Previously we published an article on being able to cash in on high precious metals prices. We thought it would be appropriate to also talk about investing wisely in times of high precious metals premiums.
As the current situation stands, there is no physical shortage of precious metals worldwide. However, there is a squeeze on immediate settlement of physical precious metals due to the supply chain being affected by Covid-19 measures being implemented globally. (If you are wondering what do we mean, basically no flights = no movement of goods, including precious metals) A quick side note on fundamental economics here:
Price = Demand & Supply. If demand exceeds supply, prices will rise. Which is the current case for premiums of precious metals. The decreasing ability to take immediate physical settlement of your precious metals coupled with increasing rumors of shortages of the physical metal worldwide has rocketed premiums upwards, especially for Silver. You can read more here.
Today, we will share in greater details on how you can utilize GoldSilver Central to invest wisely into Precious Metals.
Option A is for you if you are an investor who
- Is new to financial investment in general
- May prefer a low entry cost to Precious Metals (As low as $5 a day)
- Wants an automatic arrangement for purchasing your bullion (Less Time Hassle)
- Wishes to avoid higher-premium low denominated items
- Wants a straightforward method with minimal effort.
Here’s how it works:
- You may consider going for our GSC Savings Accumulation Programme.
- Your purchases are done automatically on a daily basis (Dollar Cost Averaging) and will be stored with us under a pooled allocated arrangement (simply means that your precious metals holdings are physically backed by our inventory)
- Your holdings account is updated on a daily basis and a monthly statement is sent out
- And it’s done! When your holdings have accumulated to your target amount, choose the physical item and top up the physical premiums to specifically allocate a bar/coin for you.
- You may collect your physical bullion at your convenience (Currently it would have to be after the Circuit Breaker Period)
- If you wish to, you may opt for our Storage Programme which keeps your physical bullion safe, while providing you the convenience of being able to sell whenever you wish to
Option B is for you if you are an investor who
- Wants full control of when you wish to purchase your holdings
- Wants to purchase your holdings bit by bit (For example, you wish to purchase a 100ozSilver Bar, but you don’t have enough funds to purchase it at one go. You may break it up into 5oz sizes to accumulate slowly)
- Want to set your own Buy Limits (Automated Feature)
- Buy / Sell with narrow spreads
- May consider the option of taking physical delivery, however if you can sell off for quick profits you wouldn’t mind either
Here’s how it works:
- Unlock the Full GSC Live! Account Features.
- Login to your GSC Live! account and set up your Account preferences
- You may set Buy Limits to automatically trigger your desired buying prices or you may choose to purchase whenever your desired prices are reached
Option C is for you if you are an investor who
- Prefers security above all else in your precious metals portfolio
- Appreciates overseas diversification in your portfolio
- Demands integrity and professionalism in your counterparties
- Enjoys exclusivity
Here’s how it works:
- Sign up for a Perth Mint Certificate Programme.
- It is the only Government Guaranteed Accumulation Program in the world.
- The cost above Perth Mint Precious Metal prices is only 2.25% for Gold, Silver & Platinum
- A specialized account manager will be assigned to you throughout the entire process
In Summary, all 3 options above allow you to lock in the precious metals prices for the metal you wish to purchase and only top up the physical premiums at a later stage. When premiums are back to normal, you may then choose to take delivery of the bullion bars / coins.
So that’s it, a quick look into a few possible options we have here at GoldSilver Central to value add to our clients’ precious metals investment.
Have more questions on the arrangements?
Drop us an email at [email protected] or a call at +65 6222 9703 and we’ll be happy to share more information with you!
The Perth Mint Certificate Program (PMCP) is the only Government Guaranteed Certificate Program in the world and is backed by physical metals in Perth. PMCP clients have legal title to their precious metals stored in Unallocated, Allocated and Pool Allocated accounts.
The PMCP facilities are especially suitable for individuals seeking for confidentiality, flexibility and a safe haven for their precious metal assets in an uncertain world. It is also a ideal product for legacy planning.
Below are the SAFE reasons to own PMCP:
Secure
- The world’s only Government Guaranteed precious metals accumulation program.
- The PMCP is permitted in a variety of holdings including Personal, Joint, Corporate and Trust.
Affordable
- Low minimum purchase requirement, minimum of $10,000 (USD).
- FREE storage for unallocated Gold, Silver and Platinum.
- Only 2.25% above Perth Mint’s spot price
Flexible
- Worldwide Delivery and Redemption.
Exclusive
- Overseas relationship is with a Government owned entity, not a foreign bank.
- The Perth Mint’s records utilize code number to ensure client confidentiality and security.
To find out more, you may checkout our PMCP page.
If you are looking to sell away your Gold (Bullion & Jewellery), GoldSilver Central is happy to announce that we are providing free delivery to pick up your items valued at SGD$7500 and above!
To give our valued clients a better understanding of the process flow, here are the procedures:
1. Kindly provide us with your name, contact number and submit a clear photo of your items through Whatsapp or Email. Our dedicated staff will get in contact with you shortly.
2. Please note that we do not buy back any non-gold items such as stones that are embedded in the jewellery, the weight of these stones’ will be estimated and deducted off from the final weight of your items. All of the mentioned stones will be disposed off. If you have the intention to take the stones back, please note that we have no guarantee of the condition and will not be held accountable for any damage during the dismantling process. Clients will have to do a self-collection of the stones. Our team will inform the respective clients when it is ready for collection and clients can then place an appointment with us before collecting it from our office.
3. Complete the following form: Onboarding Form
4. You will receive an email advising you of the day your items will be picked up, tracking number/document for your shipment along with a shipping label. Kindly pack your items in a box/envelope, ensure that there is sufficient protection for your items by filling the box/envelope with fillers (eg. Newspaper, styrofoam etc). Seal the box , print and paste the shipping label on it. Pickups for you items will be before SGT 1200 on the respective date.
5. We will update you once we received your items and begin the process of weighing and authentication.
- Weighing of your gold bars and/or coins
- Authenticating the bullion’s purity through a Magnetic Value Test
- Once this is completed, your dedicated salesperson will quote you the buyback price based on the prices at that point in time (an image of the buyback price stamped with the time and date will be provided)
- Weighing the gross weight of your jewellery (along with non-gold items eg. Stones or parts)
- Authenticating the jewellery’s purity through XRF ( X-Ray Fluorescence Gun), images of the check will be sent to you IF the purity of respective jewellery pieces is lower than your expectations.
- We will record down the final purity breakdown and respective weights.
- Once this is completed, your dedicated salesperson will quote you the buyback price based on the prices at that point in time.
6. Once the prices are confirmed, we will raise a Purchase Order for your items. This Purchase Order will be emailed to you and you will have to sign on this digitally.
7. An immediate bank transfer will be done once we have received your signed copy of Purchase Order.
*Note: After all the processes mentioned are being done, client will have to bear the cost of all logistic costs for BOTH the pick up and return if the client decides not to proceed with the sale.
GoldSilver Central
Today, we explore a sensitive topic – Wire Transfers.
You might ask, why is this sensitive? It’s a simple matter of transferring funds from my personal account to GoldSilver Central’s account, that’s it right? Turns out, not so. And we’ll dive deeper into this realm today to see what are the various costs associated with Wire Transfers and how do they affect you as a client.
Before we go further, lets clarify the terms first. By Wire Transfer, we are referring to an electronic transfer of money. The typical route utilizes a network such as Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications System (SWIFT) to “communicate” from one bank to another, and once the recipient bank confirms the “message”, funds are transferred over and the respective balances are updated in both sender and recipient’s accounts. The entire process takes several days on average from start till end.
But that’s not true! Bank transfers in Singapore are immediate.
That’s because Singapore uses FAST.
FAST stands for Fast and Secure Transfers (I know, the creativeness behind the naming blows me away as well). It is a electronic transfer service enables customers in participating banks to transfer Singapore Dollars from one back to another in Singapore almost instantly. It was introduced on the 17th March 2014 and is currently offered by 23 banks (Information accurate as of 13th December 2019). Personal account transfers currently have no fees attached and corporate accounts only pay a minimal transfer fee (Yes, there are costs for bank transfers also!)
So what are the costs involved?
Typically, we have to break it down into the Sender’s bank fees and the Recipient’s bank fees. We aren’t banking experts here, however based on our experiences, the Sender bank’s fees are typically administrative fees charged by the banks to process your transfer in a timely manner. This makes sense as verification and manual authentication still have to be performed to ensure the right “message” is being sent and received correctly. Thus, banks typically have agreed upon rates which they base on to bill their clients for the transfers, which is the same for international banks also. This is the same regardless of whether you are a “sender” bank or a “recipient” bank, although the charges probably differ slightly. Bear in mind also that depending on the route being used, there may be intermediate banks involved and these incur charges as well. (Think domestic airlines and international airlines. Domestic flights connect you to international hubs which in turn connect you to international flights)
Hence, if a sender instructs their bank to absorb all transfer fees, they should clarify whether its for both sender and recipient bank fees, or just the sender fees. The bank would then act upon the sender’s instructions accordingly. Of course there have been occasions where the unwary / forgetful have instructed wrongly and end up sending too little / too much funds, resulting in more hassle for the sender and recipient.
To be honest, we at GoldSilver Central Pte Ltd have likewise experienced the above on several occasions. Trust us, when it comes to international business dealings, the difference of US$0.01 cents could result in the delay of an entire shipment. (Not Fully paid is not fully paid, period.) And to resend the funds of US$0.01 would likely incur the same charges as before, since the process is the same. (Some banks have enacted policies like minimum and maximum fee charges to lessen the load on client transfers) Hence, it is always important to check with the recipient what kind of policies do they have when it comes to transfer fees.
Why can’t all recipients absorb the transfer fees then? (After all, it’s probably a small amount right?
Wrong again. Bank transfer fees can go up to hundreds of dollars for large amounts of money but do not decrease proportionally for lesser amounts of money. After all, the same administrative work is required for both US$1 and US$100,000 transfers. Hence, international bullion companies with large transaction amount but low profit margins state upfront that recipient banking fees will have to be borne by sending clients. This is akin to sending parcels out for delivery. You don’t usually expect the recipient clients to pay for delivery costs, unless under special circumstances.
Here at GoldSilver Central Pte Ltd, we emphasize on our transparent processes and take it a step further by providing our clients with the banking transaction receipt page to show the fees breakdown should they request for it. We do this to show that we do not add any further “mark-ups” for bank transfers and profit from such transfers. If you are a client who does frequent international transfers, you may wish to consider requesting for such statements as well. Already, we know of transfer platforms which have the same principles regarding transparency and show the exact breakdown of the fees involved.
So that’s it, a quick look on local and international bank transfers. Keep in tune as we continue our updates. Click here for our various Payment Methods
One common question we have from you is if there is a solution to catch your desired price for selling your precious metals holdings to us.
Today, we will share how you can use our services to never miss out on cashing out on high prices for your bullion under a pooled allocated storage arrangement.
Solution A is for you if you are an investor who
- Wants an automatic arrangement for selling your bullion
- Knows the price level you want to sell your bullion at (Eg: I want to sell my 1kg Gold Bar at SGD 65500)
- Wants a straightforward method with minimal effort.
Here’s how it works:
- Bring your bullion you wish to sell to us during our operating hours where we will authenticate it.
- Your bullion will be stored with us under a pooled allocated arrangement (simply means that your bullion will be deposit into our holdings)
- Let us know what your specific selling price for your metals is. (For example: I want to sell my 1kg Gold Bar when it reaches SGD 65500).
- And it’s done! When spot BID prices have reached your desired selling price, it will automatically be sold.
- You will receive the proceeds via a Bank Transfer*
*we do need to onboard you as a client which means we need your NRIC and the header of your Bank Statement (reflecting the Name and Account Number). Please omit other sensitive information
- Wants full control of when you want to sell your holding
- Wants to sell your holdings bit by bit (For example, if you have a 100oz Silver Bar, you don’t have to sell 100oz at one go, but you can sell in 5oz sizes
- Want to set your own Sell Limits (Automated Feature)
Here’s how it works:
- Bring your bullion you wish to sell to us during our operating hours where we will authenticate it.
- Your bullion will be stored with us under a pooled allocated arrangement (simply means that your bullion will be deposit into our holdings)
- Unlock the Full GSC Live! Account Features with us by clicking here. This can be done before or during your visit.
- We will deposit the total weight of your metals into your GSC Live! Account.
- Login to your account under the “MetaTrader4” app in “GoldSilverCentral-Live” server.
- You can set Sell Limits to automatically trigger your desired selling prices or you can start selling your holdings whenever your desired prices are reached
Have more questions on the arrangements?
Drop us an email or a call and we’ll be happy to share more information with you!
Collection will only be available for pick up after the 1st June 2020 or the end of the Circuit Breaker period, whichever comes later. For clients who have arranged for collection after the 4th May 2020, we regret to inform you that this is no longer possible. Delivery options continue to be explored and will also only be able to be arranged after the Circuit Breaker period.
Current Collateral Loans will still continue to be serviced during this period.
We have also revised our policy earlier in April and would like to gently touch on them.
During the Circuit Breaker, we will not be able to take delivery of your bullion so clients can decide based on the 2 options how they would like to sell their Gold/Silver/Platinum.
Clients continue to still be able to place orders via our online store. Do note that full payment is required within 30 minutes of the order as on-site physical inventory is limited. For orders above our online store limit (S$8,200), a minimum of 50% advance payment will be required and clients may reach out to our Sales Team to perform the buy transactions.
As we previously emphasized, there is no shortage of Gold or Silver in the world. The current squeeze in physical precious metals is due to the supply chain being affected by Covid-19 measures implemented globally. Hence premiums for physical precious metals have increased substantially. Clients can consider products such as Perth Mint Certificate Program, GSC savings accumulation Program and GSC Live! as these products will allow you to lock in current metal prices at minimum mark ups and narrower spreads.
Brian Lan
Managing Director
Dollar Cost Averaging is a popular investing method that has stood the test of time. It only requires a small sum to start and allows you to buy into an asset regularly, with a fair price.
So what’s so good about it?
- No more second guessing or impulsive action when making decisions
- Gives you exposure to the markets without frequent monitoring and trying to time the market
- Best used when a market is trending upwards
- Anyone can use this method to invest
What is the downside about it?
- When markets are trending downwards, you don’t get the most out of your investment with dollar cost averaging
In conclusion, in a bullish market or in other words, a market that is trending upwards, you will benefit from the long-term upside of staying invested. A more rewarding way to convert your salary into savings and accumulating into precious metals rather than keeping the money in cash that provides little or no returns. Gold has appreciated about 18% in 2019 and have set new highs this year. Gold still continues to look bullish in 2020.
GSC Saving and Accumulating Program (GSAP) is ideal for anyone who wants to diversify their savings and asset portfolio into Precious Metals without worrying about price fluctuations utilising Dollar Cost Averaging System. Best of all, GSAP is 100% physically deliverable!
As we near the end of Q1 2020, the Covid-19 virus outbreak continues to dominate headlines, keeping investors and the public on tenterhooks.
Financial markets have reacted with rising volatility as investment capital continues to seek out safe haven assets for refuge while waiting for clarity on full impact from the virus to play out. Governments around the world are still grappling with this crisis and are ready to introduce additional financial measures to stave off recession fears and buffer their economies. The emergency 50 basis point rate cut on March 3, 2020 by the US Federal Reserve was dramatic. It was a magnitude not seen since the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008, and it revealed the gravity of the situation. However, pundits were quick to note that this was a health crisis and not a financial one. Rate cuts may have limited effects as cities remain in lockdown and factories remain shut. Critics have remarked that finding a vaccination cure might be more useful than a rate cut in these times.
In precious metals, gold has been the clear winner since the start of 2020. As of March 10, 2020 year-to-date, gold is up 8.7%, silver down 5.6% and platinum down 9.49%. The rise in prices has invariably caught the attention of physical gold investors in Singapore, with many donning face masks and making their way into dealerships to sell off their gold holdings at high prices. Volatile gold prices have also caught the attention of online investors looking for opportunities in gold trading to capture directional moves via trading platforms for physical deliverable gold.
In Singapore, lessons learned from SARS were put to the test as government agencies rolled out health advisories and business continuity guides to industry bodies and players to guide them on best practices. Having personal social responsibility, especially in times like these, can go a long way to stop the spread of the virus. In our office and retail store, we have implemented temperature taking and contact detail recording, and have face masks available for symptomatic clients to use. Hand sanitizers are now a permanent fixture in our retail store. Notwithstanding the challenges of Covid-19 prevention, providing liquidity for physical gold is still key for a properly functioning physical retail gold market in Singapore.
Initially, many observers were noting a casual correlation between the uptick in gold and the Covid-19 outbreak. However, the real drivers behind this rally could lie behind the combination of the full effects from interest rate cuts filtering in, disruption of global supply chain potentially leading to unseen inflationary risks, constant zero to negative yield environment and the peak gold scenario commented by analysts over the years. All of this may add up to a resurgent positive tone for the original safe haven precious metal: gold.
The revisit to 2012 price highs of US$1,702.50/oz. on March 9, 2020 has investors wondering if this is the gold bull market that everyone has been talking about and waiting for. Stay tuned to see how the markets will unfold.
GSC Live! will not be affected during this period and in fact this would be a good time for clients to benefit from the volatility in the precious metals market, 24 hours, 5 days a week with minimal mark ups as compared to physical bullion during this current global squeeze due to the Covid-19 supply chain disruptions.
Clients will still be able to transfer in or out, buy and store or sell from their holdings during this period.
Clients on GSAP need not worry as this program will still continue to accumulate precious metals for you throughout this period.
PMCP will still be offered and this program is appealing during this period as clients will only need to pay 2.25% above Perth Mint spot prices to own offshore Government Guaranteed precious metals!
During this period, clients will need to send us a 20% deposit before we will be able to lock in the buyback price of your bullion. Please send us an image of your bullion via email attachment or WhatsApp before confirmation of buyback prices.
Scrap jewellery buybacks will be suspended during this period as we are unable to authenticate the purity of the used jewellery.
New collateral loans will be suspended during this period. Current collateral loan clients will still be able to renew, redeem or sell their holdings. Note that physical collection and physical collateral ticket can only be issued after this period.
Brief Update: Latest Update on Global Shipments
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
10:27 AM
Global airlines have grounded their fleet and more are following suit. How does this translate to precious metals markets? And probably other markets as well?
As most of us are acutely aware, there is no actual shortage of Silver in the market. It is simply a case of demand exceeds supply drastically, and with more airlines grounding their fleet, this situation does not seem to be easing anytime soon.
Physical Premiums for immediate physical delivery of precious metals has continued to increase for the past week. Most significantly, we have seen premium costs for Silver increase exponentially. Costs per oz for bars and coins have increased by more than 200.00% thus far.
That being said, GoldSilver Central Pte Ltd maintains healthy supply lines and has recently brought in Silver Precious Metals to our retail shop. More will be brought over to the retail shop in batches and clients need not worry about not being able to purchase physical precious metals if they so choose to.
Food For Thought: Covid-19 has been described as “the black swan of 2020”. And we all know that in tough times lie opportunities. The true question is, how can investors position themselves with the available tools to grasp these opportunities.
What is the 10 am GSC Reference Price?
The 10 am GSC Reference Price is an electronic snapshot of the Gold price at 10.00 am Singapore time taken directly from our price servers. GSC also uses the reference price as a confirmed price that clients can check and refer to transparently, that was used for the dollar cost averaging for their GSC Gold Savings Accumulation Program.
Click here to find more about the GSC Gold Savings Accumulation Program.
https://www.goldsilvercentral.com.sg/goldsilver-central-savings-accumulation-program/
Are there other types of reference prices used in the Gold market
Yes, there are a few known reference prices worldwide, with the LBMA Gold Price (previously commonly known as the London Gold Fix) being the most well known in the industry. The LBMA Gold Price is now currently being administered by the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA).
More information about this can be found at this link here:
http://www.lbma.org.uk/lbma-gold-price
The GSC Reference Price is published on GSC’s website (historical data available for download) and updated also on GSC’s Reuters page 0#PREC=GSCP. This facilitates easy price data accessibility, transparency and provides a daily indication for Loco Singapore Gold prices.
Can clients use the 10am Reference Prices for their bullion purchases/sellback?
Yes you may. Please contact us to find out how can this be done.
Disclaimer:
In spite of GSC making every effort to ensure that the information displayed is accurate and complete, GoldSilver Central Pte Ltd is not liable for any errors, omission, inaccuracies, interruption, defect or delays in content or transmission, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Under no circumstance will GoldSilver Central be liable for any damages, including without limitation direct or indirect, special, incidental, punitive, or consequential damages, losses or expenses arising out of or relating to the use of the information, or decisions made by any persons or body based on the information provided therein.
In addition, GoldSilver Central Pte Ltd reserves the right to censor the Reference Price if GoldSilver Central Pte Ltd is of the view that the Reference Price was incorrectly, artificially or erroneously effected, obtained or manipulated to not truly reflect the true existing prevailing market prices at that point in time. Any edits done will be recorded with full data pre and post price snapshots disclosures with accompanying evidence to support this decision.
Gold pricing has been very illiquid and spreads have been widening to unprecedented levels for the past 2 days. We received news from various banks and liquidity providers that the volatility and subsequent spread widening are due to a breakdown in Exchange for Physical (EFP) gold. Accordingly, refineries are shutting down and market makers who had short EFP positions are being adversely affected. Currently the Gold futures market is in contango and the spot and futures prices have widen as much as $70 per oz on 24th March.
Point to note, there is no shortage of Gold in the market, just that at this point of time, demand overwhelms supply and the Gold supply chain is greatly affected due to measures announced by Governments to stem the threat of Covid-19 globally.
Read more:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gold-trading-cme-idUSKBN21B3GC
Suspension of Online purchases
Due to the recent huge volatility in Precious Metals prices and the influx of orders that have come in, we have temporarily suspended online checkout. This is to allow our team to ensure that the previous orders are all being accounted for and physical inventory are being allocated to these orders. As physical precious metals products are limited in our store, clients who visit us and fully pay for their precious metals purchases will get their physical precious metals or be allocated precious metals that we have secured and slated to arrive in the coming weeks.
Thank you for your kind understanding on this and will try our best to secure good premiums and inventory for our valued customers over the coming weeks.
Price of physical Silver decouples from Silver spot prices
Here at GoldSilver Central, we faced a huge increase in orders since the big selloff in financial & commodities markets on 6 March 2020. Silver prices fell to a low that was last seen 11 years ago. Demand for physical Silver soared globally and coupled with the effects of Covid-19, supply chains globally is affected. Many flights have been grounded or cancelled and many mints and refineries are at half strength due to government advisories to curb the community spread of Covid-19.
Physical premiums for coins went up to more than 250% and for bars it was way higher. The huge hike in premiums is unprecedented. In our 9 years in the Precious Metals trade, this is the 3rd squeeze we have experienced for silver but this is by far biggest challenge to Silver mints and refiners. For example, Perth Mint has just sent a notice to inform all dealers that silver sales has been suspended till further notice due to the backlog of orders due to the sudden influx of the sheer number of orders they have received recently.
Hence we have no choice but to raise the premiums on most of our products. Some of our products we have on hand are still at old premiums, like the Perth Mint 1kg coins so get it before it gets snapped up soon too!
However, do note that this doesn’t mean that the world is facing a shortage of Silver. The refineries have a daily limit on the number of products they can manufacture and when global demand way surpasses that, delivery schedule will delay. Silver, Gold and other Precious Metals have always been a price taker based on the Loco London prices. But this does not reflect the current physical demand that we are facing globally. Therefore we now see a decoupling of physical silver from the Loco London Silver prices. It will not make sense for miners to continue to mine for Precious Metals if prices go below their cost of mining so fundamentally, there is a downside cap for all precious metal prices.
Updates on Gold
As for Gold, GoldSilver Central has also faced an increase in demand too for Gold coins and bars but was not as drastic as the rush for Silver. Demand has increased for Gold way before the recent selloff and demand has picked up since the start of the year.
Premiums have increased too for Gold products but not much as silver, premiums for most gold products still did not increase above 100%.
We have just gotten some inventory of Gold bars in store and still have some inventory of the smaller gold bars and 1oz gold bars while stocks last!
Products clients can consider during this period of high premiums
During this period of increasing delivery time and high premiums, clients can consider other alternatives for buying into Precious Metals.
Firstly, you can look at the Perth Mint Certificate Program (PMCP). Clients can consider buying into the only Government Guaranteed accumulation program in the world. The cost above Perth Mint Precious Metal prices is only 2.25% for Gold, Silver & Platinum. Click here to learn more about PMCP!
Next, you can consider opening a GSC Live! account with us. This will allow you to lock in the precious metals prices for the metal that you wish to purchase and when premiums are back to normal, you can then decide to take delivery of the desired physical product that you were eyeing at the Loco London prices that you have locked in previously. Click here to learn more about GSC Live!
Thank you once again for your patience and understanding on the delays in our replies to emails, online chats and whatsapps and also for the long queues we have faced the past week. We always try to serve you to the best of our ability with as best prices as possible.
We have also secured some shipments in the coming weeks for silver (including some coins) and these will be open for preorders soon so stay tuned to our website and social media channels for latest updates!
Why You Should Swap Your Old Gold Jewellery to Gold Bullion?
Objectives:
Bring forth a case of converting your “useless” jewellery to a form that’s more useful
I believe we have all experienced at least one of the situations below:
- Received Gold jewellery as gifts for wedding, baby full moon shower, special events etc, but you don’t wear Gold jewellery!
- Your current jewellery design is obsolete, or it can’t be worn anymore, broken jewellery, lost one side of the earring and etc
- Your once beloved jewellery is sitting in a box somewhere safely stored aside, but otherwise quite useless
In our eyes, all these represent under-utilized assets! So begs the question, is there a way to better utilize these “old jewellery” other than exchanging new gold jewellery or encash it?
Yes, there is. You can choose to swap your old gold jewellery to LBMA Gold Bars and investment Gold bullion coins.
Why not encash it to SGD and keep it in my bank account then?
Well, that answer boils down to your personal objectives. We all know that keeping all our assets in SGD cash is not the wisest way to invest. (We’ll leave the topic of financial portfolio diversification for another day), but if you see gold as a possible asset class to hold in your portfolio, then swapping your illiquid Gold jewellery to a standardized LBMA format could be a possible way of building up your gold holdings. The general rule of thumb is to have 5-10% gold exposure in your portfolio, but this depends on individuals’ risk profiles. Contact us to speak more about this.
There are generally 2 common forms that clients swap their jewellery to and we have listed them both here for your comparison.
| Costs of swapping to “New” Jewellery | Costs of swapping to LBMA Gold Bullion | |
| Tax Rate | 7% GST | Tax Exempted |
| Workmanship (Premium) | High | Low – Medium |
| Buy/Sell Spread | Wider | Narrower |
| Conversion Cost | High | Low – Medium |
LBMA gold bullion are tax exempted in Singapore, you do not need to pay 7% GST for them. It is priced by spot price (market price) + premium (workmanship), which the conversion cost is relatively much cheaper compare to jewellery that has GST, marked up on gold price and workmanship.
The buy/sell spread for gold bullion is transparent as well, usually it ranges from 1% – 10%. Whereas the sellback of jewellery is normally given a discount of 15% – 18%, after adding 7% GST the spread will be more than 20%. And that does not include the different practices of different shops, such as levying additional administrative costs or having no transparency in the entire process.
An example based on indicative price:
GSC buyback price for 999 jewellery is at $70.10/g, the lowest premium 100g 999.9 gold bar is selling at S$7446.70. Jewellery shop 999 gold price is at $85.50/g. If you were to sell 100g of 999 jewellery and swap it into a 100g gold bar with GSC, you just need to top up $436.70. If you swap your jewellery to new 100g gold jewellery, considering the discount is only at 15% and you need to pay 7% GST, you need to top up $1,881 excluding the workmanship. The difference is obvious.
LBMA gold bullion has assurance of international liquidity. This is very powerful and essentially means that you are not tied to any bullion dealer should you wish to sell. (You could even bring the bar physically to an overseas country to sell if you wish to) When you do the swaps, you unlock more options in terms of how to utilise your Gold in compared to just wearing as jewellery. You won’t need to worry about fashion fads if you decide to pass your precious metals holdings to your children. Moreover, you are in the unique position of having your capital investment appreciate and being able to use that position to move to a better “investment form”, albeit the same asset class, Gold.
Wondering how much is your old gold jewellery worth now? Feel free to visit our website and retail store for free evaluation.
