The Gold Buyer's True-Cost Checklist

1. Premium over spot — in percent, out loud

• Ask the seller the premium over today's spot, as a %.
• Sanity-check it: ~2–4% on 1 oz bars, ~4–8% on sovereign coins, 12–20%+ on fractional coins.
• Anything at 30%, 50% or 100%+ (‘proof’, ‘exclusive’, ‘semi-numismatic’) is a markup, not a privilege — walk.

2. Bid/ask spread — the cost you feel when you sell

• Ask what they will buy it back at today. If they won't say, that's your answer.
• Normal round-trip: coins ~4–7%, bars ~3–6%, largest bars ~1–2%.
• Remember gold must rise by the spread before you break even.

3. Storage — mind the monthly minimum

• Allocated vaulted storage runs ~0.12–0.22%/yr, insurance included.
• On small balances the monthly minimum dominates: $10/mo on $5,000 = 2.4%/yr drag.
• Price storage on the amount you're actually investing, not the headline rate.

4. Ownership — allocated, not a pool

• Confirm it's fully allocated: specific bars, in your name, segregated from the operator.
• Unallocated ‘pool’ gold is a claim — you're an unsecured creditor if the company fails.
• If gold is your insurance against institutions failing, unallocated defeats the purpose.

5. The scam red flags — memorise them

• Fear + urgency: ‘the dollar is collapsing’, ‘limited mintage’, ‘buy before the deadline’.
• The switch: steering you off low-premium bullion onto high-margin collectible coins.
• The rollover push: aggressive IRA/401(k) pitches where the markup hides in the coin price.
• Opacity: won't quote the premium or the buy-back in numbers.