Buy Gold Online

For years, the internet has been the place to go for anyone who wants to buy gold. It is much more cost effective, it gives buyers more options, and it is simply more convenient. When you add all of these elements together, you will find the reasons why buying gold online has exploded in popularity. There used to be concerns about the trustworthiness of online dealers, but this is no longer a primary concern. Many buyers have crossed over to shopping for their precious metals online, but for those who haven't, we hope that this article will help to inform you on the benefits of buying online as well as explain how the whole process works.

Choosing What Type of Gold to Buy

One of the most intimidating and overwhelming elements of shopping for gold online is the simple fact that there are so many different types of gold to choose from. In a nutshell, there are three different broad categories of gold types. The first, and most common form of gold is a bar. Bars are the type of gold that you see on TV, they are what people think of when they consider stockpiling gold, and they are readily available. While you will need a lot of money, millions even, to own real massive bricks of gold, almost anyone will be able to afford smaller gold bars.

For new, lower budget, and even advanced gold buyers, smaller gold bars are the best way to go. They can be obtained from sizes as small as 1 gram, making them affordable for just about anyone. Beyond bars, the other two options for types of gold to buy online are rounds and coins. To the outsider, rounds and coins might seem like they are the same thing. While rounds are shaped in the same way as coins, they have one very different characteristic. With a coin, the item is produced by a governmental body. For example, Gold Eagles are made by the United States. A round, however, is simply raw gold (as you will find in bars) that is minted privately. These mints will take gold from other objects and melt it down into pure gold and then re-produce the precious metal as a clean round. Coins will have a premium affixed to them due to their collectibility, so if you are going for the most actual gold content possible, bars and rounds will be your best option available.

Fair Prices When Buying Gold Online

Gold prices are always going to be relative to the market, so the only way to accurately gauge what a fair price is will be to look at the spot price. After considering the spot price, which can be located on the top left hand of this website on all pages, you will be able to determine what a realistic price is for any given piece of gold.

As a rule of thumb, the more gold that you buy, the lower the premium will be on your purchase. For example, you might pay $20 over spot for a 1 oz. bar per ounce, while a 10 oz. purchase might end up only costing you $10 over spot per ounce. The cheapest forms of gold online are bars and rounds. You should never pay more than a few dollars over spot for any bars or rounds. They do not have any value due to their rarity or appeal to collectors, so there is no reason to pay an exorbitant premium on them.

Coins are a lot harder to find exact fair prices on. As a rule of thumb, however, most primary uncirculated one ounce coins can be obtained for $50-$100 over spot. In other words, American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, Chinese Panda, and other similar coins should not cost you an arm and a leg. The important thing to remember is that this pertains to uncirculated coins only, and that proofs and graded coins will almost always cost more.

To summarize, and for quick reference, remember that bars and rounds should never be more than $20 or so over spot, while coins will typically cost $50-$100 over spot when shopping online. If you are ever unsure about whether a price is realistic, compare figures at a few different gold websites before you place an order.

Best Place to Buy Gold Online

Deciding where to buy your gold from online is the single most important thing that you will do when investing in precious metals. Most buyers will end up going to the same company over and over again after their initial purchases, so it makes it all that more important that you buy from a dealer who is trustworthy and credible. There are a number of things that you should look for in any online gold dealer. These include, but are not limited to:

1.) Credibility

-Read reviews of the site you are thinking about buying your gold online from. If there are many positive reviews and very few negative remarks about the dealer in question, you can safely assume that they treat their customers well and will not scam you.

2.) Fair Prices

-As alluded to earlier, fair prices will largely determine whether you are able to generate a solid profit from buying gold. Comparing one dealer to another will always make your life that much easier.

3.) Safe Payment Processing

-Since precious metals are such valuable assets, you will undoubtedly be spending a lot of money when you decide to buy gold online. As a result, you will want to take extra precautions to ensure that your money is handled safely and securely. Make payments for large orders via wire or check and complete all smaller orders with your credit or debit card. A careful approach will help to ensure that you have a backup should something ever go wrong with your order.

4.) Insurance and Tracking on Your Order

-All legitimate gold websites will insure your package when it goes in the mail. Check any companies shipping policies before you give them a nickel of your money. If you can't find that all purchases are tracked and insured, you should call to make sure that yours will be. There would be nothing worse than spending thousands of dollars only to have your items lost in the mail.

While there will be many other small things that you should look for just as you do with any purchase over the internet, these four areas are the most important. If you can safely mark each of these elements off for a gold website, the chances are that you are in good hands.

Our best choice for online gold dealers is APMEX. They go above and beyond all of the criteria listed above. APMEX is the largest online precious metals dealer in the world, have one of the most sound reputations in the industry, and have more gold available than anyone else. They carry every type of gold imaginable, including bars and rounds, generic coins, rare coins, graded coins, and other unique items from around the world. There just isn't a better place to buy your gold from on the internet.