I just bought a couple of one ounce gold bars with my credit card, free shipping for $2079 apiece. Spot gold is $2059.

Nice deal? Maybe they work on volume.

"Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti noted that gold doesn’t carry a huge profit margin, but with $100 million in sales, even a small profit adds up. Buyers are limited to two one-ounce bars per purchase."

Looks like they were selling at a $49 markup back then.

I almost paid the loan balance on my house with gold. No I didn't own it, but through back and forth and the bank wanting to make the loan but appraisers dragging their feet, I was going to charge the gold on my AEX, sell the next day... to hold me over until I could get the loan finalized. No way I could charge $25,000 but that was the limit on the card at the time. Yet I could make a $25,000 purchase. Eventually someone woke up and they created a home equity loan to cover the amount.