Why You Shouldn’t Buy your Gold at Costco

As you may have heard, Costco is now selling one-ounce gold bars, and they are selling out in hours. As this article eventually gets around to hypothesizing, when a store like Costco sells gold, you know the fiat monetary system and the dollar are in trouble.

I won’t argue, but I think people who buy their gold at Costco are making a mistake. Let’s compare a hypothetical purchase at Costco with a coin store in a city near you:

Costco: All gold sales are online, they offer only one kind of gold bar, and you are limited to purchasing only one or two. You have to use your membership ID number and your credit card to make a purchase.

Coin Dealer: You walk in, find a gold coin or bar in the display case, point at it, and the dealer pulls it out. You examine it and perhaps compare it to another coin or bar. When you buy it, you count out a stack of twenty $100 bills. He hands you the coin and you shove it deep into your pocket and walk out.

Differences

At Costco, they have a permanent record of what you bought. At the coin dealer, they probably don’t even know your name. If the government decides to confiscate your gold, they just have to subpoena Costco for a list of everyone who bought gold. Same with any other online dealer.

At the coin dealer, you probably have a selection to choose from. In addition to bars, you can buy a coin minted by the government of Canada, Australia, the UK or U.S. At Costco you don’t have a choice. At the coin dealer, what you buy and how many depends on their stock and how deep your pockets are.

If you paid by credit card, the bank or credit card company may or may not know what you bought. If you put $2,000 on your Visa a Joe’s Coin Shop, they can figure it out. Honestly, if you spent $2,000 at Costco, they may well figure that out as well. Keep in mind, “they” might be an AI looking for people with gold.

My advice: Buy your precious metals in person, with cash, from a reputable coin dealer, not at Costco.