Anyone ever have problems with AMPEX?

in particular to product quality, customer service, or any general problems.

I am just getting started into the bullion investing market and it seems that most people recommend using AMPEX, and I just wanted to know if anybody has any feedback on them. Thanks in advance.

Also, I am more so interested in buying bullion for the investment and i am not much of a collector. I have noticed that I would pay less of a premium if I buy in bars, etc. Is there an advantage to buying coins vs. bars, from an investor standpoint and not collector.

 

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Make sure you get the bullion! and not a stock share mine that is worthless :kewl:

 

Coins are a better investment!! When buying just bullion or bars you just
Get the precious metal value, But with gold coins such as Liberties or
St. Gaudens you not only get the precious medal value but the coin value
As well and in some cases that could be very substantial!!

 

Welcome! I consider myself pretty new too. And I had your questions too when I first started out.

First off I buy from APMEX all the time. I honestly believe they go out of their way to keep their customers happy. I have never had any lost or delayed shipping from them.

Their customer service seems to be very friendly. I am one to quickly call out a company if their service does wrong to me or someone else and I haven't seen any issues with them so far.

As for what to collect. I am not a coin collector, I don't have the energy to understand the numismatic side of things. I just want to collect for the pure value of the metal.

With that said, I've mainly collected bullion. You can't go wrong with that. You can also get bars, but get name brand only.

You get a little more bang for your buck if you buy bulk, like 10 oz silver bars instead of ten 1 oz coins.

I've bought a bunch of 10 oz silver bars but I'm going to stop now and only collect ASE's as it's just easier and more recognizable. Also going to expand my horizon a bit and start looking at other silver coins like these new 2010 Chinese Panda coins.

As long as you stay reputable with the coins you buy, you really can't go wrong. Stay away from unknown brands.

Also, it's APMEX, not AMPEX. I hear if you call them AMPEX, they delay your shipping by 6 months... (j/k)

 

Thanks for your help. I'm sure ill have more questions to come.

 

APMEX = best in the business in my Opinion,

Shipping is high, but like most things in life, you get what you pay for.

 

If your on a really tight budget and want the best bang for your buck definitely check out Monarch Precious Metals. I order a lot from them because there shipping and spot prices can't be beat on 1 ounce bars. Unless you buy locally of course. I like Apex as well because of all the quality products they offer but there shipping is just too much for me.

http://www.monarchpreciousmetals.com/

 

Apmex is good and fully meets the BNB seal of approval.
Like the poster above said, with Apmex, you get what you pay for and yes, shipping is very high but, hey, if you want that 100 oz JM bar, you're getting it from the right place!

 

Like the comments above, the quality is good but the shipping is high. I recently bought a roll of ASE's and didn't realize they also included insurance with the shipping. Next time when I buy such a small amount I'll try to figure out a way to decline insurance.

 

You will NEVER get them to not insure your shipment!

 

The second they stop insuring packages is the day they either go out of business or the start of how they started going out of business.

 

Apmex is very reputable. I've only ordered from them once, but the experience was great. Ditto what others have said.

Is there an advantage to buying coins vs. bars, from an investor standpoint and not collector.
​

Coins do carry a higher premium, but they also have value not based on their metal content. If silver goes to zero, an ASE will still be worth a dollar while a silver round or bar will have lost its value.

I find that they (coins) are also easier to sell. Much like the name brand bars (Englehard, Johnson-Matthey), a coin has a known and accepted weight and content backed by it's issuing government. You also then have both precious metal investors AND coin collectors interested in your offering. (Although some art bars can fetch a pretty penny)

I also prefer smaller denominations to large bars. Again, a larger audience to sell to (not everyone can afford an $1800 bar, but the one who can can also afford 100 1 oz rounds). Plus, if the world economy completely collapses, it's more practical to have smaller spending units on hand. For that reason I also like junk silver coins (pre-1965).

Also check out bulliondirect and kitco. I like BD because their Nucleo exchange is a live marketplace and often has great prices. Plus, you can save up your smaller purchases and then have it all shipped to you at once whenever you are ready to accept it. Saves a fortune on shipping costs.

Good luck!

 

Ok with bars it's hard to be sure of the purity or weight unless it's a very well known company that makes them.
As far as coins or bars being the best, I would say coins are but they need to be a well known coin not rounds. ASEs or Maples are great. You have to pay a premium but that premium is insurance so to speak of the purity and amount of PM. Also in the "insurance" you are buying you have numismatic value that can actually make the coin worth far more then just the value of the PM.

I would rather have a 3 legged table for my investing then a 1 legged table.

 

I've seen their ads in Coin World. They seem to be on the ball and good. I've dealt with other companies that offer things that Apmex doesn't, like deals based on verbal agreements, a phone call = a contract, coins get shipped without the company having a check or bank wire beforehand.

Northern Nevada is a good company, their word is gold. There are a lot of companies with excellent service.

 

Do they take orders via credit card?

My only gripe with APMEX is that they have a limit of $5,000 on CC's.
So I've had to run to the bank many times in order to make quick purchases via wire.

But sitting at home and ordering online over $5,000 would really be nice.

I've mentioned this many many times to APMEX.

 

I don't know any bullion dealers that accept credit cards. What does it cost them to process credit card purchases? Do you get cash back with your card?

 

APMEX accepts CC's. But their limit is $5K for a 30 day period. So what's annoying is if I purchase something for $5K. Then the next day, if I want to buy a silver coin for $20, I would have to wire it....

 

Companies that I know of that take CC's:

APMEX
Bullion Direct
MintProducts.com

 

I believe Monarch, Golden Eagle Coins and mint products accept credit cards as well when I order from them I always use my debit card and it goes through as a visa card.

 

what is that avatar?