Pick up option for BitGold 10g Cubes
solargold
Posts: 115 Copper ✭✭
Recent changes to the physical redemption system make it extremely cost prohibitive to redeem small quantities of gold. For example, $138 CAD to send one 10 g BitGold Cube worth $525 CAD, i.e. a whopping 26% of the price.
I explain this problem in further depth here.
As an alternative, what about being able to pick up an order of gold Cube(s) in person from the Toronto BitGold office?
I explain this problem in further depth here.
As an alternative, what about being able to pick up an order of gold Cube(s) in person from the Toronto BitGold office?
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Unless it couldn't calculate shipping because it didn't have the right shipping address.
In the platform, each time I change elements in the cart (e.g. add or remove the number of items), the shipping cost changes to "--" momentarily as the system determines the shipping cost, and then changes to an actual number. This is how I discovered, btw, that I can ship either one 10g Cube or fourteen 10z bars all for the same price. I didn't however finalize any purchases, so I'm not sure if anything changes on the shipping once you confirm an order (also, I don't have enough gold to even make those purchases, so not sure if that would have affected it).
Since your screen is showing an error regarding your shipping information, it may just be a glitch for you in that the system is continually trying to calculate the cost, and thus showing "--".
Hopefully the shipping costs can be renegotiated by BitGold to see more competitive pricing for smaller weights (part 2 of the wish here!).
Yes, I have contacted support and am awaiting a response within 1-4 days.
Once the issue with my shipping address is resolved, I expect to see a valid shipping rate.
Some thoughts:
Do shipping rates change based on vault or destination country?
Do shipping rates change based on product ordered?
What speed shipping is it? Overnight? Two day? Five day? Could this be made selectable?
Cost may also reflect BitGold desire NOT to devolve into a retail gold merchant.
But with regard to @79Au197 's point, the prices offered by BitGold on all the coins/bars are actually quite competitive (more so than most merchants online that I've seen), even including the $19 USD redemption fee. That might be because they have arranged a good deal with Dillon Gage due to potential volume of sales of so many BitGold users. It is just that the shipping costs that are abnormally high for smaller purchases, and that just could be an issue with Dillon Gage's shipping arrangements. Hopefully, someone at BitGold like @Melanie can shed some light on this.
Regarding 10g Cubes in particular, I was impressed initially that BitGold would offer such minute gold quantities at the spot price of gold. This is unlike coins and bars that sell at a premium to the spot market price (the smaller the quantity, the greater the premium).
Even if the Cubes are a bit gimmicky, I still like the option! But at the current shipping rates, it makes no sense to buy any quantity of Cubes...
For me in Canada, there was no difference in shipping costs based on the product ordered. It was always a flat $138 CAD. This was also the case if I put several different types of things in the shopping cart (e.g. Cubes, Maple Leafs, 10 oz bar, etc), and even for an obscene amount like four 1kg bars. It only started to go up once I selected 5 gold bars, and still then only $162 CAD.
As for rates, it seems there is a difference with destination country, since I saw another user post a screen showing a shipping cost of $117 USD to Europe.
As for vault, I don't think this is relevant, because as you can see in the different coins, BitGold is NOT showing you the cost in grams, but rather in currency. What is happening (and hopefully @Melanie can correct me if I'm wrong) is that you are just redeeming gold from one of your vaults as you would "normally" (i.e. pay a 1% redemption fee), and just that instead of then having the money transferred to your bank account or MasterCard, it is getting transferred to the coin merchant (Dillon Gage) to pay the price listed in the currency in the shopping cart.
I also posted this here
Thanks to @Melanie for promptly fixing my address issue. Now to look at shipping rates in the US …
Draw your own conclusions …
Your shipping rates are very reasonable: $8 flat to ship quite a number of smaller gold quantities and $68 to ship a hefty $38,000 gold bar.
I *suspect* that the problem with shipping costs in Canada are that the shipments are not originating in Canada, but rather from Dillon Gage in Texas. Therefore, you have the astronomical shipping costs for a simple Cube to a Canadian address, even though BitGold itself is based in Canada.
Hopefully then BitGold can work out a better shipping deal, especially for their home country...
I agree about not holding a lot of physical gold. But I do enjoy some and I specifically want some GoldCubes as a symbol of my (eventual) large holdings within the BitGold platform.
I also agree that BitGold needs to investigate cheaper shipping alternatives outside of the US.
All coins/Cubes get shipped out of Dillon Gage's facility in Texas. For whatever reason, they charge a very high flat shipping rate for Canada, and so unfortunately not able to get the same rates as Americans.
The result is that for a Canadian to redeem a Cube at the same relative cost as an American, he/she would have to redeem $7000 CAD of Cubes. This of course completely defeats the purpose of physical redemption of Cubes.
I hope BitGold can work on a more economical solution shipping from Canada. Or the physical pick-up option.
I am all about holding physical gold. Why? Well, lets look at the absolute worse case scenario; Complete shutdown of the power grids. I love bitgold, I love the idea behind it and I love the platform, but it wouldn't help a damn thing if my gold is all on this little webpage that I sign into. I'm actually hoping to pay for my kids education with these savings. If I die, I don't want my family to legally fight to obtain what is mine(and theirs). I'd much rather it be in my home in a safe.
So please, be reasonable with shipping costs. It shouldn't be anymore than $35 to ship with tracking throughout the country. Unless, of course, its being delivered by an Canadian Forces LAV with four personnel guarding it.
I don't know, it might be worth the extra to have my gold delivered by one of these
http://gdlscanada.com/images/pdf/laviii.pdf
See my comment on a similar thread regarding BitGold and physical gold delivery
http://community.bitgold.com/discussion/comment/4170/#Comment_4170
I realize that the physical pick-up option was something that probably would not happen, but just wanted to ask @Melanie if such a thing is definitely off the table?
$104 is of course still a lot for a small quantity...
The unfortunate reality is that cross-border shipments between the US and Canada have always been an egregious rip-off (nothing to do with BitGold). For example, you can ship a 20lbs standard-sized box 4,000 km from Los Angeles to Buffalo NY for less than $14 USD with USPS, but if you want to ship it an additional 4 km over the border from Buffalo into Ontario (i.e. an extra 0.1% the distance), it costs 3 to 5 times more.
These constraints may just never make it economic to redeem small quantities in Canada under the current scheme since they are coming from Texas in the first place. One solution would be for BitGold to partner with a Canadian intermediary for its home market if they could find a good arrangement.
For the time being, you will have to find another option if you want smaller quantities...
@Melanie where is BitGold and Dillon Gage on shipping from within Canada?
@Jim_Redtail It is unfortunate the cost when shipping anything from USA to East Coast Canada has been my experience. The reason being is the closest customs clearance is Laval Quebec which always blows my mind that there is nothing further East. So the shipment ends up having to go on another plane ride after it gets into Canada and through customs which is why East coast shipments end up being so expensive. I say this as not bitgold, but my own experience with shipping rates on shipments direct from USA to some of my East coast Canadian customers. That was the most expensive zone for me to drop ship to. It would be nice if Dillon Gage expanded to have a location in Canada to help avoid the significant shipping costs however I presume that is just a dream in my own head.
Yes everything is shipping from DG in Texas now. I was asking @Melanie when/if shipment to Canada would originate in Canada.
Adding to the wishlist, to be able to redeem 250 gram and 500 gram bars physically from Zurich. In Europe the 10 ounce bars are not common.
And why not a storage facility in Vienna. 2-4 times cheaper to get to Vienna from Prague/Budapest/Bucharest/Sofia, than getting to Zurich.
Plus Austrian Constitution guarantees total privacy and anonymity for gold depository clients unless there's a criminal case against a client.