Quote Originally Posted by unknownk View Post
You are a value added manufacturer. You take raw material and produce a final product. If the cost of refining gold gets too expensive (not enough in the raw material you can scrounge to be profitable to extract) you are out of business. A middle man is just that, he buys a product for less then he can sell it for and makes a profit no matter what (unless he is unlucky to get caught in a crazy market or hold onto that commodity for too long). Middle men don't get their hands dirty, provide no added service, and create nothing of lasting value. Their whole reason for existence is to be the middle guy between 2 parties that for logistics can't do it on their own. If you have to do any work at all then you are more a value added service or manufacturer even if you happen to be in the middle of the food chain.
Actually, in the supply chain, a refiner is considered to be a middleman. Think of it this way, someone works to remove precious metals from the earth, then they sell it to a refinery. The refinery invests some labor and produces a refined product, or commodity. That commodity is then sold to someone else and made into goods. The refiner in this scenario is a middleman. Or in my specific case, I take recycled material someone else has collected and many times broken down, I purchase it, I refine it and invest some labor in doing so, then I sell to someone else who makes a good out of it. That's not my long term intent, but that's mostly what I do currently, that makes me a middle man. Sometimes I purchase metals from other refiners, and sell them to someone else strictly, and make money off the deal. Sometimes I broker a deal between a supplier and refiner. In all these ways I am a middleman. And I don't see anything wrong with being so. You are just really splitting hairs as to what a middle man really is.

mid•dle•man (ˈmɪd lˌmæn)

n., pl. -men.
1. a person who buys goods from the producer and resells them to the retailer or consumer.
In this case, I am purchasing from a someone who is scrapping, and producing recoverable material, turning it into something other people can use and selling to a retailer or consumer.

Scott