Online gold websites are the lifeblood of buyers of gold in the 21st century. With lower prices, wider selections, and increased ease in purchasing, buying gold bullion on the internet is most definitely the way to go. It used to be that buying items over the computer was risky business and that anyone who shared their personal financial information was putting themselves at risk. Today, however, this is far from reality.
There are almost infinite gold dealers that carry different items with different availability across the internet. They are located everywhere from Asia to the UK and the United States. Needless to say, a new gold buyer will become quite overwhelmed when they are faced with the task of deciding which site they should buy from. Use this as a guide when finding where you want to buy your gold. The first step is learning how to buy gold, but the most important one is deciding where to give your business.
Items Available
The first thing you will notice when browsing around at various gold dealers' websites is that there is a lot of variation in the items that are being offered. The majority of dealer have some sort of specialty. This could mean that they deal specifically in rare, older coins, common bullion, modern day graded coins, or something else altogether. As a buyer, you need to know what you are looking for before you go shopping. An investor in bulk gold bars won't go to a numismatic coin specialist, just as a coin collector won't go to an investment grade website.
The easiest way to consolidate your gold purchases, especially when you buy many types of items, is to locate a gold dealer that can meet all of your needs. The top gold companies online offer everything from coins to raw bullion and everything in between. By shopping at a dealer that has everything to offer, you will save both time and money.
Pricing
The pricing of a dealer will often times be the deal breaker in whether or not a website is worth buying from. If you are an amateur when it comes to buying gold, determining what a fair price is might be the most challenging thing that you have to do. You know that you don't want to get ripped off, but at the same time, you aren't quite sure what is considered fair prices for any of the items that you are looking at.
The best thing that you can do when trying to calculate fair prices for any form of gold is to compare a few sites to one another. Eventually, you will see that either all of the sites carry roughly the same prices or that one or two tend to stick out. While it is only logical that you will ultimately go with the dealer that has the lowest price, you should make sure that the final total you pay (including shipping and any added fees) is truly less than the competition.
Some dealers try to deceive buyers by offering lowered or discounted prices at face, only to tack on a number of fees and added charges when it comes time to check out. Things to look out for include excessive shipping charges, handling charges, processing fees, and so on and so forth. Most major gold websites won't try to cheat you though, so there is no need to be overly worried about being gauged at checkout.
Order Processing
Any gold website worth their weight in, well, gold, is going to have very secure payment processing. For credit card orders, this is going to be very straightforward. It is the big orders that will require a bit more precautionary measures.
If you are making a substantial purchase, make sure that you can make payment safely via bank transfer or wire. With these orders, buying from a US based dealer or company will add some extra security. If you are in the UK or Canada, we suggest you check out the company listed below for your orders. Most dealers will handle your money very carefully, but there will always be a shady site lying somewhere in the bunch.
Best Gold Websites
The best gold websites more than exceed the criteria listed above. Our top choice for the place to buy gold online is JM Bullion. This company has a catalog and selection that is absolutely unmatched, offers very competitive pricing, and processes orders with the utmost protection and integrity. Their customer satisfaction rate is near 100%, making them one of the most reputable businesses online, be it in gold or otherwise.
We recommend this company largely based on personal experiences. We regularly place our own gold orders with JM Bullion and will continue to do the same in the future. Plus, should you ever decide that you want to sell some of your gold, JMB will be there to buy from you as well. In terms of buying from customers, JM always has prices posted publicly, and if you compare them to other websites, you will see that they are among the best in the industry.
Reviews of Other Dealers:
- Silver.com – Silver.com is a relatively new online dealer that specializes in silver, but also offers a wide gold selection at basement-level pricing.
- APMEX – APMEX is the largest gold dealer in the world, but with that size comes bloated pricing and inefficient service.
- GoldSilver.com – GoldSilver.com offers decent pricing but has high minimums and below-average service.
