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Last Updated on 10/21/2024

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Online Bullion Dealers

Learn the business practices of Online Bullion Dealers

before you deal with one.

Follow @BullionGuide

The more you know about a business, the better off you are when you purchase from them. This page was created to help you know what to be aware of before, during, and after you buy from a online bullion dealer.

The Topics discussed on this page include:

How Bullion is Priced

Methods of Payment

Shipping & Packaging

Receiving your Order

Buyer Be-Aware of

Copper Bullion pricing

Bullion Dealers - Those Who Do & Those Who Don't Post Their Bullion Prices

Investment Strategies

1st Orders - Have a 1st Orders Maximum

Market Mentality - Stay Ahead of the Herd

Bullion Market Buying Guides

How Bullion is Priced

Pricing Bullion

Online Bullion Dealers use the spot price of a precious metal as a starting point for pricing bullion.

You want to know what this price is before you shop.

Dealers add a charge above the spot price of bullion to help them pay for overhead.

Premiums are another added costs that dealers add to the price, however, the dealer does not govern how much a premium on a coin is; the market governs those costs.

Premiums can vary by the bullion product whether it is a bar, coin, or round. Generally, the age, condition, and rarity of the item will all play into the premium above the spot price.

Graded bullion coins generally have the highest premiums, see our Graded Bullion Buying Guide to help better understand how premiums are calculated for bullion coins.

Precious Metal Spot Prices

Methods of Payment

There are several methods of payment that you can choose from when you purchase bullion online.

Not all bullion dealers accept the same forms of payment; You'll find out what type of payment a dealer accepts during the ordering process or at checkout.

Generally, bullion dealer accept two or more of the following forms of payment:

- Online service that provides Credit and Personal Account Services

Debit / Credit Card

Check /MoneyOrder or Cashier's Check

This form of payment has to be Mailed to the Dealer
May take over 10-days to clear

Wire Transfers

Visit this guide's Bank Wire Transfers page where you can learn a lot more about Wire Transfers; it includes a step by step guide to help you through the process of making one.

In addition, you can also visit Western Union's website to learn more about Bank Wires.

Bitcoin

Irreversible Transactions - Make sure to have the Correct Address, there’s no recourse if the money goes to the wrong address

Reminder: Financial Emails

If you receive an email from a Financial Institution that you use that includes links, it is not recommended to click the links emailed to you unless you've made recent (2-6 hr.) contact with your bank or financial institution.

Hackers create emails that look professional, in some cases using a bank or financial institution's logo. It is not recommended that you reply to these email links because hackers could obtain access to your financial information or account.

It is recommend that you bypassing any emailed links, and instead, Log directly into your financial account with the institution who the email is from, and check the issue with them directly.

Shipping & Packaging

Every Online Bullion Dealer has to offer shipping if they don't have a physical location.

Most online bullion dealers offer Free Shipping on orders over $199.

But don't expect this great service from all bullion dealers because some don't offer it at all.

In the end, who you order from depends mostly on who offers the best Customer Service and which dealer's services you like the most.

Here are a few standards that you should expect from every bullion dealer's shipping policies:

Shipment will be sent once full payment is received
Dealer Packaging Accountability - your order is packaged under video surveillance, and double checked to ensure you receive what your ordered
Package Tracking Number - so you can track your package

Insured Shipping totaling the full amount of your order
Delivery with Signature (not all dealers offer this for every order - there may be specific requirements that need to be achieved before this option of delivery is offered)
Email - Confirming the Shipment of your order, this email should include the tracking number - so you can know what day someone needs to be home to sign for the package.

Packaging - No matter what is the size of the order, all items should be well secured in the delivery package (box, envelope, etc.) with no movement of the items shipped. This is to ensure that the package will not be perforated.
Packaging - There should be NO external markings that provide any clue as to what is inside the delivery package (in many cases this will include the name of the return address.)

Lastly, there is no doubt that you've seen one of the logos below, there is also very little doubt that a reputable bullion dealer will use one, two or all of those package delivery companies.

It is when you see a delivery company's name that you don't recognize that you should 'Search' on the web as to who that shipper is and look into how good or bad their services are before you let them ship your order.

After the Purchase

Many bullion dealers will require signature

Buyer Be Aware

Copper Bullion Prices

Copper bullion is becoming more numerous on bullion dealer's websites, and many buyers see it as an easier way to buy bullion than to pay for some other more expensive precious metals.

This spot price reflects copper's price per pound (lb.), not per troy ounce.

Copper is considered to be more of an Industrial Metal than a precious metal.

Also, it is more abundant in the earth than other precious metals.

Copper is priced in the Avoirdupois (pronounced; a-vo-du-pwa) system of weight, and not in Troy Ounces like the other precious metals.

Copper Price per pound
Avoirdupois (lb.)

Bullion Dealers Who Do &
Who Don't Post Their Prices ($)

The majority of online bullion dealers post their prices, those that don't, do it for a few reasons:

Selling bullion online isn't their primary business

Gold IRA's

Gold IRA

The Bullion Dealer's prices are not Competitive

home delivery and doesn't post their prices online should have their motives questioned

For Complete Transparency every online Bullion Dealer that offers 'Home Delivery' should post their prices on their website

Investing Strategies

Have a 1st Orders Maximum

This section is for you if you've never ordered from a bullion dealer before in the past.

If you're new to this industry and if you're not sure of what you want or like, the best thing to do is to make a small purchase or several small purchases of different types of bullion from several different bullion dealers.

The reason why you would do this is to decide which bullion dealer's services you like the most.

How you set your maximum is entirely up to you, you may simply want to make it the equivalent of a few ounces of silver, or a good rule of thumb is to keep the amount under the equivalent of 10 ounces of silver or less.

In addition, keeping your personal maximum at this low number will show you how the dealer treats all their customers, in regards to how much they spend.

Everyone expects good service when they are handing over a lot of money, but dealers who recognize the value of every customer will understand that everyone should receive the best service no matter how much they spend.

Investing Strategies

Stay Ahead of the Herd

When you know what bullion dealer you want to buy from and what you want to buy, you may want to consider budgeting your investment dollars.

You may want to split your investment money; meaning don't put all your eggs in one basket, at one time.

Let's say, for instance; You want to buy some silver bullion.

And let's go back in time to late April of 2011, when the price of silver was getting near its top of $49.00.

Do you want to get in at that price? Or Do you want to see if the price will dip to a lower level?

You hear the pundits saying the price is going higher. But this is your money; it is up to you when you want to start buying; not them.

Continuing with the scenario, you want to get in the market, or you're already are in the market, and you want to accumulate more precious metals.

But, you look at the chart and the price has gone straight up over the last few weeks, and the charts are looking like the price should correct itself sometime in the near future.

So you only invest a half, a quarter or less of your money, or you stay out of the market completely and wait to see what the price will do.

Then you watch the markets and read the News on the homepage of the Free Bullion Investment Guide.

Depending on what the silver price does, you make your decision from there and either continue to hold, sell or buy.

Many investors can get caught up in the hype when a market is going through the roof. It's hard for any investor to decide when is the right time, or price, to buy and sell.

The lesson from the silver market of April 2011, is that if the price has moved more than 20% in a short period, there's a good chance a correction is around the corner.

Ultimately, it's your choice for when you get into any market, but you may not know your comfort zone.

You make the choices of how and why you are investing in the market and when is the right time to get in or out.

Budgeting your for an Investment is always the Wisest thing to do.

Investing Strategies

Buying Guides

Each buying guide offers you an in-depth discussion about each type of bullion.

At the bottom of each page, you'll find a list of reputable bullion dealers who offer that type of bullion along with links to their Better Business Bureau ratings and other customer review pages.