My experience with APMEX

OK, this is neither an endorsement or a bash, I'm merely describing my recent experience with APMEX.

Some might remember me posting last week that I finally accumulated $1,000 of 40% Ag Kennedies. Based on the prices I was seeing for silver and gold on sites like APMEX and MJPM, I decided I was not going to settle for any less than 4½ oz's of gold for it. When I started calling around to dealers, I couldn't get anyone to go any higher than 3x face for the coins. So, for the price difference, I decided to try one of the online dealers.

I've read a couple complaints in the past about MJPM trying to screw people with their orders if the price of silver or gold moved enough. (the most common scenario I found was them cancelling an order when the price went up significantly, but none of the complaints were detailed enough to ascertain if they were legit, or if there was more to the story).

My other concern with an online dealer like this, is if they claim my bag is short, what recourse do I have? (probably none at that point).

So I decided to go with APMEX.

I called them on the phone on 10/17 in the afternoon and explained what I wanted to do. I was given a "Quote" of $3,714 for my bag of silver and was told that I had 24 hours to send it via Registered Mail USPS. They took my credit card info as collateral They then e-mailed me a pdf of a PO that I was to include with the Silver when mailing it. They never volunteered on the phone why they were asking for the credit card, but the policy on their website indicates that if I didn't send the silver quick enough, they would charge me $35 and any "Market Loss" they claim to have incurred.

I asked about using the proceeds to purchase gold coins and was told to place an order normally, select personal check as the payment method, then in the special instructions, put a comment stating that I wanted to pay for that order with the proceeds from PO #XXXXXX.

I would like to note that while the service rep was friendly, he never volunteered much information, rather I had to keep asking questions to get the details explained to me.

So as soon as I received the PO in my e-mail, I placed an order for 19 "Colombian 5 Peso Gold Coins" through their website and referenced the PO # as I was told to do so. I could have gone with the American Gold Eagles for slightly less $/oz, but I have an emotional bond with Colombia and thought it would be cool to own some Colombian gold. So I get 4.4745 ounces of gold and I still get a check for $164.90, all for a $1,000 bag of 40%Ag coins that I paid face value for.

On 10/18/07, in the morning, I packaged up my $1,000 of halves in a plastic bag that the banks use for sending coins back to the feds (I asked one of my favorite tellers for one when cashing in searched halves). I wrote my name and the PO# on the plastic bag and also put a copy of the PO inside the bag before sealing it. I then put this bag in one of the SQUARE Flat Rate Priority Shipping boxes along with another copy of the PO. (Do not use the rectangular one as it will fall apart in your hands). I used the reinforced packaging tape to tape the box (in hindsight, I should have used more tape, taping not just the openings, but all corners as well, I will comment on this below). Once the box is taped, I got the Brown paper tape from the USPS counter (this requires a wet sponge to apply and is required for Registered Mail). Using the brown paper tape, I covered all seams/access to the box. This Brown Paper receives numerous postal stamps to make the box tamper resistant. The PO that APMEX sent me specifies the address to send the package to. Make sure to put your name/return address/PO # on the outside of the box also.

On 10/18 through 10/23, my gold order sat in my account on APMEX with a status of "Waiting for Payment". There was no indication of my $1,000 bag of silver. It would have been nice if they listed that as a separate order on their site to help keep track of when they receive it, verify it, and process the payment.

On 10/23, I received a call from APMEX stating that my package was at their post office and had split on the side (the preglued seam on the box that I should have put the reinforced tape on also). He indicated that it looked like the contents were probably OK, but it was up to me to decide if they should accept it, or reject it (which would send it back to me). I asked if they had experience with this (probably a rhetorical question) and stated that I would prefer they accept it so long as they preserve my rights to an insurance claim with the post office should any coins be missing. He said they do this all the time and they document the damage before accepting the box. He told me that I would receive an e-mail regarding the package once it was opened and verified and that if anything was missing, they would help me file an insurance claim with the post office.

I never received any e-mail. The phone call was the only indication from them that they received the package and that was only because the package was damaged.

On 10/24, the status for my gold order on APMEX changed to "Payment Received", and yet I never received an e-mail.

On 10/25, the status for my gold order changed to "Order Shipped". Unfortunately, there is no tracking information for my gold order on their site. For such an expensive order, I assume it was sent Registered Mail at a minimum and that they kept a record of the tracking information. Would be nice if they would put it with the order information on their site so I can see it too.


As I said above, this is just a record of my experience and not an endorsement. Gold and Silver only fluctuated a few bucks during start to finish for my trade, so I don't know how they would have treated me if it moved significantly. I've read enough complaints about online dealers that I'm still skeptical of how my trade would have been handled if the price of gold or silver had moved sharply in the past week. At this point, since they indicate the order shipped, I'm a little more confident, but I'll be happier when I actually see the coins.

If anyone has questions or think I missed something, let me know.

 

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I have bought coins APMEX - I can't remember if I bought 4 or 5 coins. Out of the all the coins I was only unhappy with 1 - it was overpriced and overgraded at $30 dollars. It seems to me they had a tough return policy and I decided to keep it. Actually that turned out to be a good thing - I now have a 1798 coin I do not mind people holding.

 

I have only made one purchase through APMEX so far for about 30 or so Morgans that i got for under $20 all around. My first time through an album, i'm not too worried abotu condition and figured a hair over melt was pretty decent since they were selling for 20-22 here in my area of MO

 

Gatzdon,

I deal with APMEX regularly. They're located only several miles from my home. If it's any consolation to you, they're a very reputable firm and some of the most honest people I've dealt with.

Their storefront is extremely clean and professional and their sales staff (at least in person) is very helpful.

If you'd like, I'll gladly print out your post and show it to them. If you'd rather I not, that's fine too.

 

Well you can print mine and show it to them - tell them Mark dislike's that cancellation fee. Maybe it does not matter when buying coins(not bullion) but it sure looked like it from my order. Also tell them they need to put pictures up of all their coins. So far I have not requested any pictures from them - but it makes it nice if you can see what it is. Just suggestions.

 

I know several of the people at APMEX and I think they are a good company with some very nice people working for them. I would recommend them to other people.

 

I have only placed one order through APMEX. It was last year for the unc '06 buffalo gold. No problems with the order, would use them again.

Gatzdon, the way you describe the situation, it sounds like everything is going thru as it should but I certainly agree that they could let you know what's going on. That's one of my pet peeves on the bay, sellers that communicate zip.

Taker care and let's see pictures of that gold when it gets to ya!

 

gatzdon
Although I have never dealt with APMEX I enjoyed your story.
Thanks for taking the time to write it up for us.

 

Feel free to print this, reference it, of feed it to the cat.

I wrote it because I spent some time researching where to sell me silver and APMEX/MJPM kept coming back with the highest prices, but there were really no independent reviews out there. All I could find were some half written complaints about getting screwed during sharp price swings (mostly towards MJPM, that's why I went with APMEX).

Believe it or not, MJPM's website was more helpful in explaining that the flat rate priority box can be used to save about $40 on postage. MJPM was also more helpful in explaining how to package 50 pounds of coins prior to shipping, buit they still didn't say anything about using reinforced packaging tape (which I apparently still didn't use enough of).

I've seen alot of people searching halves and having good success finding silver, so I just wanted to throw out there my experience with APMEX.

If someone does hand this to them, my greatest suggestion is to list their purchase orders with all the other customer orders on the account page. They can use status's such as "Recieved, waiting verification", "Verified", "Payment Authorized", "Payment issued via check/wire/pony express/etc....".

My second suggestion would be to just include a tracking number with the order information once an order has shipped.

My third suggestion would be to beef up an FAQ in helping people package their shipments correctly prior to sending them to APMEX.

 

Howdy,

I've bought from APMEX as I like their prices. Never had a problem.

rono

 

I have also dealt with them often and have never had a problem.

 

I do not think there prices are that good compared to a show ie I got 3 1996 mints sets with the W dime for only like 16.00 each they want 23.00
there prices are in line with the dealers from coin world and others.

can you get them to lower there price?

 

One last thing, and I don't know if this is necessary, but knowing how long registered mail can take to get delivered, I scanned my registered mail receipt and e-mailed it to APMEX immediately after shipping the coins. I didn't want them to have any excuse to "Cancel" the PO on me.

 

Got the check for the Balance they owed me on Saturday. I also had a UPS notice on Friday from an attempted delivery
that I think was from them. UPS finally moved up a notch in customer service as I was able to goto their website and select a day for the next attempted deliver (as I knew I wouldn't be home today either).

If that delivery attempt is indeed the gold coins, then that was a OK turn around time.

I will post pics of the gold once I get it.

 

OK, finally got the gold coins. Apparently the US Post office made a delivery attempt on 10/29 and I never got the notice. Obviously that is not APMEX's fault and is in indication that they did ship the coins promptly.

I posted scans of the coins over in the World Coins section along with a closeup of one coin at random. I can't wait to find time to sit down and go through them individually, but I think my initial opinion is that the coins are not of the grade APMEX claimed (AU or better). I'm going to keep them since I only paid a few bucks over spot and it's hard to find Colombian coins of any condition this close to spot value.

http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=30415

 

MJPM is LAME

MJPM is LAME

I ordered (15) Suisse PAMP 1oz. bars from MJPM (about $24.5K worth). I complied with the company’s ordering process. The amount was more than I could put on any credit card. They would not allow me to do a bank transfer, so I sent them a certified check from my credit union. I was waiting on a written confirmation of my order (i.e. an invoice), which you would normally get on any online order. It never came. That is a problem (to me). Since this was not a credit card transaction, my purchase was not backed by a credit card company. To me, it was an “unsecured transaction”. Essentially, my check could be cashed, and I had no (written) proof that I even had an order with this company. I sent e-mails to MJPM about sending me an invoice. No response. I called, and talked to the owner, saying I was getting nervous because he had not answered my e-mails nor sent me an invoice of my order. He said the e-mails may have gone to trash? What? An online company having customer’s e-mails going in the trash? I wanted to know when my order would be shipped. He went on about the difficulty of knowing if funds drawn on a credit union account had cleared payment, and how I already had “their confirmation number”, which was given verbally over the phone (I had to call them back to get it). He couldn’t understand that all I wanted was a written confirmation of my order, which corresponded with the amount remitted.

After 2 ½ weeks and I finally go my order in the mail. I don’t like the way this company does their business (no confirmation of my order in writing). The attitude of the owner was something else. I will not be doing any subsequent orders with them.

 

My only advice is this:

When possible, conduct bullion deals face-to-face.

Sorry to hear of your challenges, and glad they seemed to resolve themselves. I, myself, have only had smooth transactions with APMEX.

Take care...Mike

 

I live in Washington where there is anywhere from an 8% to nearly 10% sales tax depending on the county. MJPM is in Oregon where there is no sales tax. The sales tax is an added incentive to buy out of state. I could drive to Oregon, but that seems excessive just to get what would seem to be something you would get with any purchase anywhere.

 

Tax was bad enough but then they taxed shipping which is just wrong.