Avoid Buying Counterfeit Gold (and Silver) by Diversifying
I’ve been collecting and investing in precious metals and numismatics for more than 45 years. This is the first in a series of posts about strategies when buying gold and silver.
I put my money where my mouth was yesterday when I said to buy the dip in gold (https://steemit.com/gold/@ereandthere/dip-in-gold-time-to-buy) and searched the internet for options. A quick look through Ebay showed some 1 oz gold bars available near spot price, which is unusual. My second search for “counterfeit (manufacturer name) gold bars” showed that the market is pretty saturated with counterfeits of this type of gold bar.
The only thing worse than buying gold at a bad price is buying fake gold. You still have some value if you overpay for gold but you have nothing if you have a fake.
Diversify WHO You Buy Your Precious Metals From
Ebay can be a pretty good source of some items that would not be faked (more on that later), but if you are going to buy commodity type bars, coins, and rounds you MUST buy from a reputable dealer.
This is not guaranteed to protect you from buying fakes, so protect yourself! Find SEVERAL established dealers and buy from all of them. A reputation for honesty is hard to come by and must be earned, but there are too many stories over the years of even “honest” companies going bad.
I regularly buy from 2 primary dealers, and less regularly make purchases from 3 other dealers. I’m sure that any one company would prefer my undying loyalty, but look at this from a worst case scenario.
If it was discovered that one company sometimes sold counterfeit stock, in all likelihood less than 10% of my holdings would be in danger of being worthless. I can live with that level of risk.
It’s Your Responsibility to Avoid Getting Ripped Off!
It’s your money. Be careful out there.