What is the Best Place to Buy Gold?
Buying gold is usually complicated – but it doesn’t have to be. By doing a bit of research beforehand, you can buy gold coins and bars from some of the most reputable dealers on the planet.
In the age of the internet, investors have quite a few options when it comes to the best place to buy gold. Buying gold online is a convenient way to get authentic gold products shipped right to your door. However, local retailers also have a lot to offer the average investor.
Today, we’re taking a look at the best place to buy gold. As you search for the next gold coin or bar to add to your collection, we hope this guide will help you make a more informed investment decision.
Without any further ado, let’s get into some of the best places to buy gold!
Best Places to Buy Gold
As you search for the best place to buy gold, you may be surprised at how many options you find. Online gold dealers are relatively common. Distributors like Hero Bullion are well-known for their competitive pricing, convenient shipping, and stellar customer service.
But online dealers aren’t your only option. Local gold dealers like pawn shops and coin stores can offer some shockingly good deals if you’re looking for cheap, plentiful gold bullion.
Before we get into our take on the best place to buy gold, let’s take a closer look at the differences between buying gold locally and online.
Buying Gold Locally Versus Online
Your main decision when it comes to buying gold is where to buy. Both local and online gold dealers offer advantages – and disadvantages that you should understand.
Why Buy Gold Online?
Gold investors prefer investing with online dealers for a couple of reasons. First, online dealers offer more variety than almost any traditional brick and mortar shop. This makes sense, if you think about it.
Because online dealers can source their bullion from all over the world, it’s easy for them to provide their customers with hundreds of products from different mints. Local dealers can offer variety too, but they’re limited by the amount of stock they can physically fit in a brick and mortar location.
Online dealers can also afford to offer better deals on gold coins or bars than most physical gold stores and pawn shops. The cost of running an online store can be cheaper than a brick and mortar operation. These savings are passed onto the consumer, making online dealers a great place to buy cheap gold.
Reasons to Buy Gold Locally
What’s the best place to buy gold? For some old-fashioned stackers, nothing beats the personal touch of buying gold locally. We don’t disagree. Buying gold bars and coins from a local shop allows investors to personally interact with their dealers, which can help foster trust.
But that isn’t the only reason investors love buying gold locally. Spending your money at a local coin shop can help you get more involved with your local gold investor scene.
Over time, making connections with gold dealers in your area can be a great way to score big on savings later on down the road. That isn’t to say it’s impossible to save money by buying online. Dealers like Hero Bullion frequently run promotions to help consumers cut down on premium costs while stacking the gold products they love.
Local shops might also contain some hidden gems that you won’t find at large online gold dealers. The best place to buy gold might very well be your local pawn shop – especially if you’re looking for a hard-to-find gold coin or bar.
Online dealers sometimes stock rare gold coins, but most internet gold sellers prefer to primarily carry the most popular gold coins and bars on the market. By contrast, your local pawn shop may have some of the rarer gold bullion products you’ve been searching for.
How to Find the Best Place to Buy Gold
So what’s the best place to buy gold for you? Both online and local gold dealers can be fantastic options if you’re looking to buy more gold bullion. If you’re torn between the two options, keep reading for a few tips on how to pick the best gold dealer for your purposes.
Comparing Gold Prices
Comparing gold prices is the most important thing you need to do before deciding on the best place to buy gold. No gold stacker wants to overpay on premiums for their gold bars and coins. Even if you manage to find an online gold dealer with reasonable premium fees, some sellers charge outrageous shipping fees that cut into your profits.
To help our readers better decide on the best place to buy gold for them, we’ve included a couple tips on how to cut down on costs while stacking the gold you love.
Total Investment Cost Explained
The total cost of a gold investment includes three things: melt value, premiums, and additional fees. Melt value is pretty easy to figure out. Every gold product contains actual gold bullion – or, at least, it should!
First, take the total weight in gold of your bar or coin and convert it to troy ounces. Once you have this figure, all you need to do is multiply it by the current spot price of gold. Bam – that’s your product’s melt value.
But the total cost of a gold product doesn’t stop at melt value. As you already know if you’re a veteran gold stacker, gold is never sold at spot price. Let’s take a closer look at the additional fees that help make up the total cost of a gold coin or bar.
Consider Premiums and Shipping Fees
The term “premium” refers to a small (or even large) additional fee added onto the top of a gold coin/bar’s melt value. Premiums are a non-negotiable part of investing in gold bullion. However, you can find the best place to buy gold cheap by comparing premium fees across multiple dealers.
Some dealers might offer low premiums but charge higher shipping fees to recoup a bit more profit on each sale. We recommend carefully checking both premium and shipping rates before buying a new gold product.
Local dealers are less likely to price gouge you on hidden fees. This peace of mind comes at a price, though. We recommend finding some way to check the authenticity of gold if you plan to buy from local dealers. We don’t see many pawn shops selling fake gold, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Whether you buy gold locally or online, you should take some time to familiarize yourself with the fees charged by your dealer. Doing so can save you quite a bit of money in the long run – especially if you plan to build a large gold stack!
Budget Investing: Best Place to Buy Gold For Cheap
What is the best place to buy gold? Online and local dealers are both great options, but cheap gold is easiest to find if you take advantage of the deals and discounts provided by online stores like Hero Bullion.
Consider Online Dealers
In the age of the internet, it’s never been easier to buy cheap gold. Instead of shopping around at hundreds of pawn shops to save a bit of money, consider buying gold online. Online dealers use their low business costs to offer better deals to their customers.
Hero Bullion is no exception. Since we work hard to establish strategic relationships with gold distributors all around the world, we’re able to offer some of the most competitive prices on the market for our gold coins and bars.
If you’re able to find a dealer with reasonable shipping fees and low premiums, online dealers may very well be the best place to buy gold.
Buy the Dip
For our seasoned investors looking to try their hand at the market, there’s no debate about it: online dealers are the best way to buy gold. With up-to-date gold price quotes, a simple checkout process, and reasonable shipping fees, dealers like Hero Bullion make it easy for investors to ‘buy the dip.’
For the uninitiated, buying the dip refers to purchasing gold while prices are momentarily low. If you’re quick, you may be able to stock up on several ounces of gold bullion coins and bars before prices shoot back up.
Of course, it is possible to do this using local gold dealers. But at the end of the day, it’s a lot easier to quickly add products to your cart than it is to drive to multiple pawn shops looking for cheap gold.
By the time you get to the right place to buy your gold locally, prices could very well shoot back up again!
Wait For Deals on Gold Bullion
Some gold dealers spend most of their time shopping around and waiting for promotional deals. Hero Bullion frequently offers any quantity pricing and substantial discounts on our most popular gold coins and bars – and we’re not alone, either!
Before jumping online to buy gold bullion, consider waiting until your favorite dealers offer discounts to help you save a little bit of extra money.
Should You Buy Gold Locally?
Local gold can also be one of the best ways to find affordable gold near you. While these brick and mortar stores usually don’t offer the same variety of inventory as online bullion dealers, you can find some hidden gems by checking multiple local gold dealers before making your next purchase.
Take Stock: What Local Gold Dealers Are Near You?
Local gold dealers can come in many forms. Most gold stackers like buying gold coins and bars from pawn shops and numismatic stores, so it’s important to take a look at how these two options differ.
Pawn shops are a classic way to stack gold. To some investors, the thrill of finding a hidden gem at a pawn shop outweighs the potentially heightened premiums you pay from these local operations.
It’s also important to remember that some pawn shops might offer better discounts on gold jewelry and other gold products than you’ll find at massive online stores.
Occasionally pawn shops may be highly motivated to quickly liquidate some of their gold products, including bars and coins. If you can catch these sales at the right time, pawn shops can potentially be the best place to buy gold.
But for the most part, your decision to buy gold online versus at a local shop should come down to two things: prices and authenticity.
Comparing Local to Online Prices
Your research into cheap gold prices doesn’t stop once you decide to buy locally. We always recommend checking the price of a given gold coin or bar against online quotes for the same piece.
While most pawn shop owners charge modest premiums and additional fees for their gold, some may try to get away with a higher markup over spot price. Because it’s possible to negotiate prices at some small pawn shops, always make sure to compare their listed fees with the current going rate for a given product online.
Pro Tip: Verify Local Gold Before You Buy
We also recommend finding some way to verify the authenticity of your gold coin or bar before buying from small local vendors. If you do business with a large local operation or a reputable individual dealer within the gold space, this might not be necessary.
But even respectable local shops can sometimes get tricked by counterfeit gold bars or coins if they fail to take proper precautions when purchasing their stock.
Don’t be fooled – always check your gold investments for authenticity and pure gold content before taking them home.
Final Thoughts: The Best Place to Buy Gold
To us, the best place to buy gold is always going to be online. Online dealers in the age of the world wide web have made it easier than ever to quickly compare prices, fill your cart, and wait for your beautiful gold bars and coins to arrive.
Still, local gold dealers aren’t just a thing of the past. If you’re willing to put the work in and do some research before buying, investing in gold locally can be a rewarding – and profitable – experience.
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About The Author
Michael Roets
Michael Roets is a writer and journalist for Hero Bullion. His work explores precious metals news, guides, and commentary.