In this cost of living crisis many people are looking to raise that extra little bit of money to cover the council tax bill or the mortgage repayment. Some of us may be aware of the high price of precious metals today in particular the price of gold, platinum and palladium. But why are the prices of precious metals so high? The same forces that drive the petrol price to £1.50 pounds per litre recently are the same forces that are driving the price of precious metals. Firstly now for a little bit of history; It is hard to imagine that 10 years ago the price of all major precious metals was around a quarter of where they are today. In particular gold was under £150 per troyoz. Today it is over £750 and after a short fall recently it is showing signs of regrouping and driving higher. As with all commodities the price on a day-to-day basis is a very volatile. But no other major asset class has enjoyed such a run up in prices over the past 6 years. Some assume that the precious metals bubble has burst. Given that successful, apparent turn around in some major Western economies, mainly the US and UK, precious metals no long have a place in investors hearts. The factors that drove the price to nearly $1900 dollars a troy oz in 2011 are still in place. Geo political crisis and the money printing activities of central banks. Coupled with the fact that in the largest trading bloc in the world, the EU, there are negative interest rates – where a bank charges customers a fee for holding their money in deposit – what better reason would there be to hold gold? With the price of precious metals so high, including gold, means that now is a great time to sell your precious metals.
You may be reading this and thinking how can I sell my precious metals. For example how can I benefit from gold, which is still at historically high prices? You could invest directly in the price of gold by buying a stock that is directly linked to the price of gold such as a gold or precious metals miner. Or you could put a stake in a gold exchange traded fund, or if you are feeling very adventurous, you could open a spread betting contract and bet on moves in the price of gold or any other precious metal for that instance. If you are more risk adverse and are not looking to put any money down in investing in the price of gold, you could sell gold or other types of precious metal. It is commonly noted that many of us have gold, allot more than we originally think. The average person owns at least 30 grams of gold in the form of old, never worn jewellery. At todays prices that is nearly £750 pounds. This is money that people are literally siting on, lost rings, earrings, necklaces found down that back of sofas. For example how would you like to receive £750 deposited into your bank. All someone would need to do is to simply spend a few hours, at the most, checking behind sofas, at the back of bedroom drawers, or in the old jewellery box. Given that the price of gold and other precious metals are still historically, at high prices it is important to at now and sell. Even without he cost of living crisis that many hard working families in the UK are currently experiencing, selling that 30 grams worth of broken gold chains and earrings could earn you an easy £750 pounds, especially when you go through places like Hatton Garden Refinery. Which could go towards a nice city break or splashing out on the latest gadget or two.
In the US there is a massive postal gold industry. Many people are opting to sell their scrap gold jewellery and other items using a postal gold company. The benefits of using a postal gold company over for example the local pawnbroker or small jeweller is the fact that a postal gold company simply specialises in buying scrap gold and other precious metals to refine or sell on at a profit. They as a necessity have large economies of scale and can pay the highest prices for scrap precious metals. It is important to note in this process that the margins for purchasing and re processing scrap metals is very low – typically gross profit is in single digits. In the UK the industry is very similar, although allot smaller. Last year approximately 29 tonnes of scrap gold alone was re processed – although a much smaller industry, still significant. A major player within the UK scrap gold and precious metal market is Hatton Garden Refinery. This firm uses the most up to date equipment to test and analyse precious metals, insuring customers get the most for their precious metal material.