What is the best and cheapest place to buy gold bars online?

Is he close to any of these locations?
(This list used to be much longer, not sure why it's changed.)

You can also check the BBB to see the reputation of coin dealers.

In some states, you may need to pay sales tax based on how much you're buying. For example, in California, anything under $2,000 is subject to sales tax.
learn.apmex.com

California Bullion Sales Taxes - APMEX

California requires the collection of tax on certain Precious Metals. We provide you with information on taxable products in California.
learn.apmex.com learn.apmex.com
 
Wompus9 said:
15% isn’t much when you consider the risks. Imagine your friend buys a gold bar stamped with ‘Credit Suisse,’ only to find out later that it’s just gold-plated lead, worth little more than scrap metal. To avoid this, at the very least, bring a magnet when buying gold in person. Fake silver coins are often steel-cored with thick silver plating, and while gold fakes may use different methods, a magnet is still a good precaution.

Also, know the expected weight of the item and bring an accurate scale to check for yourself.
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An ultrasound detector is the only reliable method to tell for sure, even with gold bullion coins, where this tool used to be foolproof:

Fake Gold Coin

NEWSFLASH! We’ve discovered a fake Gold Eagle 1oz…
goldcoinbalance.com goldcoinbalance.com
 
If you decide to buy coins, you can choose from well-known mints (though there might be some mailing restrictions, I'm not sure). While they won't be priced just by the gold value, at least you'll be getting authentic coins that are visually stunning.
 
Costco now offers gold for sale, and I believe some Swedish banks do too.

But the real question is: once you own it, who can you sell it to for a fair price?
 
Blonxo7! said:
Your friend might not realize that buying and selling gold with cash at coin shops has to be reported to the IRS.
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That's not correct. Just like buying any collectible, purchasing coins doesn’t automatically get reported to the IRS. I've never had to fill out a government form for buying coins.

If a cash transaction goes over $10k, then a form is required, but that’s the case for nearly every business, not just with bullion.

Why are you implying that he's doing something illegal? The government itself makes and sells gold coins. If they didn’t want people buying them, why would they be producing them?
 
Blonxo7! said:
When he makes a purchase, Form 8300 gets sent to FINCEN. When he sells, the IRS receives a 1099.

And as others have mentioned, structuring is illegal.
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For more than 15 years, we made deposits nearly every week that needed the 8300 form. We never had any issues or heard anything from anyone during that time.
 
ZapfrostX said:
That's not correct. Just like buying any collectible, purchasing coins doesn’t automatically get reported to the IRS. I've never had to fill out a government form for buying coins.

If a cash transaction goes over $10k, then a form is required, but that’s the case for nearly every business, not just with bullion.

Why are you implying that he's doing something illegal? The government itself makes and sells gold coins. If they didn’t want people buying them, why would they be producing them?
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I'm not suggesting he's involved in anything illegal. What I'm getting at is that someone who hides all their money might not want forms like 8300 for gold buys or 1099s for sales being filed. For example, they'd have to show ID, and it's likely they don't have one. People who keep their money under the mattress generally avoid any involvement with the system."
 
Blorz!n7 said:
I'm not suggesting he's involved in anything illegal. What I'm getting at is that someone who hides all their money might not want forms like 8300 for gold buys or 1099s for sales being filed. For example, they'd have to show ID, and it's likely they don't have one. People who keep their money under the mattress generally avoid any involvement with the system."
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I've never needed to show ID or fill out any forms. It's no different than buying something at a local jewelry store—no government paperwork or ID required.

The 8300 form is only needed for cash transactions over $10,000, and it applies to all types of purchases, not just gold or silver.

If you sell something and make a profit, you do need to report that to the IRS, but that's the case for anything you sell, not just bullion. Whether you're flipping a car or a house, the same rules apply.
 
Blorz!n7 said:
I'm not suggesting he's involved in anything illegal. What I'm getting at is that someone who hides all their money might not want forms like 8300 for gold buys or 1099s for sales being filed. For example, they'd have to show ID, and it's likely they don't have one. People who keep their money under the mattress generally avoid any involvement with the system."
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When we bought gold and silver, there were no 8300 forms. Similarly, there were no 1099 forms when we sold them. The only time ID is needed is for shipping and insurance when buying or selling online.

ZapfrostX said:
I've never needed to show ID or fill out any forms. It's no different than buying something at a local jewelry store—no government paperwork or ID required.

The 8300 form is only needed for cash transactions over $10,000, and it applies to all types of purchases, not just gold or silver.

If you sell something and make a profit, you do need to report that to the IRS, but that's the case for anything you sell, not just bullion. Whether you're flipping a car or a house, the same rules apply.
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That's exactly how it went for us.
 
If you want to pay with cash, the best option for OP is to visit local coin or bullion shops.

Alternatively, JM Bullion accepts money orders if that’s more convenient.

Blorz!n7 said:
I'm not suggesting he's involved in anything illegal. What I'm getting at is that someone who hides all their money might not want forms like 8300 for gold buys or 1099s for sales being filed. For example, they'd have to show ID, and it's likely they don't have one. People who keep their money under the mattress generally avoid any involvement with the system."
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Did you pay in cash? You gave them a bundle of bills adding up to more than $10,000?
 
ZapfrostX said:
The 8300 form is only needed for cash transactions over $10,000, and it applies to all types of purchases, not just gold or silver.

If you sell something and make a profit, you do need to report that to the IRS, but that's the case for anything you sell, not just bullion. Whether you're flipping a car or a house, the same rules apply.
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I get that. We're on the same page. The issue here is that the guy has a lot of cash he wants to turn into something else, and if it's more than $10k, it’s going to trigger a form that gets sent to the government. He probably doesn’t want that. That’s all I’m pointing out.

The last time I had more than $10k in cash, I took it to the bank, deposited it, and while the teller was handling the transaction, I had to fill out the CTR. For me, and probably for you, it’s no big deal. But for someone who’s off the grid, it’s important to be aware of that ahead of time.
 
He should look into the sales tax laws in his state. Does his state have sales tax? And would this gold purchase be taxed? I’m familiar with the laws in my state for silver bullion. Here, if you buy less than $1000 worth of bullion, there’s a 6.25% sales tax. But if it’s over $1000, there’s no tax. He should do some research for his own state and for gold.
 
Blorz!n7 said:
I get that. We're on the same page. The issue here is that the guy has a lot of cash he wants to turn into something else, and if it's more than $10k, it’s going to trigger a form that gets sent to the government. He probably doesn’t want that. That’s all I’m pointing out.

The last time I had more than $10k in cash, I took it to the bank, deposited it, and while the teller was handling the transaction, I had to fill out the CTR. For me, and probably for you, it’s no big deal. But for someone who’s off the grid, it’s important to be aware of that ahead of time.
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We’re actually not on the same page, which is why I wanted to clarify things. You’re making general statements that buying gold coins means he'll automatically have to fill out forms with the IRS, and also implying he might be doing something illegal, like structuring.
Blonxo7! said:
And as others have mentioned, structuring is illegal.
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And also insinuating he's involved in illegal activity, structuring.

Again, I have bought gold coins and have never filled anything out with the IRS. If you want to say "over $10k in cash for any purchase at a business (for anything, not just gold) they will have additional government paperwork and if he makes a profit off anything he buys (not just gold), he has to pay taxes on it" we're in "violent" agreement.

Someone wanting to buy a few gold coins for themselves doesn't need to be looked at like some criminal act. The federal government actively encourages it with all sorts of promotions to sell bullion coins.

 
I've used California Numismatics, now known as Gold Dealer. They buy back the items they sell, which helps solve the liquidity problem and ensures the provenance is clear. You can check them out here: https://www.golddealer.com/

Gold Money was also worth looking into years ago. They tried to use gold holdings for cash transactions, somewhat like cryptocurrency, but that was about 20 years ago. I used their service for a couple of years, but when they stopped offering ACH payments and switched to wire transfers, the fees became too high for my small investment. Here's their website if you're curious: https://www.goldmoney.com/why-goldmoney
 
ZapfrostX said:
We’re actually not on the same page, which is why I wanted to clarify things. You’re making general statements that buying gold coins means he'll automatically have to fill out forms with the IRS, and also implying he might be doing something illegal, like structuring.

And also insinuating he's involved in illegal activity, structuring.
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Okay, whatever. I’m just trying to be helpful and point out something the friend might want to know. I’ll let you win whatever argument you’re trying to have with me.
 
Thraxel12 said:
Did you pay in cash? You gave them a bundle of bills adding up to more than $10,000?
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As mentioned earlier, we never purchased more than $10,000 worth at a time. For most of our transactions, we used JM Bullion.
 
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