Investors warned of scams

Great article today on the Telegraph.

Some of the warnings:

Overpricing

Over-charging by reputable-looking companies is a trap to snare unwary first time gold buyers. Mail-shots, websites and radio advertisements are now selling gold to UK investors at 15-40pc above the true "spot market" value, aided by reports of a gold-coin shortage. One company is selling one-ounce bars for more than £800 (spot value £600) and kilobars for £25,000-plus (spot value £19,400).

To avoid paying such high markups, simply check the current "spot" gold price online.

Ever wonder why we have the spot price on the header of the site? So you can make an informed decision about your purchase. It is part of the philosophy of www.silvergoldtrade.com, creating long-lasting relationships with our customers and providing a safe place were to buy gold and silver.

eBay has seen a surge in gold-coin auctions as demand for physical metal has grown. While eBay is familiar to new investors, the prices outstrip true gold-market values – known as the "spot" gold price – by 25pc even for the plainest coins. Rarer gold coins are often bid up much higher as new investors lack knowledge about what they're buying.

And we know it well. At www.silvergoldtrade.com you never compete with other buyers for "rare" or "unavailable" coins. We put for sale the bullion available and the prices follow the price of the spot without surprises.

Unallocated gold-storage accounts

When a bank sells you gold but holds it in safe-keeping, the account is almost always "unallocated". This makes you a creditor, just like a cash depositor, but without any government-backed insurance. Unallocated gold puts you "on risk" for the bank's financial survival, because the bank owes you metal which you don't own. The giveaway here are the words "free storage", since there need not be any gold stored for you. On the other hand, "allocated" gold is physically held in safe-keeping, belongs to you outright and costs you a monthly or annual storage fee that includes insurance.

That's why at www.silvergoldtrade.com we created our unique free allocated accounts. Since your gold never leaves our vaults we don't see any good reason for charging you for keeping it. With our allocated account, you buy the gold and silver bullion and we prepare it for shipping. When you are ready to take delivery of the metals, we ship them to you. It's simple, it's safe, it's the www.silvergoldtrade.com way.

Beware of scam artists and don't overpay! You can find the link to the original article here ]]>Gold: Investors warned of scams]]>.

Safe shopping!