How to Buy Gold Online
Gold Bullion is a great way to store wealth over the long term. Gold Bullion is pretty much immune to inflation, compact, and the most beautiful investment in the world.
Everyone should own some gold bullion as part of their safety and security plan, retirement plan, or for all the other reasons to save for the future.
Gold bullion is gold in a form designed for storage (as opposed to gold jewelry or used for industrial purposes). Gold Bullion is priced as some reasonable value above current gold price spot, so gold bullion does not include "collector coins" that are worth more to a collector then a pure bullion investor would pay.
Step 1:
Decide what type of gold bullion you want to hold, or diversify over time into all types. Major categories of gold bullion include:
~~~99.99% Pure Gold Bars - available from 1 gram through 1 ounce sizes, as well as larger bars like the 400 oz gold bars used in big depositories.
~~~99.99% or higher 1 ounce Gold Coins - Available as the Royal Canadian Mint Maple Leafs, Chinese Pandas, certain US coins, and a few other countries. These coins carry a nominal face value (far below melt value) but they are legal tender.
~~~Less then 99% gold bullion coins. Gold is so soft that unalloyed gold quickly gets marred if handled. Therefore gold coin used in circulation, as well as many modern bullion coins including American Eagles and South African gold coins are alloyed with silver or copper to strengthen the coins. This does not reduce the coins value or usefulness. If the coin is labeled as 1 oz fine then it will contain an actual gold oz plus the alloyed metal.
Step 2:
Decide on your budget. If you can not afford to buy a full ounce of gold then consider either:
~~~Fractional gold coins available in 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, or 1/2 oz sizes
~~~Gram based gold bars starting at 1 gram (1/31 oz) and up.
Fractional gold will have a higher premium over spot price because it takes the same effort to manufacture a fractional coin as a full oz coin. You can recover some of the premium when you sell though.
Step 3:
Find a reputable dealer or exchange and place your order.
Before you buy from an online dealer, Google them. See what independent people are saying about the dealer in forums. A problem dealer generally gets called out pretty quickly online since gold investors are usually very serious about honesty and quick delivery. You can also check with the Better Business Bureau sites for complaints.
There are three main types of bad online gold dealers:
~~~Total scam artists who ship nothing
~~~Semi-scam artists who sell overpriced bullion as "collector coins" to non-coin collectors. Sterling Silver rounds, gold plated whatevers, and limited edition sets sold through TV and magazine ads are generally way over priced or near worthless in any secondary market. Don't believe this? Go see yesteryear's offerings in any coin shop and ask what people used to pay for the coins.
~~~Slow shippers. Some bullion sellers take buyer's cash and then wait to ship for weeks. They may be looking to time the market, or may be underfunded.
* Buy Gold and keep buying for the long term. Don't panic over temporary market setbacks.
Everyone should own some gold bullion as part of their safety and security plan, retirement plan, or for all the other reasons to save for the future.
Gold bullion is gold in a form designed for storage (as opposed to gold jewelry or used for industrial purposes). Gold Bullion is priced as some reasonable value above current gold price spot, so gold bullion does not include "collector coins" that are worth more to a collector then a pure bullion investor would pay.
Step 1:
Decide what type of gold bullion you want to hold, or diversify over time into all types. Major categories of gold bullion include:
~~~99.99% Pure Gold Bars - available from 1 gram through 1 ounce sizes, as well as larger bars like the 400 oz gold bars used in big depositories.
~~~99.99% or higher 1 ounce Gold Coins - Available as the Royal Canadian Mint Maple Leafs, Chinese Pandas, certain US coins, and a few other countries. These coins carry a nominal face value (far below melt value) but they are legal tender.
~~~Less then 99% gold bullion coins. Gold is so soft that unalloyed gold quickly gets marred if handled. Therefore gold coin used in circulation, as well as many modern bullion coins including American Eagles and South African gold coins are alloyed with silver or copper to strengthen the coins. This does not reduce the coins value or usefulness. If the coin is labeled as 1 oz fine then it will contain an actual gold oz plus the alloyed metal.
Step 2:
Decide on your budget. If you can not afford to buy a full ounce of gold then consider either:
~~~Fractional gold coins available in 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, or 1/2 oz sizes
~~~Gram based gold bars starting at 1 gram (1/31 oz) and up.
Fractional gold will have a higher premium over spot price because it takes the same effort to manufacture a fractional coin as a full oz coin. You can recover some of the premium when you sell though.
Step 3:
Find a reputable dealer or exchange and place your order.
Before you buy from an online dealer, Google them. See what independent people are saying about the dealer in forums. A problem dealer generally gets called out pretty quickly online since gold investors are usually very serious about honesty and quick delivery. You can also check with the Better Business Bureau sites for complaints.
There are three main types of bad online gold dealers:
~~~Total scam artists who ship nothing
~~~Semi-scam artists who sell overpriced bullion as "collector coins" to non-coin collectors. Sterling Silver rounds, gold plated whatevers, and limited edition sets sold through TV and magazine ads are generally way over priced or near worthless in any secondary market. Don't believe this? Go see yesteryear's offerings in any coin shop and ask what people used to pay for the coins.
~~~Slow shippers. Some bullion sellers take buyer's cash and then wait to ship for weeks. They may be looking to time the market, or may be underfunded.
* Buy Gold and keep buying for the long term. Don't panic over temporary market setbacks.