Sound Off! thread, got something on your mind re dealers, give 'er to me

[Scorpio]

guys,

I closed another thread re Apmex,

Please use this thread to get something off your chest re any dealer or snags you may have run into,

I will reiterate a couple of comments I made in that thread,

-without dealers such as Apmex catering to small buyers, the market used to be flush with those catering only to large denomination purchasers/sellers.

-Apmex captured a wave by adding ccard purchase capabilities to their site, which agree or disagree has been a positive for the smaller players.

-Local dealers here are paying $100 LESS THAN SPOT, for Kruggerands, whereas at CNI, I can get better than spot.

-Local dealers here are paying about spot for silver purchases

-There are a lot of good quality internet capable dealers out there, and that is a good thing for all of us.

Please use this thread as you need to .........

[Scorpio]

here is Apmex on a gold eagle:

1 oz Gold American Eagle - Random Year

As low as $72.99 per coin over spot!
This coin comes in Brilliant Uncirculated condition. Dates are of our choice, a... view more

Availability: Now
APMEX Buy Price - $1,540.30
Hot Item
Volume Pricing:
Qty Check or Wire Credit Card
1 - 19 $1,586.29 $1,633.88
20 - 99 $1,581.29 $1,628.73
100 or more $1,576.29 $1,623.58

here is CNI:

THE MOST POPULAR GOLD BULLION
Free Shipping - $2000 Minimum - Premium Quality

Our Buy Price Our Sell Price

United States Flag United States Bullion & Rare Coins
US Gold Eagle US Gold Eagle Bullion 1 oz. $1520.00 $1564.00

NOTE: CNI higher minimums, but free shipping, while Apmex has a better buy price and no minimums

both of them are better than my local dealer here

[<===Foolsgold]

I love APMEX .

I want to have APMEX's baby.

I am a Platinum Member !

I want my ATB's and my Popcorn!

p.s. I only paid $10 delivery for my ATB's, I don't know if this apply to all my future purchases. Maybe I will call customer service and inquire.

[phideaux]

Hey it could be worse, Goldline could be the sponsor of GIM2.

[Scorpio]

from provident:

1 oz US American Gold Eagle Coin | Random Year
1 oz US American Gold Eagle Coin | Random Year
$1,567.50 As low as: $1,563.50

Shipping rates are as follows:
Order Sub-Total Shipping Rate
$0-$99.99 $5.95
$100-$499.99 $8.95
$500-$1,999.99 $11.95
$2,000-$4,999.99 $16.95
$5,000 + $24.95

there is no 1529 figure as quoted,

250 minimum transaction is for smaller purchases, so it isn't pointless,


$1,567.50 is not 58 over spot as claimed

[<===Foolsgold]

I just spoke with APMEX customer service as a Platinum Member I am charged $10 delivery on orders under 10K and shipping is *free* on orders over 10K.
Be a loyal customer and you will be rewarded.

[Scorpio]

hey up Fools!

how's the coffee this am??????

[phideaux]

Fools, can you speak up a little louder? I don't think we heard you.

[<===Foolsgold]

Fools, can you speak up a little louder? I don't think we heard you.

When i went to increase the size the only option it gave me was the largest (7).

I toned it down manually. I still think it's worth mentioning because it's not well advertised by APMEX.

[Scorpio]

I didn't put in the as low as pricing on my stuff,

or volume discounts,

as for the 250 minimum, you threw that in there re gold, but it is worthwhile to mention, as to me that is a low minimum order

so it is material, and not something to just throw away,

sure it is for gold, but if you are buying silver, that helps someone out

and as for the % fees,

Colorado Gold with Don has a helluva lot better fee schedule

[phideaux]

When i went to increase the size the only option it gave me was the largest (7).

I toned it down manually. I still think it's worth mentioning because it's not well advertised by APMEX.

I was just giving you da biznez.

If you go to Advanced Edit, you should see font sizes 1 through 7.

[Okay]

The prices on Provident's Sell to Us page may differ from their actual quotes. I sold some 100oz silver bars to Provident a few days ago. The webpage says that they will buy 100ozers for spot -$0.20. However, when I called, I was quoted and received spot +$0.50 for my bars. Quite a difference.

[Scorpio]

great point Okay,

with the markets and availability changing all the time,

there is no question that a good gim'er will be able to source it out and haggle some to get the best price available,

S

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[Scorpio]

Rusty,

you really that slow?

the post clearly shows the prices 1-19, 19-99, and so on. I had no hangup on the as low as,

you are the one that needs to read before flipping off about stuff,

as for the 250, to some, that is a important point, and yet you want to throw it out as doesn't matter. Sure it doesn't on a gold eagle, but on other deals it may.

I could go on, but I tire of taking everything to first grade for you

you are arguing about nothing, which is so typical of many that want to slam apmex,

or maybe you missed the part where I was talking about a local dealer paying $100 LESS THAN SPOT, for a kruggerand...........

[curmudgeonista]

Once upon a time you could buy gold and silver at many banks or at travel desks like Thomas Cook. Premiums were usually fairly low, and often quoted as a percentage. Easy to walk in with cash and walk out with metal 5-minutes later. That disappeared some time ago... like early 80's for the banks and early 90's for TC.

For a while it got tough to find bullion locally around here and the Internet was still taking baby steps. There were a few jewelers who sold GAE's, coins shops for 90% and pre-33 (and occasionally bullion) and mail order if you looked in coin magazines to find them.

Pawn shops were always there, but it was often hit and miss whether you'd fine any bullion... still is with most. Some pawn brokers and coin shops caught on though, stocking bullion instead of just relying on customers to bring in inventory. Premiums were generally still pretty high.

When I finally did discover reputable online dealers it was a revelation, with instant pricing and consistently reasonable deals. They stole a lot of business away from locals.

But, the backlash I've noticed just recently is that many of my local sources are keeping their premiums down now... often to the point that they're cheaper than buying online, especially considering shipping costs and the hassle factor of making payment without getting dinged for using a credit card.

Competition is good for the consumer!

What my locals don't do, or can't do, is be competitive on the buy-back prices like the big online's can. They also don't usually have the selection that major online dealers carry.

Volume is good for the consumer!

It's great to have options, and it's great to have minute-by-minute info at your fingertips. This is most certainly a golden age for PM's (NPI), as regards both a great bull market with tons of info readily available and perhaps the most accessible and diverse selection of merchandise and sources ever!

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[Rusty Shackelford]

You win. All I was doing was posting the same information you did from a different dealer when you jumped on the fact that at low quantities it was not $58 as claimed, which is the exact same thing APMEX does, but when I point it out I am a first grader??

I told myself a month ago tht I was not going to get involved in anymore thread discussion that you were part of. Wish I had listened to my gut.

[skyvike]

If I could put on my Ari Fleischer hat for a moment...

What the President (Scorpio) MEANT to say was: (OK, just skyvike's opinion)...

Why the fascination and fixation on APMEX? Macy's prices on lots of items are higher than JC Penney or Sears and Penney's and Sears are higher on some items than Walmart.

Most people don't make a career of beating up on Macy's pricing/marketing strategy. They just go to Sears or Penney's or Walmart to buy what they want.

Any person (which is to say individual, company, corporation, etc.) is free to offer for sale whatever they have at whatever terms they want. We may not agree with their methods and may not buy from them but still it is THEIR RIGHT to run their own railroad.

To me, a legitimate beef is, "They sent the wrong item" or "they quoted one price, charged my card another, and refused to fix it" or anything that indicates they didn't live up to the AGREEMENT made between buyer and seller.

The mature reaction to being offered a deal that you deem unacceptable is to not accept it. I wouldn't even object to someone remarking ONCE "I didn't buy from APMEX because I found a better deal somewhere else." but this continual harping and complaining about the BUSINESS MODEL is really bordering on an attack and is just plain rude to a company obviously supporting our forum.

Now, before the "Censorship Quartet" starts warming up, let me reiterate that a legitimate beef with APMEX, or any other business, is fine to discuss on GIM (but one hopes an attempt would be made to rectify it before airing the laundry) but continuous and repeated complaining and gnashing of teeth about the same thing over an over again, or a complaint not involving the dealer honoring the agreement made with the buyer, is out of line and smacks of a "personal" attack.

If I may suggest, let's keep our discussions of bullion dealers focused on actual incidents rather than what amounts to a disagreement on business philosophy.

Be careful out there.

;-)

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[Scorpio]

In all fairness, isn't one of the most popular recommendations that you foster a relationship with a local dealer?

absolutely KG, that is why I was so disgusted with it,

whereas the post by curmudgeonista nails it, the new paradigm

the points by all in this thread, and yes you also Rusty, are very valid,

That one has to take into account all things to get a true cost FOB your location.

-how much per unit in the quantity you desire
-how much is the shipping all inclusive, no games
-equal payment arrangements when comparing to get apples to apples, ie ccard at one should = ccard at another

once you flesh out the equivalent pricing, then you can drill down to who you trust the most when your dough is on the line, and the length of delivery or cash in your hand dependent on the transaction in or out.

Lastly, does your local dealer keep records? As there will be a long list of records with any online transactions.

So, after all costs, including the records side = taxes on gains, which is better for you?

S

Rusty, sorry to ruffle your feathers, but now you are deleting the evidence for other members to make up their own minds. Re your comment, IMO you were not comparing apples to apples, and if I read too much into that, my bad. As for not wanting to play in a sandbox I am in, I get it, as we always end up here, just rub each other the wrong way. I did tell people to come at me, and that is no issue, but I will defend a position, and if I am wrong, people here are smart enough to kick my a$$ over it. Peace. S

[Scorpio]

Personally, I'm surprised all this stuff isn't in the dealer rating thread instead of new threads out here.

exactly right KG, that was the purpose of starting this thread and putting an end to the never ending single threads on the same subject.

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[Hasenfuss]

exactly right KG, that was the purpose of starting this thread and putting an end to the never ending single threads on the same subject.

Free speech forum right?

[Scorpio]

not the point now is it Hasen??????

but that is not your point also, as expected, hook line and sinker

S

[NotTheOne]

Why the fascination and fixation on APMEX?

I think it's sour grapes from the handling of the ATB's and the resulting lottery. jmho

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[GOLDZILLA]

I think some guys are just ripping them because of disagreement with the whole advertising thing, and maybe others figure that since they are sponsoring the site they might get a discount or some freebies directed their way by complaining.

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[GOLDZILLA]

While I wouldn't say no to any discounts, the ATB issue left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm on a 12 step program to stop bitching about it. I haven't quite reached step 1.

I haven't really kept up with that, but it did seem to be a valid issue. However if you had bought them, would you want the dealer to give people your name and address when asked "what did you do with them"?

[Strawboss]

Free speech forum right?

Its been an hour and 2 minutes and Hasnfess hasnt been banned yet? Mods must be at dinner or something.

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[Goldhedge]

Its been an hour and 2 minutes and Hasnfess hasnt been banned yet? Mods must be at dinner or something.

Not at all, we're counting the minutes...

[GOLDZILLA]

??? Not sure what you're getting at here. I did end up buying two sets (one for me and one for my son) from MTB and A-Mark. I have not flipped anything either.

From my understanding the complaints were mainly that they got a bunch of them and refused to say what happened to them- like maybe they were hoarding them or sitting on them for the price to go up. I could be wrong. Like I said, I didn't keep up on this.

[budfox]

Kmart Sucks..

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[Book]

guys,

I closed another thread re Apmex,

Please use this thread to get something off your chest re any dealer or snags you may have run into

[samwiii]

Provident just lowered their buy price pretty significantly, although it's still loads better than the 90% of spot my local dealers offer.

[skyvike]

Hasenfus suspended for 10 days because of the extremely vulgar personal attack directed toward Scorpio.

Let's keep it civil.

[curmudgeonista]

Provident just lowered their buy price pretty significantly, although it's still loads better than the 90% of spot my local dealers offer.

Dagnabbit! Had the phone in hand to arrange a trade today and then decided to wait and see what tomorrow looks like instead. Shoot!

Can hardly blame them though. The trade I had in mind would have come out in my favor... below current spot GSR.

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[samwiii]

Sorry; should have specified the reduction was for Silver Eagles, Maples, 90% Coins and the like. Doesn't appear that gold has changed, but I don't follow it so not certain.

[KGMe]

EDITED: Removing source material that has not been approved by the GIM2 staff as concession to our advertisers.

[HoldingAg]

I just spoke with APMEX customer service as a Platinum Member I am charged $10 delivery on orders under 10K and shipping is *free* on orders over 10K.
Be a loyal customer and you will be rewarded.

Hey Foolsgold,

How do I become a platinum member. I just started buying from apmex, 3 -$250 orders, and most recently a $2200 order. You probably have to buy a couple of big beautiful monster boxes of saes or maples or something. haha.

Thanks,
HoldingAg

[gringott]

I got started with online buying with Monarch and then quickly followed by APMEX. I started small and APMEX met my needs, honest, no delivery problems, took CC. I shortly matured in my knowledge of the market and products. Some members on this forum clued me in to Provident, since then I have made almost every single purchase there. However, I have checked every purchase against APMEX first - the difference was considerable. Then the ATB fiasco, followed by the remaining sets 'lottery'. It may make platinum members happy, but it sure alienated me. At Christmas time I did purchase a considerable amount of specialty 'gift' coins from APMEX as Provident did not have the selection, but after this ATB thing I would rather pay more somewhere else than at APMEX.
Let the Platinum Members keep them in business, I'll help someone who appreciates my business more. I unsubscribed from their emails and told them to close my account. I'm not interested in even deleting their special buy emails. Gold has hit a record high! Buy some more! Hahahhahah.

I want to qualify this post by saying at no time did APMEX ever do anything wrong to me, violate a contract, deceive me in any way or be anything but an honest firm in my dealings. Perhaps it is sour grapes on my part about the ATBs. I wasn't upset with them before that, I just moved my purchases elsewhere due to equal or better service and lower prices. If APMEX meets your needs, go for it.

[<===Foolsgold]

Hey Foolsgold,

How do I become a platinum member. I just started buying from apmex, 3 -$250 orders, and most recently a $2200 order. You probably have to buy a couple of big beautiful monster boxes of saes or maples or something. haha.

Thanks,
HoldingAg

I think it kicks in after the first 100 million.

[NotTheOne]

edited: too late to this party.