Create fear, create a market.
Ever think about nipping down to Woolies to pick up some gold bullion?
No. You can’t.
That’s only something that happens in America.
Discount retailer Costco has started selling 1-ounce bars of gold online, and even though there’s a limit of 2-bars per member, they’re selling out in hours.
Costco is selling two types of bars: a 1-ounce gold PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan bar, which bears the imprint of a silhouette of the goddess of fortune with a cornucopia, and a 1-ounce bar from South Africa’s Rand Refinery, stamped with an elephant design.
Isn’t that pretty?
Both bars are about half an inch long. The PAMP Suisse bar is registered and comes with a digital certificate that can be accessed with a QR code, while the Rand bars come with their own serial numbers.
But while Costco is famous for discount pean-nut butter and cheap chickens, these gold bars are worth their weight in gold. Literally.
Both are selling for around $1,950, which is about what an ounce of gold will cost you on the spot market.
And customers seem to be happy. Members get 4% cash-back, and nothings says trust like trustworthy custodian of wealth like the name ‘Costco’:
“I was surprised that Costco was selling physical gold. I hope we can somehow find out when it becomes available again. It sold out very quickly!”
“Costco’s solid gold reputation made it an easy and secure purchase. I’m not sure i would trust just any dealer, tbh.”
No way. Its not like you’d buy your bullion from 7-11 or any of those pirates.
But what is going on here?
I actually think it says a lot about where America is at right now.
A few Americans I know genuinely think the country is going to pieces right now. They tend to be Republican voters, and it’s all the Democrats fault of course, but this idea that the United States is an empire on the brink of collapse gets a lot traction in America.
I think it’s over-blown myself, but then again, I’m not exposed to the relentless anger-tainment of Fox News so it’s a bit easier to have a more distanced perspective.
But it’s the end result of sensationalism. In Australia, its all, “The other team can’t balance the budget!” In America its all, “The other team is going to destroy the nation while our enemies enslave our children!”
I hope we never get there, but I don’t like the direction we’re facing.
But if the politicians you listen to are always telling you that, it might make sense to drop $2K on gold bars, as a hedge against disaster.
(Not that I’m all that sure how some pretty gold bars will help you if America really did collapse.)
But goes to show. Where there’s fear, there’s a market.
And Costco is cashing in.
DB.