Guidance or experience in premium for private sales.

[HatlessJester]

I am finding it quite difficult to find any guidance on the correct premium for platinum bars or coins for private sales. I have seen anywhere from 10% to 18%. Someone on another post mentioned 15% was a good/low premium. 

I guess its difficult because by buying private the buyer is avoiding the 20% tax of retail and the seller doesn't want to eat the cost of paying VAT or a higher premium and selling at 2-5% above spot in a similar way gold is. 

Has anyone done any sales of platinum bars recently can provide some advice. For reference I have 5x 1 ounce plat bars from baird mint. Not necessarily looking to sell but if current trends continue I may find myself in a position to consider it. 

[Pete]

Platinum buyers are possibly more frightened-off due to VAT than silver buyers.
It isn't a deal breaker paying 20% VAT on a silver coin costing £25 but adding 20% to a £900 piece of platinum does make you think a bit harder.
Buying a tube of silver might make you think a bit as well.

As for margin I believe this ought to be well below 10% because there is no justification for it being higher other than profiteering.
If gold can trade with a 2-3% margin then in theory so should platinum. Since there is less Pt for sale those holding inventory are speculating that buyers will pay more. Some I am sure, will, but I fail to understand why.

I am always interested in buying platinum coins but have 3 observations -

1. You can still avoid the 20% VAT buying overseas ( but how do you get it home ? )

2. Premiums from dealers are currently way too high so this is not the best time to buy from them

3. Spot price is relatively high so is a correction imminent ?
Platinum compared to gold is still too low but if you believe gold is due a correction then platinum will likely follow.

There will always be buyers who take no account of any of the above and will pay a marked-up price when they see it slightly cheaper than some of our main dealers.
The buyer is either desperate to buy for some personal reasons or totally unaware of the points listed earlier. I would assume in today's climate you would likely see a much higher price on eBay than on the SF.

[272]

The VAT is the issue. I disagree that it should be sold at 2-3% above spot on  that basis. You never see silver sold with such a low premium so why would  you with Platinum just because it's base value is higher?

The private seller still has to find a price that recoup the premium charged by a dealer and the Vat on top unless they manage to buy it as 2nd hand vat free platinum (even then dealers add a hefty premium). I personally wouldn't expect to wait until the spot swung up by 30% just to break even. If I was selling I'd use forum prices for larger silver items (10 oz and kilo bars) as my basis for pricing above spot. 

 Platinum doesn't have a history of being currency in the same way as silver or gold and only a small proportion is bought for investment so its not really pegged against gold any more than any other commodity. I would suggest its value is linked much more to its industrial  demand. At the moment supply is under pressure due to issue in South African mines (which account for 70% of global supply), which is causing the current price rise. Last year prices were a 17 year low so from a historic perspective prices are not high - whether it stays at current prices or goes higher depends on whether there is a resurgence in demand from the automotive industry (where demand has been falling as demand for diesels in the West has declined) or there is new demand from renewable tech such as hydrogen fuel cells and batteries.