best I've seen. cheers,

Nero a great post mate. I would like to know if you only sell your gold on E-bay Australia (E-bay.com.au)or do you do E-bay world wide (E-bay.com) or both at the same time.

Cheers Wombat

Good afternoon all,

I wonder if anyone has caught themselves out with
28.35 GRAMS = 1 OUNCE (WHEN WEIGHING GROCERIES)

31.103 GRAMS = 1 OUNCE (WHEN WEIGHING GOLD) ?

Am I making an error?

A 0.65 gramme nugget just fetched $40 on ebay.

So $40 x 0.65 x 31.1 = $808.6 an ounce. Even assumig it was not 100% pure that doesn't seem a very good price.

What did I do wrong with the calculation.

Yours tropically, Harry

31.1 / 0.65 = 47.846153 x $40.00 = $1913.8461.

Cheers DINGO

PS: $1913.8461 per OZ / by 31.1 = $61.538459 per GRAM

Dingo,

Clearly I have missed my calling. With my calculation skills I should be costing major economic programmes for Australia. I mean, whats the odd $200 million here or there in cost blow outs and under estimates?

Yours tropically, Harry