Pros and cons? Opinions on online dealers? (APMEX, etc.) I'm new to this, not sure how to proceed, and any info will be appreciated. Thanks.
APMEX is certainly one of the largest and most well known and you should find them to be competitive on bullion. There are lots of others. With online dealers, you need to pay attention to things like shipping charges and credit card fees which can cause your price per ounce to be a bit higher than shown. I've never had a problem buying online. I hope your experiences will be good ones. You will get a lot of good informed advice here.
i have had good experience with 2 dealers apmex.com and goldeneaglecoins.com if you are buying late date (2010) silver eagle rolls ... no need to examine the coins ... they will typically be original rolls and in brilliant unc condition also sometimes you can find better prices on ebay ... however always buy from people that have a 7 day return policy in case you have complaints about the condition (fortunately this is VERY RARE with the current year ASE's) if you buy out of state you dont pay sales tax always check shipping costs
Bullion is bullion. No reason not to get it by mail. Just be sure to consider shipping charges as part of the cost. I've done bullion business with Provident Metals, Collectons, Apmex, and mintproducts.com Provident Metals has great prices, rapid service, and has always sent quality product, but seems to lack some of the inventory found elsewhere, and has recently stopped providing tracking information on orders. Apmex I'm non-committal on. Good service, quality product, reasonable turnaround times, but nothing spectacular to recommend them imo. They simply get the job done. They do seem to have the widest variety and largest inventory, but their prices tend to reflect that at times. mintproducts.com sells good products at fair prices, but their website is frequently out of sync with actual stock, and their shipping information seems, literally, to be made up at random based on whatever they think the customer might like to hear at the time. I've actually received orders from them the day BEFORE they said they would ship it. I've also received a package from them shipped two days AFTER I called and was informed they'd shipped it the previous day. Last but not least, Collectons has been OUTSTANDING to deal with. Their bullion products offerings are somewhat slim (eagles, maples, junk silver mostly) but their prices are in line with anyone, and lower than most. Their service is terrific, they ship lightning fast, and have the lowest "Free shipping for orders over ____" breakpoint, currently $150. I HIGHLY recommend doing business with them.
I think you definitely get better pricing by mail but there's the hassle of having to be home to sign for a package or go to the post office. Also selling by mail isn't fun either. The post office is the cheapest if you use a priorty mail box and pay for registered mail.
