Bargain Hunter said:
I just walked into a dealer today and took home a 1 Kilo Koala for $1150
BH from my experience over the last few weeks with supply through the perth mint shop, ABC and other large vendors, 1kg coins are not in short supply, in fact, these are about the only silver product that the vendors appear to be able to hand over the counter there and then and allow you to leave with. The supply issue appears to be restricted mostly to bars, and most predomenantly 1kg bars. I cant tell the precise reason for this, whether it is a planned effort to affect physical pricing or that they are diverting these products to foreign or pooled investors, though i do recall (hopefully correctly) a thread posted here a while ago (and commented on by Bron) that at least with Perth Mint, production was being moved to 1kg coins from other forms of bullion while they upgrade their facilities, my best guess would be that this is not a sinister plot to drive prices up or affect the market in any way though more to optimize profits by focusing on highest premium, most in demand items (they are a business at the end of the day).
Combine this with comments on forums and blogs/vendor websites etc, I would say that there are supply chain issues across the board (speak to any dealer and they can confirm), stock is not as readily available for retail, whether due to shipping/mining/manufacturing delays or internal allocation, they are simply not providing this stock to the general public or wholesalers.
I also believe that, most stackers on this forum have done the DD, spent the time rethinking their position over the last week or so in light of the movements and the vast majority have come to the conclusion (at least for the moment) that the core fundamentals havent changed and they are generally not ready to sell down their core position.
To me, all of this adds up to a physical sellers market. If you want a bargain, find the weak hands or uninformed and make an offer. I feel that unless the fundamentals change or supply loosens we will not see a large dip in premiums here or anywhere else.
This all said, i agree with the comments made by GP earlier, (buyers and sellers alike) should be wary, and do your own DD, if you can buy the same product elsewhere for cheaper and take delivery immediately, do so, if you feel that you are happy to pay now and wait for supply, then do so, if you want to pay a premium now to take delivery now, do so. each to their own and let the market dictate pricing.
Disclaimer: mostly my opinion with a little bit of heresay thrown in for good measure...
