Precious metals such as gold have had a long history as a form of investment. Gold and silver are recognized alongside global currencies as good components of a diversified portfolio. It is usually recommended by most financial advisors to have at least 10% of your net worth as an investor in form of gold or silver assets.
Gold prices have risen steadily over the years to record all-time high market prices. Knowing which companies offer the best services when it comes to the buying experience is important. The services offered by dealers include purchasing, storing and brokerage of the gold bullion. However, the services each retailer have on offer vary depending on their focus and their customer needs.
Bullion refers to a precious metal whose value is only based on the weight and purity of the bullion in question be it gold, silver or platinum among others. When you want to buy gold bullion, going online seems to be a convenient option. The best prices are found online and largely so because they do not grapple with the costs of overhead and volume. The brick and mortar costs do not apply to online gold bullion retailers.
HOW TO IDENTIFY A TRUSTWORTHY ONLINE GOLD BULLION RETAILER
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What is their reputation & track record?
It is important to choose a gold dealer who has been in the business for some time. This enables you to check out the company review from previous buyers. There are review websites where you can find genuine reviews for trusted Gold Buyers in Adelaide with whom you could be interested in purchasing from. The review site also offers numerous other reviews for gold dealers all over the world.
If you happened to have purchased from an online retailer before, it is prudent to take the same precautionary steps as you would the first time you made a gold bullion purchase. This is to safeguard your hard earned cash, precious metals are so expensive!
Although there are rare cases of fraud, there have been cases when the gold bars are coated and the metal underneath is not gold. Working with a reputable dealer will greatly minimize the chances of being defrauded in this manner. You can tell a company’s track record from its transaction history. There are companies which moved precious metals worth billions have built a good a reputation and trust among their clients. On the flip side, these companies tend to charge higher premiums on the spot price.
Trustworthy retailers have a risk disclosure policy which gives their clients the facts about the potential risks and the realities of investing in gold bullion. They endeavour to disclose this information upfront to their customers. Look for the disclosure which gives the facts.
Value
The retailers you are interested in purchasing from, do they have a good technical support for customers? The bonus is if the retailer invests in educating or keeping their prospective clients up to date through social media on the market’s happenings.
Price transparency
The spot price of a gold bullion is rarely constant, it changes on a daily basis subject to the market fluctuations. Companies disclose this price in various ways. Some companies post their prices online, others only disclose the price on the contract for sale or sell the gold in complex packages. Yet other companies will not post their price per ounce of gold and to get their price, the customers must call. While this is often inconveniencing and even fishy, it is not always a bad thing as they may offer long-term value to customers who are after legitimacy and trust.
Take note of those factors whenever you’re looking for a gold bullion retailer. If you have other points to add, feel free to share it to us in the comments section.
Raj Kumar is a qualified business/finance writer expert in investment, debt, credit cards, Passive income, financial updates. He advises in his blog finance clap.
