to be fair I have never attended an event before. I thought it was pm because 730 am is such an unsociable hour. sorry gold pelican I would have attended if I hadnt made that mistake
Thinking next year we sell tickets ... and have a silver whatchamacallit included as part of the ticket price.
Hi GP. I really hope it isn't the last, but I don't think Ron was impressed with the turnout and was asking for feedback on why the numbers were low. The general feeling in the crowd was that stackers can buy bullion grade coins cheaper from dealers than the mint, with some early purchasers securing the 1oz silver coins at under $30 each. The market being stagnant also didn't bring out the buyers, and even when the mint did open to the public today at 9:00am, not one member of the public came to the bullion counter to buy the lunars whilst I was there transacting. Compared to previous years where there we queues at the front gate, this was quite odd. I would loved to have invested more money but forget about the $1000 limit on electronic transactions. Seeing the 1 ton kangaroo in person puts everyone's stacks into perspective. Thank you to those that organised it and to the Perth Mint for once again graciously opening your doors early for us to attend.
Thanks for organising the launch event GoldStackers, and good to catch-up with the blokes. Only thing is my name wasn't on the list at the gate but I still managed to get in
Did anyone asked if the higher premium on Lunar coin compared to the Koala/Kookaburra will be the common practice from Perth Mint from now? There's like $3 difference in premium from Lunar over Koala, and wonder what would this mean down the track in the secondary market.
Thank you to Perth Bullion (Ben) for the organizing auction picked up a gold 20 gram proof coin $ 200+ under spot, also met both Joe from Gold Stackers and Sammy - always the opportunist tried to sell his lucky .50cents for $ 200 (anyway nice guy, misunderstanding sorted, also Sammy - what, vague...) anyway I believe Perth Mint better understand the silver stacker community after accepting some feedback from the attendees, nice to catch up with the local guys.
Did ask Ron and we were told that he would look at the pricing ? To me the pricing was the main reason why most SS pulled out of the meeting and why sales at the PM shop were so abysmal this morning. It makes no sense to buy a roll of goats at $34/ coin when you can get the same coins at most dealers for $3-$4 a coin less ??? The term "no-brainer" comes to mind. Cancelling the meeting next year is not going to solve the problem. The lack of SS interest speaks volumes as to what should be done by the PM. I think Ron is now aware of the issue. Changing the rules at the 11th hour last week and then pushing up prices was the cause for the high drop out rate. I hope the Mint takes note of our message and revamps the meeting so that interest and some excitement is re instilled.
I think gp mentioned previously that the retail shop at the Perth Mint is separate from the wholesale division. So possibly the pm retail shop buys the coins from the wholesale division for the same price as the dealers. Maybe their sales aren't so great so they had to up the pricing to cover wage increases? Either way I think they've lost touch with current market conditions.
As a MARKETING exercise the Mint could have knocked $3-4 OFF the price for attendees. Why on earth would someone, particularly the vast majority of us who dont live in Perth, want to visit? I can understand that the Mint doesnt give a rats (or goats) arse about SS members or most other retail customers in Aus but if Perth Mint made some sort of effort they could attract some TOURISM dollars into their State. Sovereign Hill in Ballarat does gold pours 3 times a day so no need to fly across the Country to see one. Fail.
What sort of coin numbers does the Perth Mint shift in Australia? Just speculating, but maybe the market for coins here is stagnating or even shrinking relative to other countries in the region, and with limited staff resources and budget pressures I can understand that they may have to focus the majority of efforts elsewhere. So what can be done to substantially grow the market in Australia? More stackers and more collectors is great for us all.
Stop retailing altogether and operate as a factory which is what PM is. Be cheaper than paying lip service as is their current practice.
yep lame ...oh look they melted some metal & are pouring it !!!! oooooohhhh come on everybody say it with me now OOOOHHHH.....AHHHHH ....WOW !!!! :lol: . Honestly i am shocked at the way the PM treats their own local loyal buyers .People spend lots of money flying there , paying for hotel rooms, having the day off work & losing money to be there & what do they get ? They get charged more than if they stayed at home or went to work & bought it from elswhere ... now thats a deal you can hardly refuse Tightarses You would think they would make an annual event out of it put on lunch , some drinks & give something back at least wholesale breaks for the people who attended . It seems mean to not give a group the same deals they give a dealer for a 500 coin purchase . IMO a loyal group buy should be given the same price breaks as dealers . Everyone could have just had a group buy from another dealer & saved themselves around $400 if buying 100 coins & went & had a smashing pissup & feed at the local meet with the savings & still come home with change .Even the 20 coin limit you could save $80 thats a decent lunch & enough beer to make you giggle & a cab home. Makes no sense to me at all
Ron was asked why doesn't the PM remain as a wholesaler and give up the shop. He felt prices would skyrocket if that was to happen. You can decide if that would happen or not. I think not. A few weeks ago I went to a meeting hosted by the mint for the Anzac coin launch. I was probably the only SS member there. All guests were given a free PNC and drinks. I would doubt that anyone there was a stacker (except me) or spends serious cash at the mint. It was a very moving ceremony and well done (Ron was the organiser). If they can do it for people who don't spend money at the PM surely they can do it for SS who spend most of their spare cash there (directly or indirectly).
I'm famous (well, the back of my head is)!! Thanks for the event Perth Mint!! I'm sure if they want people to test out their new website, the members here can help out. I asked the lady at the counter. Compared to the 2014 Kook, the 2015 Kook is $1 cheaper, while the 2015 Goat is $3 more expensive. Maybe next time we should see what quantity everyone is willing to commit to before the day, and buy them on the day at the bulk rate. 30 people buying 1 roll each would hit the maximum quantity break. That would also assist Perth Mint, as they'd know how many coins they would need for us. I'm sure there are other things that would also attract people. Would people be interested in something like a "Release Day" stamped coin? You could do it like they do for the ANDA coin show, just stamping them on the spot to meet demand. More for collectors than stackers I guess. 1 per person, release day only, zero to dealers. And/Or you could put small numbered certificates with each one (like some stock horses), so people can show they have the very first 'something' coin sold. (To do that, you might need to hold the release the night before.) OR just have a certificate for the first coin, and have people play sudden-death two-up until there's a final victor, who receives the honor of buying the first 1oz coin of the new series.
I feel bad for those involved in making meets like this happen, it doesn't look good, but fault lies solely on the mint. sale limits and terrible pricing have to be the 2 reasons why this happened. There is the feedback, how about listening to it? particularly when it's a goat that you're trying to sell to people.
That last paragraph contains some very good ideas. It would give the attendees something unique for taking the time and expense to travel to the event. If the PM did some of those things, more people would be interested in attending and they might even be willing to pay the higher prices. I am surprised that the PM was surprised by the lack of customers. As others have written, if there is a cheaper more convenient method to buy, then people will use that method. Make it more expense to drive there and buy in person than to order from the convenience of your chair and a person will stay home and buy online. It seems like the PM employees who make these decisions never consider the end use consumer. The kook remint is another famous example of an idea that was obviously going to tick off customers. They need to hire yendor and put him over marketing. :lol:
I'd like to thank the Perth Mint team for putting on today's event. I would recommend a visit there to any one from the East Coast. I picked myself up a stack of silver for distribution back home and don't begrudge the price knowing that I have the metal weeks ahead of the others. I will certainly come back again next year.
