Fractional Platinum (and Palladium too I suppose) -- Coins Shops/Dealers don't seem to want to buy as of late?

[WeekendJail]

So recently (in the past 6 months or so) I have called and asked around at various Precious Metals Dealers/Coin Shops here (Detroit, MI, USA) and it seems like they don't really want it if the weight is under 1 OzT. (Palladium seems to be about the same but even more so)
For context I just ask/call around local shops to get a feel for what stuff they want, etc, every month or so. 

I was just curious is anyone else has noticed anything like this going on, as I don't remember this kind of reluctance for Platinum aside from the past half year or so. 

One shop simply would not buy any Platinum bullion under 1 Troy Ounce, and then a few months later they were a bit more willing to buy fractional Platinum but nothing smaller than 1/4 OzT. 
They say they just don't have the demand for people wanting to purchase fractional Platinum. 

Some other shops will buy fractional (say 1/10th OzT coins, or 5g bars, for example) but they offer rip off prices, like 70% of spot price. 

Also anecdotally from one dealer in particular-- he said that it is very difficult to resell Platinum Bullion for a profit if he does not offer ~70% of spot when buying. This same dealer says he can't really find buyers of Palladium (at least to sell at a profit) pretty much period. 
Even with full 1 OzT Pt bullion... you're not going to get the best deal from these shops here. 

A buddy of mine happens to work for this dealer, and requests to get paid partly in dollars and partly in bullion-- and recently has been getting mostly Platinum and Palladium as opposed to the usual Silver or Gold.

I can understand Palladium based on what has been going on in that market for.. many years lol, and the fact that there is sales tax on Palladium here in Michigan (we do not have a sales tax on Platinum, Silver, nor Gold Bullion here). The Platinum thing, however, is a bit of a change from the status quo. 

TL;DR (kind of): I know the Platinum bullion market is very small compared to Gold or Silver in both market capitalization and number of investors-- but I don't remember seeing dealers being this hesitant about buying Platinum, especially fractional Pt. 

Platinum has of course never been the "main dish" that Silver & Gold are, and dealers have never given the best prices when a customer is trying to sell when compared to Ag and Au-- but in the last 6 months or so I've been shocked at dealers not wanting to buy fractional at all. (Not the best news for me I guess as I have a good amount of fractional Pt)

So, basically-- I'm just wondering if anyone else has noticed this as of late? Perhaps this is just in my local area, but I'm guessing it's probably more widespread. 
Or maybe my local area has just been an outlier for Platinum in the roughly just under a decade I've been stacking, and things are returning to normal.  

Just wanted to see what people's experiences are with this kind of stuff and just of see what you guys have to say on this topic, how you think the larger market plays into this, etc. 

[Pete]

Dealers and coin shops want to "flip" inventory as quickly as they can.
They know gold and popular silver will sell very quickly.
That means they can all operate on a modest to low margin.

However if no-one is buying fraction Platinum then they are sitting on inventory and cash flow becomes an issue.
This also happens with for example gold proof sets that most people pay high premiums to purchase whilst often being paid no more than bullion prices when selling. Mark-ups on these sets in coin shops can be ridiculously high hoping someone believes the set is worth this amount and hasn't done their research.

I like Platinum coins and reckon Platinum is undervalued so when an opportunity arises to grab a bargain I will consider but only 1 oz coins.
Unfortunately they are not as abundant as gold coins so prices over spot, unlike gold, are disproportionate and also here in the UK we incur 20% sales tax.
This puts a lot of prospective buyers off who decide to stick with gold.

[ArgentSmith]

I don't own any fractional platinum I also avoid fractional gold and silver, this post may interest others more than OP due to volumes however Kitco currently offering 98% of spot for 1oz Pt Brits and Eagles, I would expect a dealer like Bairds in the UK to offer at least 95-98%

The market for Pt is unarguably much thinner than Ag/Au this ultimately works both ways. Your best bet if you must sell now is probably here or eBay.

 

[StackemHigh]

The Pt Market is very slow at the moment. I can still buy Pt priced below spot. I buy some now and then with beer money for the month. My thinking is that it wouldn't make sense to buy more as the profit I'd make wouldn't be worth the hastle but a bit of wealth preservation with a wee investment angle like Hydrogen etc. 

I do think the market has the correct pricing for Pt at the moment.

[ArgentSmith]

5 hours ago, StackemHigh said:

I can still buy Pt priced below spot. I buy some now and then with beer money for the month.

Brilliant!! do you mind me asking where I or other members interested in below spot PT should be buying please TIA 🍻

[mybizz]

I purchased a platinum Pamp assy card of 25x1 grams. Tested with Sigma small wand. Got different readings in yellow and red range around 11 to 14 resistancy. Could not effectively weight or do gravity test due to packaging. Also got them to all verify with the Pamp veriscan app on iPhone. Tested with XRF gun and showed different metals like titanium. 

After going to 3 bullion dealers not one would purchase. I might just stick with gold and silver.