Hi all,
Firstly I have to compliment you all for this great forum. I have been reading for the entire evening and probably have a few days of reading left!
I am a 30 year old male from Pretoria, South Africa. I make a living by working for an US software company based in Johannesburg, but my brother and I are very involved in the buying and selling of precious metals, mostly gold. This is mostly his main income (jeweller) and my hobby. He makes jewellery, I run the (scrap) gold buying and selling!
For interest sake: Gold refining, selling and buying is heavily regulated business in South Africa. Some examples: If you are not a registered jeweller, you may not by law melt or refine precious metals. Buying and selling of gold (trading) in the form of jewellery or coins are allowed if you don't melt it down and just a second hand goods license is required for dealing (fairly simple to obtain if you comply) Obviously, for "Joe public" it is no problem buying or hording gold in the form of coins/bullion and jewellery. Rule of thumb is don’t trade without a second hand goods license and don’t melt if you don’t have a license.
I guess this is to be expected in a country with dozens of gold mines, although one must be very careful to stay within the limits of the law. Being a good law abiding citizen, we "obviously" stay within the limits of the law
The upside: We get great prices for gold (NOT Silver or Plat) the going rate for dealer at the major refiners (there is not many refiners, probably 5 to 10?) is 109% Yes, you sell gold at 109% of spot. Buying gold from a refinery, you pay 114% of spot. Don't ask me how this works, but 14% is our national VAT (Tax) Make no mistake, you need to be a dealer with all the licenses before you can buy or sell to a refinery. Needless to say, but there are "we buy gold"shops everywhere! Competition is big in the gold market and plenty middlemen (due to the fact that you may buy gold in the form of jewellery/coin form quite easily with very little paperwork if you can find any for sale) "Joe public" does not get close to 109%, probably around 102% if you have lots AND you get to a reputable dealer like myself offcourse Importing or exporting gold is also not legal without a ton of paperwork and something only done by the major refiners. The odd coin or piece of jewellery is obviously not a problem, but trying to import gold for dealing might get you into big trouble! Needless to say I can’t buy from you guys! :-(
I am quite interested in recovering gold from old electronics (I have not tried this before) but this forum is a mountain of information and I already have a much better idea and think this is suburb! We (my brother and I) currently do not refine, we will melt down jewellery just to make the scan process easier (and quicker) at the refinery as we get everything from 9ct to 22ct (scrap) jewellery.
Best,
At308
Firstly I have to compliment you all for this great forum. I have been reading for the entire evening and probably have a few days of reading left!
I am a 30 year old male from Pretoria, South Africa. I make a living by working for an US software company based in Johannesburg, but my brother and I are very involved in the buying and selling of precious metals, mostly gold. This is mostly his main income (jeweller) and my hobby. He makes jewellery, I run the (scrap) gold buying and selling!
For interest sake: Gold refining, selling and buying is heavily regulated business in South Africa. Some examples: If you are not a registered jeweller, you may not by law melt or refine precious metals. Buying and selling of gold (trading) in the form of jewellery or coins are allowed if you don't melt it down and just a second hand goods license is required for dealing (fairly simple to obtain if you comply) Obviously, for "Joe public" it is no problem buying or hording gold in the form of coins/bullion and jewellery. Rule of thumb is don’t trade without a second hand goods license and don’t melt if you don’t have a license.
I guess this is to be expected in a country with dozens of gold mines, although one must be very careful to stay within the limits of the law. Being a good law abiding citizen, we "obviously" stay within the limits of the law
The upside: We get great prices for gold (NOT Silver or Plat) the going rate for dealer at the major refiners (there is not many refiners, probably 5 to 10?) is 109% Yes, you sell gold at 109% of spot. Buying gold from a refinery, you pay 114% of spot. Don't ask me how this works, but 14% is our national VAT (Tax) Make no mistake, you need to be a dealer with all the licenses before you can buy or sell to a refinery. Needless to say, but there are "we buy gold"shops everywhere! Competition is big in the gold market and plenty middlemen (due to the fact that you may buy gold in the form of jewellery/coin form quite easily with very little paperwork if you can find any for sale) "Joe public" does not get close to 109%, probably around 102% if you have lots AND you get to a reputable dealer like myself offcourse
Importing or exporting gold is also not legal without a ton of paperwork and something only done by the major refiners. The odd coin or piece of jewellery is obviously not a problem, but trying to import gold for dealing might get you into big trouble! Needless to say I can’t buy from you guys! :-(I am quite interested in recovering gold from old electronics (I have not tried this before) but this forum is a mountain of information and I already have a much better idea and think this is suburb! We (my brother and I) currently do not refine, we will melt down jewellery just to make the scan process easier (and quicker) at the refinery as we get everything from 9ct to 22ct (scrap) jewellery.
Best,
At308
