By bulk, we mean that the refineries would pay a little more for round lots of gold, typically 100 ounces.. The pawn shops only had odd lots like 7 ounces .. So he'd gather up the pawn shop gold until he had 100 ounces at spot from which to earn his spread.. Evidently this isn't legal.. Hard to say whether Martin went down in a sting or whether they really were enforcing some stupid arcane rule..