$800 Gold!

by Abe Sherman – CEO, BIG – Buyers Intelligence Group

February 17, 2026

The price of gold was fixed at $35/oz and was pegged to the US dollar until 1971. When Nixon uncoupled the dollar from the Gold Standard, gold rose in value, meaning the dollar shrunk in value. Until that point, gold was money. Once uncoupled, the US dollar became fiat currency, worth what the marketplace said it was worth and therefore, the same thing happened with gold.

Gold drifted upward slowly and steadily and as the price of gold rose, those of us who were around in those days were wondering what impact these increases would have on the salability of the merchandise we carried. But sales continued on – and we adjusted.

It took nearly 9 years for things to get “exciting”. Gold spot price eclipsed its inflation-adjusted peak set on Jan. 21, 1980, when prices topped out at $850, which equates to about $3,590 in today’s dollars, Bloomberg reported on Sep 11, 2025.

From $35 to $850 dollars in 9 years. It was a shock to our system; no one knew how to price anything! Those same conversations are happening again.

The challenge we had when gold hit $800+ was our industry’s inability to figure out how to price merchandise. In those days, computer systems were rare and none of the manufacturers (and I mean NONE of them) could figure out how to price inventory! But over time, we adjusted.

To put this in a little perspective, in 1971, my parents bought their home in New Jersey for $51,000. I checked Zillow this morning for a current estimate and that home today is worth $900,000, whereas Realtor.com estimates it’s worth $875,000. That seems expensive to me for a pretty ordinary 60 year-old four bedroom home on ¾ of an acre in central New Jersey, but that is what it’s worth today. The market has adjusted.

Our industry has been all abuzz with the current price and wild swings of gold (and let’s not forget silver). Before Christmas, we were on a call with a jeweler who was sharing data with our vendors and I asked them why they didn’t have any gold bracelets in stock. Their answer was that no one would spend thousands of dollars on a gold bracelet! They were in an area that I suspected was well represented by Ford, Chevy and Ram pickup trucks. When I asked them if this was the case, they told me that those were pretty much what everyone drove in their area. So, I asked them if they’ve been out shopping for a new truck these days! Yep, $80,000 for a truck isn’t a stretch. Neither is $100K. Prices for new trucks are through the roof yet their streets are loaded with them. The market adjusted.

They remember what the price of gold was. The current prices have put them off, thinking their customers wouldn’t spend the money. Anyone who has been in our industry for more than 10 years understands that our recent prices are (from our perspective) just crazy. But so would the realtor who worked in the 1970’s and 80’s and spent a few decades away from the market. Or the car dealer who sold cars and trucks 30 years ago.

Gold is money. This was the case in 1980 and it’s the case today. If you bought your home decades ago, you have enjoyed watching the value of that home increase substantially. But did it? Or does the dollar simply buy less than it did. This is the impact of inflation and its compounding effect on the price of everything.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the value of your aged inventory, which is worth more than when you bought it. You wouldn’t sell your home based on what you paid for it 25 years ago and if you haven’t done so already, please consider repricing your inventory to current market prices. We’re probably not going to see $800 gold again.