51–60 of 79 posts
Someone in the comments: "what if someone files a chargeback on the card?". Any thoughts on this? By using the machine you've moved from a reversible transaction to an ireversible transaction. It looks ripe for scammers to abuse. At least at a counter they'd have your face on cam, but with this they don't.
Silver spot right now is ~$19/oz and they're selling it for $88, a 360%+ markup (granted this is a coin vs a bar).
Gold spot is ~$1260/oz, and their 1oz is $1367, 8.5% markup, their 10g is $1389/oz, a 10% markup.
If you were interested in gold, you could get from APMEX for $1,336.83/oz credit, or less for cash. Or from a nice man in the diamond district for spot plus $50 cash.
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That could happen with any ATM.
If someone buys gold from this machine, potential thieves can guarantee that they'll be carrying at least $255, which is way more than most people take from ATMs.
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Most ATMs won't let you deposit anyway.
Any ATM attached to a bank does let you deposit, actually. In the states, mostly just in envelopes that are counted later, but in China, they actually count and verify the money in place.
As for deposits, modern ATMs in the US will count bills and also scan and deposit checks immediately without envelopes.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most ATMs won't let you deposit anyway.
Any ATM attached to a bank does let you deposit, actually. In the states, mostly just in envelopes that are counted later, but in China, they actually count and verify the money in place.
Those silver American Eagles make a great, almost magical from the child's perspective, alternative to the lame-o paper dollar under the pillow when your kid looses a tooth, but I would recommend working your way up to them as it gets a little expensive, especially if you have more than one toddler.
That's what my father did for my brother and I as kids. Every time one of us lost a tooth, we got a silver American Eagle. Then we'd have to put it into a protective sleeve and look up its details in a coin book we had in the house. My brother and I would spend hours looking over every detail of those coins (there's not a lot to do when you're six and living in Wyoming). I always wondered where they came from until I…
I have seen more than one of these "vending machines" in Dubai. Interesting thing is that they constantly adjust the price of the gold bars as the price of gold fluctuates. I guess these machines need a permanent internet connection to receive the current gold price. Who will be the first to do a MITM and adjust the price to 0.001? ;)
I have seen more than one of these "vending machines" in Dubai. Interesting thing is that they constantly adjust the price of the gold bars as the price of gold fluctuates. I guess these machines need a permanent internet connection to receive the current gold price. Who will be the first to do a MITM and adjust the price to 0.001? ;)
Out of curiosity, other than owning a lump of gold, what exactly are you supposed to do with it once you have it?
Saw this a little while back, the novelty is fun, but the prices are really, really high. Silver spot right now is ~$19/oz and they're selling it for $88, a 360%+ markup (granted this is a coin vs a bar). Gold spot is ~$1260/oz, and their 1oz is $1367, 8.5% markup, their 10g is $1389/oz, a 10% markup. If you were interested in gold, you could get from APMEX for $1,336.83/oz credit, or less for cash. Or from a nice ma…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any ATM attached to a bank does let you deposit, actually. In the states, mostly just in envelopes that are counted later, but in China, they actually count and verify the money in place.
I would imagine that there are more ATMs unattached to banks than attached, so saying "most" ATMs don't take deposits doesn't seem like a stretch to me. As for deposits, modern ATMs in the US will count bills and also scan and deposit checks immediately without envelopes.