Hello,

Here is just a little bit of shipping info.  If you notice most bullion sold within the US gets shipped USPS Im going to show you an example of  what reasonable shipping should be for 1oz of gold bullion that you picked up for the bargain price of $980/oz.

First I'm going to be generous and say that the packaging is 6x the weight of the bullion giving us 12oz of packaging + the 1oz of gold bullion inside for a grand total of 13oz. The cut off for USPS first class is 13oz if it were 14oz you would have to move into the priority rate but both travel at the same speed.   I will show you the difference between the two in a moment(I know there is a slight difference in a Troy ounce but the difference is slight and wouldn't effect these calculations at all. (This is just to make people aware of the insane rates some sellers sneak in on the buyer hoping his or her mind will be clouded with the thought of beautiful pure gold)

Next go to usps.com  and at the top select CALCULATE POSTAGE, then select CALCULATE DOMESTIC POSTAGE This part is very easy, just input the figures.  I picked first class mail package, then click add extra services.  This is the part that is usually overshot greatly by sellers, sometimes they charge an additional $20 for insurance if you select it, on top of the $15 they were charging for postage alone.  If you really want that piece of mind insurance provides(who wouldn't when purchasing expensive gold) The package has to be sent REGISTERED, insurance alone on a normal USPS first class or priority package is worthless for bullion unless its REGISTERED!!  

I took this directly from the USPS Domestic Mail Manuel (DMM) "Except for registered mail, the maximum indemnity for negotiable items (defined as instruments that can be converted to cash without resort to forgery), currency, or bullion, is $15.00." 

 So if something happened to the gold in transit the maximum you could recover is $15.00 no matter the amount of insurance was bought!!  It's all on the USPS website  if you would like to read into it further.

Below are the prices I was quoted from the USPS website for the 1oz of gold registered for a value of $980.  One is 13oz at the first class rate, the other 14oz at the Priority rate.  The zip codes I chose were 92121(West coast San Diego) to 05641 (Barre,VT East coast) I went from coast to coast  to show the highest possible price to send this 1oz piece of gold. USPS divides the U.S. into zones, the more zones a package has to travel through the greater the cost.  A package from CA to CA would be much less than the exact same package going from CA to VT because it didnt cross any zones. It stayed within state.

Heres what I came up with

USPS First class mail ($3.17), Registered mail insured for $980 ($12.35)  For a total of$1552

Now sent as Priority

USPS Priority mail($4.60), Registered mail insured for $980 ($12.35) For a total of $16.95

Paying much more than these prices above then the buyer should question the integrity and honesty of the seller.

One last bit of important info
 I hope this give anyone who reads is an understanding of what reasonable shipping should be use the USPS Postage Price calculator, its a very handy tool.  The more you pay for shipping the more you are actually paying for your bullion.  One last thing this is directly from Ebay-Insurance: Sellers offering insurance may only charge the actual fee for insurance. No additional amount may be added, such as “self-insurance”. Sellers who do not use a licensed 3rd party insurance company may not require buyers to purchase insurance. This is a violation of state law. Tax: Only actual applicable federal, state, country, city, VAT, and equivalent taxes may be charged http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-shipping.html

I hope this helps you.  To get the most out of any possible investment on Ebay, make sure the shipping is reasonable.

Thanks

sagamino603

(Doug)