Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gatzdon, post: 289547, member: 8247&quot;]OK, this is neither an endorsement or a bash, I&#039;m merely describing my recent experience with APMEX.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some might remember me posting last week that I finally accumulated $1,000 of 40% Ag Kennedies.&nbsp; 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&#039;s of gold for it.&nbsp; When I started calling around to dealers, I couldn&#039;t get anyone to go any higher than 3x face for the coins.&nbsp; So, for the price difference, I decided to try one of the online dealers.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;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.&nbsp; (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).</p><p><br /></p><p>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).</p><p><br /></p><p>So I decided to go with APMEX.</p><p><br /></p><p>I called them on the phone on 10/17 in the afternoon and explained what I wanted to do.&nbsp; I was given a &quot;Quote&quot; of $3,714 for my bag of silver and was told that I had 24 hours to send it via Registered Mail USPS.&nbsp; They took my credit card info as collateral&nbsp; They then e-mailed me a pdf of a PO that I was to include with the Silver when mailing it.&nbsp;&nbsp; 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&#039;t send the silver quick enough, they would charge me $35 and any &quot;Market Loss&quot; they claim to have incurred.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>So as soon as I received the PO in my e-mail, I placed an order for 19 &quot;Colombian 5 Peso Gold Coins&quot; through their website and referenced the PO # as I was told to do so.&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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).&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; I then put this bag in one of the SQUARE Flat Rate Priority Shipping boxes along with another copy of the PO.&nbsp; (Do not use the rectangular one as it will fall apart in your hands).&nbsp; 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).&nbsp; 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).&nbsp; Using the brown paper tape, I covered all seams/access to the box.&nbsp; This Brown Paper receives numerous postal stamps to make the box tamper resistant.&nbsp; The PO that APMEX sent me specifies the address to send the package to.&nbsp; Make sure to put your name/return address/PO # on the outside of the box also.</p><p><br /></p><p>On 10/18 through 10/23, my gold order sat in my account on APMEX with a status of &quot;Waiting for Payment&quot;.&nbsp; There was no indication of my $1,000 bag of silver.&nbsp; 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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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).&nbsp; 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).&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; He said they do this all the time and they document the damage before accepting the box.&nbsp; 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.</p><p><br /></p><p>I never received any e-mail.&nbsp; The phone call was the only indication from them that they received the package and that was only because the package was damaged.</p><p><br /></p><p>On 10/24, the status for my gold order on APMEX changed to &quot;Payment Received&quot;, and yet I never received an e-mail.</p><p><br /></p><p>On 10/25, the status for my gold order changed to &quot;Order Shipped&quot;.&nbsp; Unfortunately, there is no tracking information for my gold order on their site.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; Would be nice if they would put it with the order information on their site so I can see it too.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>As I said above, this is just a record of my experience and not an endorsement.&nbsp; Gold and Silver only fluctuated a few bucks during start to finish for my trade, so I don&#039;t know how they would have treated me if it moved significantly.&nbsp; I&#039;ve read enough complaints about online dealers that I&#039;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.&nbsp; At this point, since they indicate the order shipped, I&#039;m a little more confident, but I&#039;ll be happier when I actually see the coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>If anyone has questions or think I missed something, let me know.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in