The retail chain is making $100 million to $200 million a month by selling gold bars, according to a Wells Fargo equity research note. Last October, the company began selling 1-ounce bars made of nearly pure 24-karat gold priced at about $2,000.
(https://au.news.yahoo.com/finance/news/costcos-gold-bars-earn-company-001005764.html)
$200M a month!! What a way to boost the gross sales line of the P&L! Probably a whole lotta work for not a whole lot of profit.
A guy in Forbes Magazine brings up a good point:
Suppose you want to return the gold bars. Is Costco taking them back at the original selling price or at the current value of gold, which may have appreciated? I suspect it would be at the selling price within 30 days of the purchase. Whatever the policy, it may present customer service issues if gold prices fluctuate.
Ick, that could get messy, especially if the price of gold tanked in the 30 days the customer had it.
However, I checked the Costco website and found this:
Gold bullion, gold bars and silver coins are non-refundable.
So there you go. Drop $2,000+ on an ounce of gold at Costco...... and it's yours!
No buyers remorse allowed. And you gotta find a safe place to store it.
Side note: that same ounce of gold would have run $1,200 back in 2014. How long will it take to hit $3,000?
Side note 2: not a Costco member? Wal-Mart and Amazon offer vendors who sell gold. But ya gotta be more cautious with those 2 to ensure the 3rd-party vendor and the product is legit.
Or just find an honest pawnbroker/jeweler. That sounds safer.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt