Is a Low Price All That Matters?
When comparing offers of investment gold and silver, one number is the most tempting – the price per gram. It is an understandable yardstick, but on its own it says nothing about how the deal will actually go. What you really pay is affected by the spread between the buying and selling price and the premium over the metal price, and it matters just as much who you are dealing with. In this article we look at what the lowest listed price does not guarantee and why it pays to choose a dealer with clear rules that apply without exception.
What the lowest price alone does not guarantee
The lowest number on a website says nothing about what happens after you order. Typical problems you only discover during the transaction:
- Extra fees only at checkout: shipping, insurance or handling charges that the website did not mention in advance are added to the attractive price.
- Unclear buyback terms: the purchase price is low, but the dealer nowhere clearly describes the buyback terms.
- Vague dispatch date: “in stock” actually means weeks of waiting for the goods to arrive.
- Unclear origin of the goods: there is no information on which refinery or mint the product comes from and whether it is a refinery on the LBMA Good Delivery list.
- Poor availability when it matters: as soon as there is a problem with the order, the seller is suddenly hard to reach.
None of these things are visible at the moment you compare prices. They only show later – and by then it is too late to do anything about it.
Clear rules without exceptions: what it means in practice
A trustworthy company does not have rules that “can be arranged differently” depending on the situation. The terms are written down in advance, publicly available and the same for everyone – no excuses and no individual haggling under pressure. At GOLDU this means you know exactly up to what value we deliver a parcel to your home, when only to a post office for collection, how long dispatch takes and how we pack and secure the parcel. Everything is described in advance, not after you order:
- Complete delivery and payment rules: Delivery and payment terms.
- How and where we ship, and how we pack and secure the parcel: How GOLDU packs and ships gold and silver.
- On what terms we buy gold back from you: Conditions for the purchase of investment gold.
- Full contractual terms of the whole purchase: General terms and conditions.
Rules that are written down in advance and apply unchanged to every customer are the best protection against unpleasant surprises. If a dealer refuses to point you to specific, publicly available terms, or only “explains” them to you verbally over the phone, that is a warning sign.
How to check a company yourself
A complete checklist for recognising a trustworthy gold dealer (company identification, origin of goods, certificates, what to watch out for) can be found in the article Buy gold only from a trusted dealer. You also do not have to take the details a dealer gives (company ID, registered office, commercial register entry) on trust – for Czech companies you can check them free of charge in moments in the public commercial register using the IČO (company ID). If the details on the website do not match the register, or the company does not state an ID at all, that is a clear warning. Our own company details are on the Contact page.
Price is only one part of the equation
The real cost of a purchase is not just the number on the product page. It also includes the spread between the buying and selling price, the premium over the metal price, the cost and speed of delivery and, not least, the terms on which you will one day sell the goods back – see How GOLDU buys back gold: prompt payment to your account. A cheap purchase with an unclear or unfavourable buyback ends up costing more overall.
What GOLDU does in this respect
Our offer is built on three principles described in the article Three pillars of GOLDU: good prices, everything genuinely in stock and only new goods. This also includes what we describe in this article – clearly written rules for delivery, packing and buyback that apply equally to every customer, without exception. So you do not have to judge the price in isolation, but in the context of the whole transaction.
Communication: how we respond to enquiries
Trustworthiness also includes how easily you can reach the dealer and how quickly they respond – especially for a higher-value order. You can reach GOLDU by email at info@goldu.eu or by phone at +420 601 359 200 – all contacts and our registered address are on the Contact page. Whether you are choosing a product, dealing with a specific order or making a complaint, you should always be able to reach a real person, not just a bottomless inbox.
What to ask before you buy
Before you decide on price alone, check the answers to these questions with the dealer (with us as anywhere else):
- Is the stated price really final, or will fees be added at checkout?
- What exactly are the buyback terms, and are they publicly available?
- Where do the goods come from, and are they from a refinery or mint on the LBMA Good Delivery list?
- How quickly does the dealer actually dispatch – and does that match what the website promises?
- How is the parcel insured and secured in transit?
- Can I have the authenticity of the goods independently verified?
- Are the terms publicly available, understandable and do they apply to everyone without exception?
- Is it a company I can check in a public register, and am I paying into an account that really belongs to it?
- How do customers rate the dealer on independent platforms, such as Heureka?
If you get clear answers to these questions that you can check in advance, you have a much better basis for your decision than comparing the price per gram alone. You can find our own customer reviews on Heureka and on Zboží.cz. Browse our range of investment gold and investment silver.
Related articles
- No discounts, just a transparent gold price
- GOLDU launches a new tab: gold and silver price in real time
- GOLDU’s supply chain: from the mine to the customer
About the author
Natálie Pokludová – without whom everything at GOLDU would grind to a halt, stop working and never get finished. While the others come up with ideas, she makes sure things actually run. Someone has to drive the car.
