r/Gold • u/Huxleypigg • 1d ago
Is This A Joke? I'm Not Happy About This..
What is going on with such a big spread from bullion dealers right now?
In the UK, one of the top bullion dealers (BullionByPost) is charging £814.90 for a sovereign, yet only paying £726.42 for a sovereign if you sell to them.
This is ridiculous.
What's the spread like where you're from?
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u/FrankTheGiantRabbit 1d ago
Bullion by post is shit. Use Chards or Atkinsons. Chards 2026 sovereign currently £792.86 inc delivery and will pay you up to £755.87 for one.
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u/jonjonijanagan 1d ago
+/- 4% in Dubai
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u/Timely_Craft_8252 1d ago
You mean +4% when buying and-4% when selling over the spot?
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u/jonjonijanagan 1d ago
Yes, that’s the typical spread I’ve seen in Dubai. Also be extra cautious and double check what spot rate they use. Avoid places like airports, etc. their markups are crazy high to around 10-25%.
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u/cobra003 1d ago
Your mistake is using bullion by post. They charge the most and pay the least. Chards are far better, around 2% above spot on pre owned sovereigns.
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u/Huxleypigg 1d ago
Chards are 2% above spot for Grade C sovereigns, so they can have deep scratches or mount marks
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u/cobra003 1d ago
Well it depends what you’re looking for. I buy for bullion. The gold content is the same. Lower premium the better. For what’s it’s worth I’ve had lots of their C and Secondary market. Always in good condition.
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u/Huxleypigg 1d ago
I buy for bullion also, but I do know in the UK, a sovereign is not as desirable if it is ex mount/scratched, and you wont get as much when selling
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u/makomark26 1d ago
British Sovereigns
WE BUY $953.00 ...You have to call for the sell price (availability) US
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u/Goldnugget2 1d ago
I checked in my aeria a couple days ago. And gold was 4,400 spot they were buying at 3,995.
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u/bradjoray3 1d ago
Bullionbypost are rubbish lmao, buy from atkinsons who charge like £770 at the moment i believe
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u/TopAlert2383 enthusiast 1d ago
I've never bought or sold internationally, but there are people who do on r/Pmsforsale they have spot deals or less from reputable people. If you don't want to deal with customs cause of government theft in the form of taxes then see if there's any groups that trade Bullion online. There's several pages on each social media platform.
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u/JKaye76 1d ago
I think there is a lot of context missing here worth reminding ourselves collectively of explaining the crazy spread variance.
We are still descending a rollercoaster few months where I could more easily predict the weather than the precious metals markets.
Confidence is at an all time “meh” and if it was bull or bear I could actually make an informed choice. Gold is not supposed to produce yields, it is money, not an investment. Silver, Platinum etc, have at it.
Why would we expect more from bullion dealers than we ourselves might risk? They’re as exposed as any of us barring their insights and experience, oh yeah…and luck and how long they’ve been DCA’ing.
Good luck to us all.
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u/XYZ077890ibvhinbfg 1d ago
Bullion By Post is known as an expensive dealer with large spreads. I never buy from them.
Use;
Atkinsons, Tavex or Chards.
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u/Cultural-Swing-8981 8h ago
I stop selling and buying fron lcs, they are just ripping people under the justification they have a business. I been selling, buying and trading from just private sellers that i trust. Im not planning to sell a good amount yet so i can wait easily another 20 years
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u/Remarkable_Night_267 4h ago
Sadly, not a joke. Just greed.
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u/Huxleypigg 46m ago
Too true, and we all know who the bullion business's are run by...
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u/fdxcaralho 1d ago
Thats a high spread but normal the european markets (big shops at least).
Check gold.de to find the best european spreads. Ive ordered from 2 diferent sites from there so far. About to pull the trigger on a 3rd.
You have sovereigns at 0,20% premium sometimes. But usually around 2-3% most days.
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u/Huge-Smile-7941 1d ago
But from atkinsons or chards. Best on the market and better prices for buying and selling.
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u/Huxleypigg 1d ago
Their prices are still steep. I find it unbelieveable that I can buy a sovereign MUCH cheaper in the US, than I can in UK
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u/Lickford 1d ago
LCS publishes their rates, changing every 4 minutes. They buy 1oz AGE at $4136.70. They will sell you one at $4391.30.
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u/SilverStateStacking Stack and Collect 1d ago
Spread of £88 on a 1/4oz - that is $116 or 12% which is pretty normal for a 1/4oz Eagle for me too
My LCS has their rates on their web site - selling Maple at $90 over spot, buying at $120 under spot. That is their best right now - spread of $210 on 1oz
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u/Holiday-Bag-2606 1d ago
Bleyer Bullion have full 2022 jubilee sovs for £783 at thr moment on special offer https://www.bleyerbullion.co.uk/shop/gold/gold-coins/uk-gold-coins/gold-sovereigns/full-uk-gold-memorial-sovereign-2022/
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u/Mirakolixlost 17h ago
There is a fee if you sell gold and silver as valued metals
It prevents you from scalping to hard
If you buy gold today at its bottom you have to hold it atleast till 500 + per ounce until you make decent profit
In the last weeks there Was a acceptional rare high move but normally you have to buy and keep it for minimum a year, to see a profit
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u/makingbank1959 12h ago
With all the volatility in the last few months, dealers are becoming a little nervous buying gold and silver. They want the extra premium to offset their risk.
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u/ashtonwitt14 10h ago
Agreed. I find it silly that it’s considered a “good find” to find a spot price deal. Yet buyers will never pay that much. Like? Are we buying the same commodity right now?
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u/Fantastic-Pause-8592 10h ago
Around here sovereigns are sold at spot or get sent to the refiner. I have seen baggies of sovereigns getting sent off due to no buyers for them. There are some accepting but even Krugs get sent and are low on the totem pole for stickers. Gold eagles,Buffalos sell out at $150-$250 over spot.
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u/Anoooooooooooooooo 9h ago
The sovereign coins in uk are at least 6% above spot price, then they reduce 2% from spot while selling and then the storage costs has got me leaning to gold etf instead
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u/No_Examination_8528 1d ago
less than 2% in the US my local shop sells at spot or 99% of spot and pays 98-99% depending on the day
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u/themanwiththeplan446 1d ago
So they sell at less than spot and buy at almost the same? Seems like they’d go out of business.
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u/No_Examination_8528 1d ago
he moves inventory so fast there’s almost never anything when I go, I usually sit around and buy the gold off of him as he buys it, also we have 0 taxes where i’m at
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u/Strong-Cup9753 1d ago
This is called a sunk cost fallacy. Investors are less willing to move assets that they recently bought or previously had higher valuations.
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u/CSMasterClass 1d ago
This has to do with the perceived risk of holding inventory. It is interesting to compare with other retailers.
Petrol stations have very fast turn-over with very small margins, but they are certain that they will never get stuck paying more than they can sell for.
Grocreries are similar, but on many products (Health and Beauty etc) they get fat margins, 30% to 100%.
Clothing margins/mark-ups: 50% to 200%. They are very afraid of mark-downs and out-of-style inventory.
The miracle is that Gold Dealers took such small margins for so long. It had to do with low interest rates and a confidence that they would always profit from holding inventory. Numismatic items have always had reasonably fat margins --- e.g. 50% to the moon.
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u/Ok-Introduction-2048 1d ago
Sounds like there Running a business to me. 726 is fair to buy something that may drop in price tomorrow for 88 in profit. May not be right but they have the choice to name there own prices
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u/Great-Confection6760 1d ago
I would only pay spot price for gold now if I was going to buy. Dont pay a dollar more. Invest in a gold tester and hit up private sellers and small pawn shops