Pay dirt online?

[Ams721]

So on Amazon and eBay along with other sites you can actually buy paydirt from a wide variety of locations. Now whoever is selling this stuff would not actually be dull enough to fill up a bag of dirt and sell it for 10 bucks but the bag contains 100 bucks worth of gold, or would they? Anyone ever bought online paydirt? For 10 bucks and free shipping was sorta thinking of buying a bag, or am I going to get skunked lol.

 

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[KevinInColorado]

There are lots of threads here about buying paydirt. Best case you'll get about 1/2 your $ back in gold, likely less. The panning may be fun and educational...might even be more cost effective than the costs of going out in the field but NO you won't profit from this. The sellers are making money to put food on the table...their table

 

[KimberlyV]

There are several important things to note about the bags of pay dirt sold on line.

Bags of pay dirt are sold as "pay dirt" with a guarantee of some undisclosed amount of gold FLAKE or FINE GOLD in the bag. They likely either salt the bag or do a quality assurance to make sure their guarantee is valid. This way if you are learning to pan, or getting this as a gift for a child they can assure their will be no complaints or crying.

The second thing to note is the bag is typically sold by weight. Lets say we buy a 1 lb bag of pay dirt. 1 lb is equal to 16 oz. If we are guaranteed both dirt for panning and gold. Neither the dirt for panning or the gold can exceed 16 oz. If a 1 lb bag is $30 the gold in the bag must exceed $30 dollars to make a profit. Consider the price of 1 oz of gold. Consider how much flake or fine gold it would take to make just 1 oz.

Now we are buying pay dirt. We know there WILL be dirt in the bag. We are not informed about the periodic makeup of the aforementioned "Dirt in the bag." Hence we do not know its weight. There is usually a picture of a bag of the pay dirt in the advertisement. I have noticed the pictures usually reveal black sands, (a good sign, as gold is found in black sands). These black sands are mixed in with what appears to be either local soil or perhaps play sand. Now we know black sands are typically heavy. We know gold is also heavy. So lets say we have a guarantee of a little gold, we get some black sand, and whatever other dirt is in the bag. All that is under 16 ounces. So you should get some idea about how little gold we have to end up with. We know we'll get some color, its part of the deal. Will it exceed $30 in value? Who knows?

But there is more. The ads usually says a nugget occasionally does appear in the bag. Why not? Chances are a single nugget is added to a huge amount of pay dirt which is used to fill many bags. The nugget randomly ends up in one of these bags. Some lucky person will get that bag. It's good for business. Their cute little version of a lottery perhaps.

In conclusion, the people selling the pay dirt usually say they have a mining claim. They probably have an obligation to do a certain amount of work on their claim. They probably satisfy this requirement at a minimum, and use whatever gold they retrieve to add to bags of pay dirt they are selling. If we consider the cost of assaying, processing, and selling the gold they find. It is probably more profitable to them to sell the gold in pay dirt without regard to its amount or value. They are mining pay dirt. If you got a couple of flakes they sold what they guaranteed. So even if you do end up getting $60 worth of gold, they still got a profit save the cost of processing the gold.

Enjoy,

Hugs,

KimberlyV

 

[wtetro]

I won 2nd place in a raffle...not sure if I can mention the Mining Company name, so won't unless someone e says otherwise, but this is a $65 bag and minus the few specs of PITA black sands, it's almost 2g of gold. They advertise 1g guaranteed, so I'd day this is pretty darn good pay dirt. I'd rather work for it, but how do you turn down free pay dirt with gold, and a decent amount?! And the green gems are peridot, more for the girlfriend, but found those in the bag too. Purchased paydirt is just for practicing, to fill a gold lust in off season, or yellow crack to get your buddy hooked, not for profit, but it's fun. I got another local bag here once and on top of 2g of course and fines, it had a 1.3g nug in it. It's just fun, but so much sweeter when you win...oh and I tared the scale to the plastic tray

 

[Terry Soloman]

The dirt is mixed with carefully weighed flake gold. Pickers and nuggets are always reserved for larger bags, and repeat customers the seller wants to keep on the hook. It is like going to the Casino - the house always wins.

If you want to practice panning, get some bird shot and mix it in with soils. If you want gold, just buy it on Ebay or from a trusted seller. You'll save yourself a lot of money.

 

[wtetro]

I've been digging for years, I know the game. That's great advice though for a newb, I wish I had that told to me years ago. I won this time since it was a drawing, 1st place was 5g of gold, just missed it. I'd rather sweat my a$$ off digging all day than buy a bag, even for a flake because that's the best. But paydirt bags have a place, for newbs, guys who can't physically do it anymore, my grandpa, for example. You make great points though, lead acts like gold and crushing bird shot or flaking fish weights and panning those will teach you tons. All new to mining/prospecting, listen to people like Terry here, might sound dumb and boring, but its what we all had to go through, or wished we had. It's this knowledge that will make you better and more successful in the end, and hopefully, you post and share what you learned. None of us know it all. Thanks Terry for that post, that's where it begins...edit...all, paydirt is for fun and practice...and for fun

 

[Goldwasher]

i'm running a panning concession. I salt buckets. do I make a profit yes is it a lot no. Begginers get way more gold and experience from me than they do down the road at the state park. If someone comes along and wants to buy a sample bucket, they will get a certain amount of gold for the price if they want a picker bucket or a miners bucket the size and quantity goes up. In the non begginer dirt there is black sand that is minus 50 cons it right from the claim material the fine gold varies and is as realistic as you can get as far as what you would pan out in the "wild" (plus the salted bigger stuff)
All the gold is from my claim I make way more off of it that way. Say hat you want. I say its pretty dang smart. I will also buy from legal claim owners and leasee's as needed. paying 90% of spot even though the purity may be less than 90%. Try to go to a jeweler and get that. Try to go to a jeweler or on line and see what premium you pay for placer gold BEFORE you pay for shipping.
I'm doing that to support small scale prospectors. Same reason I'm putting pans in peoples hands who have never panned.Education. What they do in the future with their fever is up to them. The hole hatin' on people involved in the business/retail side of prospecting will never go away I guess. Its a niche business that has its place and does ok to well in the gold bearing regions because there are more serious prospectors. The guys building gear and selling supplies are not getting rich off of the miners. We/they would do better if the political/environmental climate was different. One of the reasons I will talk until i'm blue in the face trying to educate people.

If was going to sell paydirt online i would sell the gold by weight with the occasional picker as a bonus. You would know the minimum amount in the bag.Not everyone by a large margin who, wants to learn to pan or just experience it for that matter. Will get a chance or have the ability to make it to an area where they can do so in nature. So, there is a demand. Some smart people will supply that demand.

There will always be some "Real prospector" out there making fun and insulting those people who want to exercise their right to purchase a product. In a world where it cost $99.00 to go to Disneyland.

Gold you buy direct or in a bag of paydirt will be worth more in the future you won't get rich. Gold doesn't fall apart like your mickey mouse ears.And the people you meet in the small scale community are typically a lot nicer than the people your standing in line with at space mountain.

When I was working a concession in Alaska. The average take from a bag was a gram. At the time Gold was hovering around $300 dollars. That vial sitting on a shelf that you got on vacation is worth way more now and I bet that part of your trip is a good memory.

You can't get the same smile or the fever from panning lead.

Haters gonna Hate!

 

[Goldwasher]

I will add that there are people who think they caught onto something and will come ahead panning purchased paydirt. that is silly they learn quick. People buy gold and think they can flip it quick also. They typically know very little about prospecting. Actual prospectors know how much work goes into profiting on gold. People that buy gold for the sake of profit a gram at a time well...they can learn the truth or not...you know "a fool and his money..something something"

The majority of people who buy paydirt are not fools or lazy for that matter. It's just the way they decided they are gonna end up with gold in the pan.

So be it. Who does it hurt?

 

[Terry Soloman]

i'm running a panning concession. I salt buckets. do I make a profit yes is it a lot no. Begginers get way more gold and experience from me than they do down the road at the state park. If someone comes along and wants to buy a sample bucket, they will get a certain amount of gold for the price if they want a picker bucket or a miners bucket the size and quantity goes up. In the non begginer dirt there is black sand that is minus 50 cons it right from the claim material the fine gold varies and is as realistic as you can get as far as what you would pan out in the "wild" (plus the salted bigger stuff)
All the gold is from my claim I make way more off of it that way. Say hat you want. I say its pretty dang smart. I will also buy from legal claim owners and leasee's as needed. paying 90% of spot even though the purity may be less than 90%. Try to go to a jeweler and get that. Try to go to a jeweler or on line and see what premium you pay for placer gold BEFORE you pay for shipping.
I'm doing that to support small scale prospectors. Same reason I'm putting pans in peoples hands who have never panned.Education. What they do in the future with their fever is up to them. The hole hatin' on people involved in the business/retail side of prospecting will never go away I guess. Its a niche business that has its place and does ok to well in the gold bearing regions because there are more serious prospectors. The guys building gear and selling supplies are not getting rich off of the miners. We/they would do better if the political/environmental climate was different. One of the reasons I will talk until i'm blue in the face trying to educate people.

If was going to sell paydirt online i would sell the gold by weight with the occasional picker as a bonus. You would know the minimum amount in the bag.Not everyone by a large margin who, wants to learn to pan or just experience it for that matter. Will get a chance or have the ability to make it to an area where they can do so in nature. So, there is a demand. Some smart people will supply that demand.

There will always be some "Real prospector" out there making fun and insulting those people who want to exercise their right to purchase a product. In a world where it cost $99.00 to go to Disneyland.

Gold you buy direct or in a bag of paydirt will be worth more in the future you won't get rich. Gold doesn't fall apart like your mickey mouse ears.And the people you meet in the small scale community are typically a lot nicer than the people your standing in line with at space mountain.

When I was working a concession in Alaska. The average take from a bag was a gram. At the time Gold was hovering around $300 dollars. That vial sitting on a shelf that you got on vacation is worth way more now and I bet that part of your trip is a good memory.

You can't get the same smile or the fever from panning lead.

Haters gonna Hate!

I sure hope you are not calling me a hater. I believe in capitalism. If you are providing a product that people want - God Bless! My beef is with the dishonest dealers that try and market their products as something they are not. Like Garrett saying the AT Pro is a saltwater machine, or a pay dirt salesman that tells folks they have no idea what's in the bag, but you are guaranteed to get at least this much gold. Really?

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=guaranteed+gold+paydirt

 

[Goldwasher]

I sure hope you are not calling me a hater. I believe in capitalism. If you are providing a product that people want - God Bless! My beef is with the dishonest dealers that try and market their products as something they are not. Like Garrett saying the AT Pro is a saltwater machine, or a pay dirt salesman that tells folks they have no idea what's in the bag, but you are guaranteed to get at least this much gold. Really?

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=guaranteed+gold+paydirt

Terry I'm a smart A$$ that's literally the first or second time I've used the phrase "haters gonna Hate".

People who make false promises tend to get sorted out.

I honestly think the whole you may luck out..or we just don't know whats in it bags are more like gambling and am surprised they are not treated as such. I'm not running a casino and will treat my customers as customers, it will do well for me. I know how to treat with customers.

When I was in Alaska the gold did come right from the cons off of the plant. Out of the cut the mine was working at the time. Due to the price of gold they weren't running for production. It was private property by Fairbanks.
The cons were rich 1/2 gram to a dwt per bag. We filled bags I never salted I don't know if the owner did.

Get this people paid I think ten bucks to pan. They could then BUY the gold in it at 88% spot occasionally there was a "skunky " bag and I would give the person another one. Nine times out of ten they would buy it. And buy a bezel to mount it in etc..Once you get gold in your pan you don't want to give it back I guess. even if your paying twice. That's gold fever for ya!!