There are a lot of places where you can buy and sell gold bullion. Popular options include eBay, brick and mortar gold shops, and online bullion dealers. Other options such as online classifieds, “gold parties,” and hotel gold buyers are also available, but you should be wary of careful taking these avenues or even avoid them altogether.
Global Bullion Suppliers is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, where you can find our storefront at 14 Prince Arthur Ave. in the Yorkville area. You can also buy gold and silver online from our website, and we’re an active seller on eBay where we go by the username GlobalBullion.
What to Avoid When You’re Buying Gold
Alternatives such as online classifieds and gold parties are unregulated, unprotected, and designed to offer lower prices when you’re selling. For example, a common practice by gold party companies is to underpay for jewellery, even going so far as to base the price they’re willing to pay for all jewellery based on the lowest karat item.
One quick and easy way to see if you should trust a gold buyer is to check to see if they publish up-to-date prices for bullion, so you can easily look up the current gold price. At Global Bullion, we treat every transaction as its own. Give us a call at 1 800 427 4045 or visit our storefront location in Toronto to get a live quote based on the current prices of gold and silver. The offer will vary based on the quality of the item and the quantity you intend to sell.
What to Look for in a Bullion Dealer?
When you’re looking for Canadian bullion suppliers, some of the qualities you want to find include:
- Reputation: Before you buy online, look into the dealer’s reputation, such as with third parties like Google, Yelp, and Trustpilot reviews. You can also look for affiliations with a national mint. Global Bullion Suppliers is a Royal Canadian Mint-authorized DNA bullion dealer.
- Live Gold Prices: The price you pay should be based on the live spot price of gold. While you should expect to pay a premium on any bullion product, they should always be based on the current spot price.
- Great Prices: Compare prices whether you’re buying or selling. It makes a lot of sense to get quotes if you’re cashing in your investment and to compare purchase prices. We can provide better prices thanks to our origins as a refiner and wholesaler. With a high volume of transactions we’ve been able to skip the middle men and transfer wholesale prices to our customers.
- We also offer price matching, so if you can show us a live quote from another reputable company with the spot price of gold/silver, we guarantee to at least match it, and we can usually beat it!
Book your FREE Bullion Consultation Today
What Kind of Gold Should you Buy?
One of the first things you should learn about gold is the different types you can buy, and which ones make better investments. Since you can buy coins, rounds, bars, jewellery, and other products, it helps to know which investment vehicles are best at protecting your wealth and appreciating in value.
The first term you want to learn is bullion. Bullion simply refers to metal sold by weight. The standard trading unit for gold bullion is one fine troy ounce (the same for silver), and this unit is irrespective of the purity of the product. For example, an American Gold Eagle is only 91.67% pure, but still contains 1 troy ounce of fine gold in addition to other metals.
The next question to ask is: what is fine gold? Fineness can also refer to the purity and may be represented several ways:
- As a percentage, i.e., 99.9%
- As a decimal, i.e., .999
- As parts per thousand, i.e., 999
All of these refer to the same purity, and it is a more accurate measurement than karats. The minimum accepted fineness in the global trade is 995 gold, though most investors prefer 999 or 9999 (99.99%) purity. The difference simply comes down to the refining process. Today, the difference between refining to 995 and 9999 is negligible for most primary refiners.
There are a few exceptions to the 995-purity minimum. US Golden Eagles and South African Krugerrands are widely accepted in the international gold trade despite their 9167 purity.
LBMA Gold and Good Delivery
When you want quality gold trusted around the world, you need products that meet the LBMA’s high standards for purity, quality, and physical appearance, as well as responsible sourcing. The LBMA is the London Bullion Market Association, which sets stringent criteria for precious metals refiners. They do this through the London Good Delivery List, a list of recognized refiners.
If you’re buying gold bars, make sure you check the LBMA’s Good Delivery List. It includes refiners like Pamp Suisse, the Royal Canadian Mint, Valcambi S.A., and others.
Look no further than Global Bullion Suppliers for the cheapest 100% LBMA certified gold in Canada.
Beyond 1 Oz. Gold Coins
Although 1 oz. gold coins and bars are the most commonly bought and sold types of the metal, there are other weights that might fit your investment goals better. Refiners like Pamp Suisse and Valcambi sell gram gold, for example, from sheets of 1 gram pieces to 1 kilogram bars of 9999 gold.
For investors working with a smaller budget, fractional coins can make bullion more accessible, such as 1/10, ¼, and ½ oz. options.
Selling Your Gold
If it’s important to find a reliable dealer when you’re buying bullion, it may be even more important when you’re selling gold. When you’re selling premium coins and bars, you should expect to get a fair price that is close to spot prices. Typically, prices climb higher to spot in larger volumes, but even for smaller transactions you should expect a fair price in order to make the most of your investment.
Bullion is first and foremost an investment vehicle, and when you invest, your goal is to maximize your returns. You can’t take chances when you decide to sell bullion.
Investing in gold should be a secure and safe way to protect your portfolio. Not only can it provide an alternative to stock markets when you’re overexposed, it should also be safe to buy.
Book your FREE Bullion Consultation Today