I guess most of your answers depend on how much you’re planning on acquiring at one time. I usually order smaller quantities measured in ounces.

(1) any sellers you recommend using or any to stay away from?

I tend to stay away from those that advertise to the masses on TV. I’ve found their prices are not in line with the smaller houses. Metals are bought and sold on the spot price at the time you place the order. And spot changes depending on the house anywhere to every five minutes to instantly as the market changes. I trade more and more with these two. 1 http://www.gainesvillecoins.com/ and 2 https://www.providentmetals.com/.

(2) how did you receive the metals? Delivery? How was secure delivery made?

Again depends on the quantity. Since i usually deal in small amounts, never more that 1 once of Gold or the equivalent dollar amount in silver, my orders come registered mail, signature required. Never had an issue.

(3)anyone use a service that stores the metals for you? Suggestions on companies?

What is your plan for the metal, investment, SHTF stash, just to have around, a combination of the afore mentioned…………..If your going to actively deal much like stocks or commodities you want it in the possession of a firm that deals that way. You take possession of it then selling is much, much harder. It has to be assayed for purity and weight before they will quote you a price. In the firms hands the sale is usually instantaneous.

I take possession knowing full well that should I ever want to sell it there will be a lag on the offered price. I either mail it off or drag it to a metal dealer here locally. So kind of a SHTF and hedge fund thing I have going. And I’m a bit distrustful, how do I know that they really have the metal there in their vault and not just some certificate of ownership with my hard stuff scattered all over the known universe. Nope, in my safe is good.

(4) did you buy coins? Bars? Other?

Coins or some form that can easily be subdivided should the need arise. Gold and Silver Eagles mostly. Gold in 1/4 oz and 1 oz. have several 100 gram silver sheets that are subdivided and can be broken up into 1 gram squares.

(5) anywhere that is reputable to buy gold over the counter in Las Vegas or Phoenix?

Sorry no help, never looked while in LV.

Hope I’ve answered your questions.

Thanks Stephen for taking the time to post. Great info and I will check out the two companies you mentioned. So far just gathering info to see what will work best for me. More likely to stash than to actively trade. Want to diversify a little more. I tend to be a skeptic myself so I understand where you are coming from on that. One of my problems is that I am not currently living in the USA so I need to take that into consideration as well so the vault may be the right move in the short run. Again, thanks for the answers. It gives me some more food for thought as I try to sort things out.

There are several firms that will buy and store the bullion for you. They claim fast possession should you want to touch it and most have several locations. One I found with just a cursory search is JM Bullion https://www.jmbullion.com/storage/ . The only drawback with these guys is they want you to buy anything you store thru them. Precludes shopping for price and I would imagine they want you to acquire quite a load to avail yourself of their service, besides its not free which adds to the overall cost of your metal over time.

Thanks again!

Just a side note. While searching for places to buy metals I found quite a few in Arizona so no problem there. When I looked for places in LV I couldn’t find any in the whole state of Nevada. Now my curiosity has kicked in! Has me wondering if it is a Nevada law or? And if so, why? I will try to research it and if I come up with anything I will post it. Anyone have any ideas?

Sorry, my bad! I just found some in LV. 😳

I have bought and sold a lot of silver and some gold. I get the best prices using EBay, which I have used for 10 years. The buyer’s protection is excellent. All shipments have tracking, and if the shipper (USPS, UPS, or FEDEX) does not report successful delivery, your payment is refunded in full. And, if what I receive is not what I wanted or expected, I file a return and ship it back, again with tracking. Once tracking shows it returned, I am given a full refund. Buy only from sellers that have a 99% or 100% seller rating.

When I sell on EBay, I give a 60 day money back guarantee, and ship with USPS. I use PayPal, so I get tracking for free. I have never had a package lost in the mail. If someone wants to return a package, which happens 1 out a 100 sales, no problem; I give an immediate refund once I receive the item, no questions asked.

The most expensive item I bought on EBay was a $12,000 dollar silver quarter from 1858, and was graded by NGC. I have never totaled my purchases and sales, but it’s six figures.

If you want to buy on EBay, there is no learning curve, and it is very secure if you use PayPal. Don’t send the seller checks, money orders, cash or wire, no matter how good the deal. Selling, however, takes time to know how to do it well.

To verify, go to your local dealer and get a price with tax for what you want to buy. Then go to EBay and get a price with shipping for the same items. My experience has been, for modern silver and gold, dealers add 10% or higher to the current market value per ounce plus sales tax. On EBay I pay no more than market value with shipping. The exceptions are US Mint silver or gold Eagles. Those cost 10% plus market value.

When you sell, most dealers want to give you 70% of the market value; my EBay sales are at or close to market value, graded and ungraded.

Let us know what you find out.

Very interesting! Thanks Preacher. Good to know. Right now I probably won’t use eBay since I’m not in the USA but if I hold some metals for a few years then selling on eBay sounds like a good thing to know about. Lots of valuable information to remember for later use. Thanks again!

I buy from a local coin dealer. He was very upfront about his premiums and how much he is looking to make per ounce ($23). His advice was to stay away from fractionals, too many hidden costs (multiple strikes, etc). Since an ounce of gold is a lot to move at once if SHTF, I’ve been loading up of 20 Franc (Swiss or French) sovereigns. They contain .1867 oz with a $15 premium. My preference for ounces is Maple Leafs for the purity. If you can purchase imperfect or impaired you can save some on the commission.

The plus side of using a local dealer is cash transactions with no digital paper trail.

Since my motivation is in case SHTF, a home safe or a safety deposit box suits my storage need.