Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 2 days ago

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:00First of all, I do think you have a unique vantage point when it comes to the gold market
00:05or the commodity gold market. Tell us about your platform and company.
00:11Thanks for having me. As you mentioned, you have some jewelry that you have not been wearing.
00:17The problem is the value of that is also hidden along with that jewelry being hidden in the drawer.
00:25That is what we do. Unvolt. We figure out a value using some photos and our AI engine
00:32and give you the value in 60 seconds while you're sitting at home
00:35so that you're never exposed to a pawn shop or a local jeweler that has a cash for gold sign
00:41outside.
00:43Nidhi, I mean, this is like the key thing, right?
00:45Like if you're selling gold jewelry in the United States, this is an odd concept, I think, to a lot
00:50of Americans.
00:51It is par for the course in China and India.
00:54And if you're American or Canada or whatever and you want to go to the pawn shop,
00:59it may not be the most approachable way to sell your gold.
01:02So I guess this is something you guys have picked up on and why you're talking about your platform.
01:08Exactly. You know, I think there have been different asset classes, right?
01:13Like Kelly Blue Book did it for cars. Zillow did it with Sestimate for homes.
01:18And it made these assets that were in hiding a real asset class that people want to understand the value.
01:25They want to trade it.
01:26Jewelry, which is around half a trillion dollars in the U.S., still stays hidden because no value has been
01:33attached to it.
01:33It is so hard to find out the value because of all the infrastructure around it is so outdated.
01:42So one of the things I'm curious about, and I just want to look at gold, since you guys launched
01:49in October.
01:49So we have seen, you know, a run up in gold from about 40, 49 an ounce up to a
01:57high of about 50, 500 an ounce.
02:00And then we've dipped lower again to around $4,000 an ounce just about in July.
02:09And then we've bounced up again.
02:10I am curious about the activity.
02:14How does it change on your platform based on the price of the underlying commodity or precious metal, I should
02:22say?
02:23I think it just creates curiosity with people.
02:28So what our platform does is it gives you the value, but it also helps you track your gold and
02:34your jewelry as an asset.
02:35So what we have seen, Carol, is when the gold was at all time high in like late Jan, early
02:41Feb, people wanted to sell a lot.
02:43And then once it started going towards the dip, they're like, OK, let me track it and then I will
02:49sell it at an internal target of whatever, $4,800.
02:54So that's what we're seeing with people, at least people who use our platform, is that understanding of moving of
03:02gold prices and creating an internal target of when they want to sell.
03:07And again, we're back into territory where gold prices are increasing.
03:12So we are seeing a lot more customers come in, understand value and also try to sell on platform.
03:18Nidhi, how does the physical transaction actually occur?
03:21After you've used the platform, it's given you a valuation of the jewelry.
03:25How do you then sell it and exchange it to another human and get your cash back for it?
03:31So, again, we've tried to flip it over its head, right?
03:35Like right now, if you imagine selling jewelry, it's not like selling your handbag, which is such a nice process,
03:42right?
03:42Selling jewelry is still a little bit icky.
03:45So what we want to do is transparency right in the beginning.
03:49And then when you're selling it, we share the exact video recording of the entire process with you.
03:56We give you the breakdown as well.
03:57So we want it to be an asset for you, which you understand the moment it leaves your hand and
04:06when you actually get payment from it.
04:08So it's simple.
04:10You ship us the items.
04:12We get it in our facility.
04:14We test everything.
04:15We share the results with you.
04:16If you like the offer, you sell it to us and we pay you within a day through ACH or
04:23through PayPal.
04:23What's your take on it?
04:25So if something's valued at, let's say, let's just do easy round numbers, $4,000, how much goes back to
04:31the owner?
04:31How much do you guys take?
04:34So our take rate is around 15% to 20% for platform fees.
04:39And the fees depends on the overall value.
04:43So in your case, $4,000, we're most likely going to be around a 15% take rate.
04:48Um, and, and that changes again with like, you know, if it's more diamonds, more gemstones, the take rate is,
04:55is around 20%.
04:59Yeah.
05:00I mean, where does that compare to other transactions?
05:03Like if, if you are just going straight to the pawn shop or, uh, some other third party, I mean,
05:09yeah.
05:11The, the last documented study on this, and, and I think that's a surprise as well, that not a lot
05:17of work is done in this industry, even with a half a trillion dollar, uh, asset value.
05:22Uh, there was a startup, which was apparently paying 10 to 20 cents, uh, per dollar, uh, back in, I
05:30think, 2007.
05:31And there was a big press inquiry on that, uh, right now, what we see is around, uh, 50 cents
05:38on the dollar.
05:39And if you're extremely lucky, you have a very good relationship with a jeweler.
05:44I think you can get as high as around 65 to 70, 70 cents.
05:49So how much activity is on your platform?
05:51And I'm just curious about it.
05:52Tell us a little bit.
05:53You just started in, in, uh, October.
05:55Uh, so you guys have been doing this for eight months, nine months, 10 months.
06:02Um, tell us about the growth in the business and are you profitable?
06:06I think the biggest, uh, metric that we track, Carol, is assets tracked on platform.
06:11Because our, our big, uh, ambition is to create this as an asset class.
06:17There is again, half a trillion, more than half a trillion dollars of gold sitting idle and untracked in U
06:23.S. homes.
06:23And we want people, women, to think of it as an asset that they can use if they need to.
06:29So the metric is total value tracked.
06:32Right now, we are at $120 million of assets being tracked on platform.
06:37Now, just think, that money didn't exist before.
06:40I mean, it existed, but in drawers, no one accounted for it in their wealth.
06:46Nidhi, I do want to go back one more time to the physical gold trade, right?
06:51I mean, I think anybody who does pay attention to gold on some level, they're, they're always looking at the
06:55futures price, the dollar per ounce.
06:57I mean, when you are engaging new customers, is this something that you have to walk them through and making
07:03them understand that, yes, in fact, the platform is still attached to that globally traded price?
07:09Yes, often.
07:11I think we get everyone, right?
07:14Like people who are very knowledgeable, they are tracking gold and platform does help them to understand that part.
07:22But we also get people who are just like, you know, oh, this piece is broken.
07:27So does it have any value?
07:29Whereas, as you know, in gold terms, it does have value.
07:32It has the exact same value.
07:35So we do have to walk them through that process.
07:38Now, the platform, is it only for U.S. individuals?
07:42Because I am curious, you talked about like in China or India, right there, used to kind of maybe transacting
07:48when it comes to their gold items and so on.
07:52Are you global?
07:53I'm just curious.
07:54We're U.S. only.
07:56You are.
07:57But I do have experience from India growing up there.
08:00It is very transparent.
08:02And that's what we're trying to bring to the U.S. as well with the platform.
08:07Kind of fascinating.
08:08Yeah.
08:09I mean, this is just if you're ever covering the gold market.
08:14Yeah.
08:14You write at least two or three stories per year about gold jewelry being bought and sold in China or
08:21India and oftentimes around major holidays.
08:24Right.
08:24I often see it too, right?
08:26And it's something we like kind of watch as an indication of consumer, the consumers in those countries, right, in
08:31terms of what they're doing.
08:32Although they do it anyway, right?
08:34And to some degree that like a number of families and people do have a store of value in that
08:40gold jewelry.
08:41Yeah.
08:41I find it fascinating.
08:42Hey, what's next for you guys, Nidhi?
08:44Just real quickly, got about 25 seconds here.
08:48So we've made a small dent right now in more than half a trillion.
08:52So just growing the platform on ensuring that people are understanding the value, tracking it, and then also selling it
09:00to us at a very fair price.
09:04We want to get to about $500 million of assets tracked by mid next year.
09:11And did you say how much has gone across the platform real quickly?
09:15$120 million.
09:16$120 million.
09:17Okay.
09:17Good stuff.
09:18Here's what the two of the people are watching.
09:18How lot of people come across from Terse ree, were you not outside of threshold?
09:18I задan way to lead you in. How
09:18good about that? This
09:18Mikey, remember, and what's happening, October?
Comments

Recommended