buying gold bullion: Cheaper online or from brick and mortar dealers?

DeutscherGeist

Hello coin collecting crusaders,

I came from the baseball card forums, but do some coin collecting.

I want to buy some gold bullion, such as Maple Leafs or Chinese Pandas in their factory original mylar casings. I know a trust worthy dealer in Huntington Beach, CA and there are also some good sellers on ebay. Where would one get the best deals? I want to buy in the next 3 days or so, so what is the normal price for 1 ounce Maple Leaf and Panda? How about for the quarter ounce and 1/20th?

Basically, I need to know what a good deal is so I will know it when I see it.

I can look up Gold prices on the NY stock exchange, but I also understand the Maple Leaf will not go for the price on the NYSE--it has a premium for the mintage too.

Thanks to all who want to contribute to this thread.

Stork

I have yet to meet the brick and mortar who can meet the online prices...though occasionally they get close, you get to walk away with your coin and it's more fun.

In Maryland (I don't know about California), if you spend more than $1000 you don't pay sales tax. Otherwise, tack another 4.5% (MD) on.

For the online guys though, there can be some interesting shipping fees, so watch that.

When I shop there are a few places I check. The first one is Tulving.com because they generally have the absolute lowest prices. Of course, I'll never meet their 20 ounce minimum, but I like it for pricing purposes.

Next I'll go to my 2 current favorites: apmex.com and CNI (golddealer.com). CNI has a 2k minimum but free shipping (last time I read the fine print). APMEX takes a credit card but 'charges' 3% extra for shipping. If you don't use the credit card, you get the 3% back on shipping (a neat and/or specious way to avoid running afoul of the credit card company rule of not charging a premium for it's usage). In fact apmex is the only big one I know that takes credit cards.

Anyway, as a last check I go to a couple places I have checked in on before: ajpm.com (definitely happy with them in the past), andSouthlandCoins (they have a new website I haven't looked at much yet, and around Katrina time they got a little disturbed. They seem to have recovered very nicely).

If you start getting interested in more esoteric bullion equivalent coins then Chard is of interest. I understand (I think it was Hyperion) had a not so good experience with them, but the account was hacked. I have bought directly from them before...pricey shipping at times, but for what I was looking at, it was worth it.

If you have a Brick store that gets reasonably close and you don't have a ridiculous state sales tax getting imposed, then buy it there...it's nice to support the locals and the non-tangible benefit of walking away with something in your hand is nice .



Cathy

edited to add: AVOID EBAY. Alot of bullion there goes for more than you need to pay, and the opportunity for fraud is huge (there is a very large case in court right now...)

ajaan

You can check out www.kitco.com which is where I got these prices:

Product Price Quantity
Gold Eagle 1 oz $664.02

Gold Eagle 1/2 oz $346.17

Gold Eagle 1/4 oz $179.38

Gold Eagle 1/10 oz $84.97

Gold Maple 1 oz $660.87

Gold Buffalo 1 oz $664.02

Gold Maple 1/2 oz $344.60

Gold Maple 1/4 oz $178.59

Gold Maple 1/10 oz $84.65

Gold Maple 1/20 oz* $50.35

Gold Krugerrand 1 oz* $654.58

Gold Bar 400 oz $253960.00

Gold Bar 10 oz $6414.00

Gold Bar 1 oz $641.40

I asked my wife for the 400 oz gold bar for Christmas but I don't think I'm going to get it.

Stork

I've never looked at kitco to buy...just for their spot prices and 'interesting' commentaries. The buy price at CNI this morning for the one ounce maple and eagle for example is 653.00 compared to kitco (and I don't know kitco's shipping). I can't get on the apmex site at the moment.


If you get that 400 ounce bar can I see it? Maybe I can ask my husband for one too... (I'm checking outside now to see if pigs are flying and if I see frozen flames of brimstone breaking through the grass).


Cathy

1jester

<< <i>
I asked my wife for the 400 oz gold bar for Christmas but I don't think I'm going to get it. >>





Tell her it's for her!!

DeutscherGeist

In California, if one purchases over $1000.00 then the gold is tax free.

Well, on ebay, buying out of state gold is tax free.


I guess since I am a newbie, perhaps it is best I go to Huntington Beach to buy some gold. At least I would be supporting local individuals and possibly even solidifying a relationship.

So, for a price guide, I guess Kitco serves well. I am mainly buying gold as a gift that is why I am in a rush even though I have been thinking about this for awhile. I never have to spend this much on baseball cards, so looking at $1000 cash is kind of alarming, but that's what I have to spend to get any decent deal quickly.

DeutscherGeist

I assume those online stores like Kitco are not in CA, thus, one does not need to purchase $1000 in order to avoid the sales tax.

Ricke

<< <i>I asked my wife for the 400 oz gold bar for Christmas but I don't think I'm going to get it. >>



did you ask Santa... it's not like you'll shoot your eye out.