The Best Sites to Buy Gold

Friday, March 24th

2023 Sites to Buy Gold Reviews

Golden Eagle Coins

• BBB Rating: A+

Golden Eagle Coins has been around since 1974 and is family owned and operated. Since its inception, the company has sailed through 6 recessions, 3 wars, 12 U.S. presidents, and 3 stock market crashes. In this time, the price of gold rose over 700%, proving the stability of both Golden Eagle Coins as well as the gold industry.

Current gold performance

The web browsing experience at Golden Eagle Coins is very straightforward. There aren't many bells and whistles, just product categories and listings along with prices. Similar to other gold buying websites, a quick market summary of how different metals are performing that day is shown on the side of the screen to help you with your decision making. For help along the way, you can contact their customer service team by email or a quick phone call.

Gold, silver, platinum, and more

Golden Eagle Coins' bullion options include gold coins, gold bars, silver coins, silver bars, platinum, palladium, rhodium, and copper. They have over 10 types of U.S. coins and a category of other coins such as world gold coins, low mintage coins, foreign coins, ancient coins, and more. Within each category are sub-categories and some sub-sub-categories to narrow down your search further. Needless to say, there are plenty of gold buying options here. Golden Eagle Coins has one of the biggest inventories of precious metals we have seen.

Wide variety of gold products

Prices at Golden Eagle Coins are comparable to their competitors. Whether you're wanting to spend just a couple hundred dollars on unique coinage, or spend thousands of dollars on a precious metals investment, there are options for you here. Golden Eagle Coins really caters to a diverse range of customers with a variety of interests.

Free shipping, immediate tracking

Shipping is free for orders over $99. By using Golden Eagle Coins' order status feature, you can quickly enter your order number and get immediate tracking on where your shipment is in the delivery process.

Excellent customer reviews

Thousands of customers have written feedback about their purchases with Golden Eagle Coins. Almost every single person had excellent things to say about their experience here. It is obvious to us that this is a widely-used retailer for purchasing gold and other precious metals. They have been around a very long time, so their well-established roots and good reputation are great for those looking to invest the big bucks. We give our highest recommendation to Golden Eagle Coins for buying gold.

BGASC

• BBB Rating: A+

BGASC stands for "Buy Gold and Silver Coins". In addition to selling gold and silver coins, they also have options in platinum and copper. Their goal is to "be in stock, ship fast, offer fair & reasonable prices, and to operate honestly and efficiently." They have been recognized as one of the fastest, largest, and most reputable online precious metals suppliers in the U.S.

Coins from all over the world

To browse the inventory at BGASC, the categories to select from include gold, silver, more coins, and supplies. Coins from all over the world can be found within these categories. They come in different themes like animals, baseball, Egyptian, pirate coins, hobo nickels, and more. U.S. mint coins come in silver dollars, half dollars, quarters, dimes, and commemorative. They even sell holders, capsules, bags, and boxes for storing your coins.

Buy gold - or sell gold

In addition to purchasing gold, BGASC also has a section of their website for individuals to visit if they are looking to sell their precious metal coins and make some money that way. It's as simple as taking inventory of what you have and making a call to customer service to lock in your sale price. You'll then ship your coins to BGASC and then receive payment via check or bank wire.

Bulk pricing discounts

Pricing at BGASC fluctuates based on the current market prices per spot when you make your purchase. On items that are available in larger quantities, they often offer bulk discounts. If customers pay by bank wire, the transactional cost that BGASC has to pay is lower, therefore customers get a better price this way. For orders of less than $5,000, a $7.95 fee will be charged for shipping. Otherwise, the cost will be free. Orders usually ship within the next business day to all states, except for Minnesota where orders cannot be shipped at all.

Thousands of positive reviews

Across the board, customers have mostly positive things to say about their experience at BGASC. They receive an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau in addition to thousands of positive customer ratings on third-party sites. This makes us confident in recommending their online store. We highly recommend checking out their inventory next time you are in the market to buy gold or silver coins.

Money Metals Exchange

• BBB Rating: A+

Money Metals Exchange does not only consider themselves a precious metals investment company, but also a news service. They were founded in 2010 by Stefan Gleason. He has appeared on national network shows such as the O'Reilly Factor, Special Report with Brit Hume, CNN, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, and more. His commentaries on exchanging precious metals have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Detroit News, Washington Times, the National Review, and thousands of other publications. Sounds like a guy who knows his stuff.

Plenty of inventory

There are over 17 sub-categories of gold products for sale at Money Metals Exchange. We were happy to see that there was plenty of inventory in-stock for all the different types of gold listed. Anything out of stock is clearly marked and the option to set in-stock alerts lets customers make sure they are able to always get what they are looking for here.

Refunds possible

There is a possibility for refunds if customers find their orders unsatisfactory. Within 3 days after receipt of shipment, customers can contact Money Metals Exchange. The decision to refund or replace items will be at the sole discretion of Money Metals Exchange, but if they do choose to issue a refund, there will be a 5% restocking fee if purchases were made with a credit card.

Learning opportunity

If you're really serious about buying gold and tracking the market prices, you'll find a wealth of information at Money Metals Exchange. Aside from the categories for making purchases, a News/Resources and IRA's/Programs category offer hours worth of information. There is a podcast, education center, infographics, cryptocurrency pricing, scholarships, loan programs, and so much more. You can learn a lot about buying gold and other precious metals here if you want to dive into the nitty gritty of the market.

Dealer of the Year

Money Metals Exchange holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau with over 60 high customer ratings. On top of this positive feedback, they have won precious metals "Dealer of the Year" by the industry ratings group Bullion Directory. We really appreciate the level of information that is here for those looking to be more educated on precious metals purchases. Their range of gold inventory is also impressive, earning them one of our highest ratings among stores with gold for sale.

Silver Gold Bull

• BBB Rating: A+

Silver Gold Bull was founded in 2009. They were created as a way for investors to purchase precious metals in an innovative way. They promise that when you make purchases with them, you are buying at a live market rate (updated minute-by-minute), meaning you'll always get the best deals. All products undergo chain of custody logistics and careful audits to ensure their authenticity. In addition to making purchases from Silver Gold Bull, clients can also receive quotes to sell their bullion for cash.

Buying is easy

There are over 120 pieces of gold that customers can buy from Silver Gold Bull. The purchase process is simple - each piece is listed with its cost, and you can choose to do a wire transfer or use PayPal. You can even add your chosen items to a "wish list" for later purchasing.

16 gold product categories

The complete list of gold categories includes:

• Gold Bars
• Canadian Gold Coins
• American Gold Eagles
• American Gold Buffaloes
• Australian Gold Coins
• Chinese Gold Pandas
• British Gold Coins
• Austrian Gold Coins
• Pre-1933 US Gold Coins
• European Sovereign and Gold Coins
• Rare and Vintage Gold
• Gold Rounds
• Gold Bullion Jewelry
• Gold Collectibles
• IRA Eligible Gold
• Gram Gold

Other metals and collectibles

Other precious metals for sale at Silver Gold Bull are silver, gold, and platinum. There are collectibles that come in these metals that include RCM collectibles, Perth Mint collectibles, Superheroes Coin Collection, Looney Tunes Collection, New Zealand Mint Collectibles, and Certified Coins. You can also find necklaces and bracelets for sale as well here.

Store your purchases

When you purchase precious metals from Silver Gold Bull, you can either receive them directly or have them transported for storage at one of their secure facilities for free. The storage locations are in Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver, Canada as well as Salt Lake City and Singapore. To get rates on the cost of keeping your valuables in storage, you'll need to either call customer support or fill out an online form provided on their website.

3-day returns

Silver Gold Bull strives to keep their customers satisfied 100% of the time. If a customer is not happy with their order, they have 3 business days after delivery to get a return shipping quote. Be aware of a potential market loss, however. You'll receive a return label to send the item(s) back for a store credit, refund, or exchange.

Trustworthy and reputable

Customers have excellent things to say about their experiences with Silver Gold Bull. Most report that they are both trustworthy and reputable. Silver Gold Bull boasts that they have over 75,000 satisfied customers, so this is definitely a well-established organization. We like how many categories of gold there are to choose from and the current market updates Silver Gold Bull provides customers. Give them a try if you're searching for a good place to buy gold.

GMR Gold

• BBB Rating: No Rating

GMR Gold is headquartered in Woodlands, Texas. They are a member of the NGC Collectors Society, PMG, NCS, ICTA, PCGS, NGC, CCE, and American Numismatic Association. On their website, users are able to buy, sell, and trade precious metals. Each item is carefully inspected for purity, weight, and condition. The Better Business Bureau has not given them a rating, but they have customers who have good things to say about their buying and selling experiences with GMR Gold.

Choose your gold buying level

GMR Gold tries to educate their online visitors on what coins to buy by first having you choose if you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced buyer. Clients are then taken to a sales page with product options that are considered their most popular. An explanation of each metal along with prices are shown with options to add them to your cart.

Looking under the covers

Something we noticed is that customers can sort gold by price ranging from $110 - $57,900+. The quantity of items available within each price range are shown and there aren't very many. In total, at the time of this review, there were 35 gold pieces for sale. Although there are categories for coins like Mexican Mint, Valcambi Mint, New Zealand Mint, South African Mint, Austrian Mint, and more, none of them were actually in stock. It initially appears that GMR Gold has a huge selection of different types of coins, but they don't seem to actually carry as much as we had hoped.

Free shipping available

For orders over $75, customers will qualify for free shipping. If you're really trying to stock up on gold or other precious metals for investment purposes, you'll easily spend that much or more. Some single gold coins are almost $1,000 alone. Along the bottom of your screen on the GMR Gold website, the current stock prices of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are shown, so you can see if they have gone up or down in value that day. This will help customers know when the best time to make precious metal purchases is.

Great customer service

A contact form, phone number, and physical address are provided for customer service. One of the most common comments from customers about GMR Gold is how great their customer service team is. They help customers make sure they get exactly what they are hoping to buy, lock in prices, and keep track of delivery dates. When buying gold, a professional customer service team is one of the best things you can ask for. We really appreciate their transparency with customers and commitment to quality. We wish they had a bigger inventory, but otherwise we are overall pleased with the services from GMR Gold.

Gold Broker

• BBB Rating: A+

Gold Broker was started by Fabrice Drouin Ristori, who began investing in precious metals in 2008 and decided to open up his own company for gold investments in 2011. The philosophy of the company is to offer an investment strategy that helps clients return to having tangible assets. Rather than just having virtual ownership, Gold Broker wants to reduce the risk of virtual financial systems by creating a "gold ownership service" that removes exposure to intermediate risks.

99.5% purity

Gold Broker guarantees that the precious metals purchased here have a purity of at least 99.5%. Precious metals you buy here are stored in a vault in either New York, Toronto, Zurich, or Singapore. Each purchase comes with insurance, full-name ownership, and direct access to the vault. You can pick up your gold in-person if needed or have it delivered to you through an insured shipping service.

Domestic orders include free shipping

Gold Broker has one of the slimmest selections of gold we have seen. With a total of 13 types of gold in the form of either bars or coins ranging from $1,800 - $57,000, you'll be buying fairly big here. All domestic orders qualify for free shipping, so you won't have to pay anything if you want your gold delivered to you to store yourself. Storage fees for Gold Broker's vaults are always an additional cost to consider and this depends on the amount of gold and other precious metals you own in the vault. A fee chart can be viewed, but most range from 1% - 1.5%.

Good for 1st time buyers

There aren't as many customer reviews about Gold Broker as some of their competitors, but we like that they receive an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Of the few customers we have seen feedback from, many of them said that Gold Broker is a good place to purchase from if you're a first-time buyer. Their customer service team is professional and stays with customers every step of the way to ensure they know exactly what they are buying. Words like "flawless", "trustworthy", "smooth", and "professional" have been used to describe the process of buying gold at Gold Broker.

Best for large dollar purchases

If you're looking to buy a few coins here and there for a few hundred dollars, you won't find that at Gold Broker. You'll be spending tens of thousands of dollars if you decide to purchase and store your gold in one of their vaults. However, if you are serious about investing with gold, then we recommend looking into Gold Broker. They don't have a huge selection of unique coins or bars from other countries, so you'll be going for quality and value here more than anything else. We like the loyalty we see from their customers and see it as a sign of trustworthiness.

Golden State Mint

• BBB Rating: A+

Located in Central Florida, Golden State Mint has been in the precious metals business for over 45 years. They are a family run operation. They boast that they have the shortest lead times in the industry and always meet or beat their guaranteed delivery times. Golden State Mint has affiliations with established institutions such as the International Precious Metals Institute, Token and Medal Society, North American Collectibles Association, Inc., National Rifle Association, Certified Coin Exchange, and others. For a full list, you can visit their "About Us" page to learn more.

Specialize in minting of metals

Golden State Mint specializes in the minting of copper, silver, and gold. In addition to this, they sell platinum and palladium as well as unique collections including buffalo, Chinese zodiac, cryptocurrency, holidays, Incuse Indians, and many more.

10+ gold categories

The gold buying category at Golden State Mint lists the following options:

• Gold Bars
• Gold Coins
• Gold Rounds
• Fractional Gold
• 1 oz Gold
• 2 oz Gold
• 5 oz Gold
• 10 oz Gold
• Kilo Gold
• Assorted Weight Gold
• IRA Certified Gold

Some gold categories empty

Unfortunately, although all these categories are listed, they don't all have an inventory to choose from. Some have zero results, while others have just a couple. If you come to Golden State Mint knowing exactly what you're looking for, we recommend using their search feature to skip some of the browsing in case it ends up being a waste of time.

Gold containers

Aside from just buying precious metals, if you want to preserve the coins or gold bars you purchase, there are quite a few options at Golden State Mint. For just a few dollars each, you can find coin tubes, velvet gift bags, airtight coin capsules, bar capsules, display boxes, and tubes. All of them come in a variety of sizes to fit the collection of gold bars and coins that you have.

No current gold pricing

We noticed that they don't have a real-time precious metals market update to view on their website. Some customers really like using those to see if the worth of gold, silver, platinum, or palladium is up or down at any given time. This may affect when or whether they make purchases. We wish they had something like that here at Golden State Mint to educate customers.

Smaller inventory

The least expensive price of any gold you can buy at Golden State Mint will be about $900+. Obviously they have other precious metals here that aren't worth as much, therefore costing less, but if you're in the market for gold, plan to pay at least $1,000 here. Their inventory isn't as extensive as some others we have seen, therefore restricting their customer base.

Not much customer feedback

If you're like us, then testimonials play a big role in how you feel about a company and whether you choose to buy from them. There is a testimonials page at Golden State Mint's website, but all of them are 5 star reviews. This sounds like a good thing, but since these are obviously filtered, it isn't that helpful. It was harder to find transparent, unfiltered customer feedback for Golden State Mint, so unfortunately we can't speak much for the overall customer satisfaction here. However, the Better Business Bureau does give Golden State Mint an A+ rating, which is great.

Better choices elsewhere

All in all, Golden State Mint doesn't have a long list of flaws or concerns in our eyes. However, they don't have a long list of reasons we would highly recommend them to customers either. The lack of feedback we have found from buyers along with the slim inventory of gold make this an average place to look for gold and other precious metals. It might be worth checking out, but you'll have better luck using one of our higher-rated sites.

Bullion Vault

• BBB Rating: Not Rated

BullionVault is operated out of London. They first received funding to plan and develop their services in 2003. In 2008, they were elected into the London Bullion Association, which represents the largest of the world's physical bullion markets. BullionVault has customers in over 170 countries that together hold approximately $2 billion of stored bullion. Their main objective is "to operate the world's most cost-effective, secure, and accessible market in professional grade bullion."

Not for the casual investor

You'll want to know, before considering BullionVault, that this site is not for people with shallow pockets - unless they're looking for something cheaper, like silver. Here you'll mostly be purchasing gold in bulk, so at the time of this review, the live market was showing gold prices of around $50,000. Purchases you make are stored in BullionVault's vaults and funds can be withdrawn at any time via a bank wire or in the form of a Pamp Fortuna 100g bar.

Buying process isn't easy

For customers who have never purchased bullion before, BullionVault is not the most appealing or straightforward website. In fact, you'll likely be very confused at where to even start. Luckily, they do have an investment guide that covers topics like how to buy gold, gold investing, investment insurance, buying silver, and more. We highly recommend at least browsing through relevant topics to see if it helps clear up any questions you have about buying from BullionVault.

Gold buying options

When you go to the buy/sell page, the types of bullion available for buying and selling, along with market pricing and unit weight, is shown. The full list of bullion includes:

• Gold: Zurich
• Gold: London
• Gold: New York
• Gold: Toronto
• Gold: Singapore
• Silver: Zurich
• Silver: Toronto
• Silver: London
• Silver: Singapore
• Platinum: London

Select your currency

Make sure, when you view the bullion, that you select the currency you use in order to see accurate pricing. When you select the bullion that you are interested in, you'll need to make an account for purchases. When opening an account, BullionVault gives customers a risk-free 1/8 oz of silver to get you started.

Good place for bulk bullion

BullionVault could definitely use a website update. However, tens of thousands of customers have used their service and sing their praises as far as fast transaction speeds, excellent customer service, and professionalism. They are unrated by the Better Business Bureau, but their page does not have any customer complaints, which is a good sign. BullionVault does not offer as many gold and silver options as some other sites we are reviewing, but if you are looking to buy bullion in bulk from a reliable company, this is a good place to do that.

Universal Coin

• BBB Rating: A+

Universal Coin & Bullion has been building and selling an inventory of rare coins since 1995. If it's not obvious enough from their name, this company only sells coins rather than gold bars, jewelry, or other forms of precious metals. Each gold coin has a unique barcode attached to certify its authenticity. Like many of their competitors, Universal Coin & Bullion aids buyers in the decision-making process by displaying current market values at the top of their web page.

Gold coin categories

There are 39 pieces of gold available at Universal Coin. This is a lot less than our highest-rated sites. The majority of their coins are United States Mint rare coins. Other categories of coins include:

• United States Mint Bullion
• Royal Canadian Mint
• The Royal Mint
• Australian Mints
• Other World Mints
• Gold Bars & Rounds

Out of stock issues

At the time of this review, about a quarter of their entire inventory of gold was out of stock. This was disappointing since their selection of gold coins is already pretty low. Most of the coins available can be added to your cart for immediate purchase, but there is also a good amount of coins that require a call-in order.

Excellent learning opportunity

For customers looking to educate themselves about the gold industry and market trends, there are two books available at Universal Coin. Both are written by Mike Fuljenz, the president of Universal Coin & Bullion. The first book is called "Type Three Double Eagles 1877 - 1907" and the other is "Indian Gold Coins of the 20th Century". Fuljenz also gives a weekly report about gold and silver and their performance in the current economic climate as well as their impact on businesses. Mike Fuljenz has received hundreds of awards for his industry service, books, newsletter, radio reports, tv reports, and more. He is considered "America's Gold Expert".

Overall positive reviews

The Better Business Bureau gives Universal Coin & Bullion an A+ rating. Other individual customer ratings are overall very positive. They say pricing is affordable, order processing is fast, and they receive exactly what they were hoping for. However, there have been some mentions of customer service being slow to respond and a bit vague in their email responses. Our main concern with buying through Universal Coin & Bullion is the slim inventory that was available when we shopped their site. Overall, we view them as a mediocre place to buy gold.