It can be confusing for first time investors looking to buy silver rounds online. Whether looking for silver bars, silver rounds, or government minted products like American Silver Eagles on Canadian Silver Maple Leafs, the pricing that online bullion dealers show is confusing.
Silver and gold bullion prices are based on “spot price”. Spot price is the price per ounce that the precious metals are trading at on the COMEX commodities exchange.
Online bullion dealers and many local coin stores will base their pricing on spot price. Spot price is the per ounce value of the silver or gold bullion.
Dealers then add a premium on top of the spot price. One way to think of the premium is that it includes the cost of selling, marketing and other operating costs for the dealer plus their profit margin.
Why do online bullion dealers charge different prices for different payment methods?
The cost of accepting different payment methods have differing costs. Generally speaking, payment methods like PayPal and Credit Cards cost merchants and online bullion dealers as much as 4% of the total cost of each transaction.
Cryptocurrency payment methods, which include services like Bitpay, allow dealers to accept Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and other cryto payment methods also charge merchants on a per transaction basis.
This can be confusing to first time precious metal buyers. Online bullion dealers pass the fees along to the buyer. This is standard practice throughout the industry and you will see these different prices reflected when you browse online bullion dealer websites.
The Cheapest way to Buy Silver Rounds Online
Many beginning precious metals investors look to buy silver rounds online. Silver rounds are popular because of their size, simple denomination, shape and the value they represent.
Generic Silver rounds also can be found with some of the lowest dealer premiums over spot price which makes them attractive to many investors, preppers and silver stackers.
The cheapest way to buy silver rounds from most online bullion dealers is to pay via check or money order. This may seem a bit backwards because most people have become accustom to paying for online purchases with credit cards.
When you buy silver rounds online with a check or money order you must mail the payment to the dealer. This can take up to a week for the dealer to receive the payment. Another week for the payment to clear. Then another week for the dealer to finalize the processing of the order and send out your purchase. It can take upwards of three weeks to month from the time you order until you receive your bullion purchase.
Many dealers have begun offering an e-check payment method which speeds up the process some. Paying for silver rounds with an e-check is basically an ACH transfer between your bank and the bullion dealer’s bank.
Paying with e-check eliminates the mailing time and some of the processing time associated with buying silver rounds with a check.
The Fastest way to Buy Silver Rounds Online
Most people who buy silver rounds online want to receive their purchase as quickly as possible. In order to receive your online bullion purchases quickly it means that you’ll need to pay with a payment method that incurs some additional cost. That means paying for your silver rounds with PayPal or Credit Card.
Paying for silver rounds online with PayPal or Credit Cards clears your payment the fastest. Payments are usually processed by the dealers within 24 hours. That means that your silver rounds are usually shipped by the dealer within a day of receiving your order and payment. Often your order will ship out the same or the next day after you place your order.
Benefits of Using a Credit Card to Buy Silver Rounds Online
While paying with PayPal or credit cards does incur an additional fee it does have several benefits.
Credit card and PayPal payments allow your bullion purchase to ship quickly so you will receive it faster than if you pay by check or money order.
Both credit card and PayPal payments also provide you, the buyer, with some security when you buy silver rounds online. PayPal and most credit cards provide a buyer protection guarantee that gives assurance that even if something happens your purchase is protected. Though, buying from a trusted and reputable dealer will also provide assurance. Reputable online bullion dealers aren’t going to risk their reputation on ripping off customers or bad customer service.
Reducing the Premiums You Pay When You Buy Silver Rounds Online
Another reason to use a credit card to buy silver rounds online is that you can earn cash back rewards, airline miles or other loyalty program points. Many credit card companies offer a card that can provide up to 2% cash back on purchases. This cash back reward helps to offset the credit card premium that you pay when you buy silver rounds online.
It is also possible to offset the premium cost when you buy silver rounds online by leveraging other cash back rewards programs. Programs such as eBay Bucks allow you to earn cash back rewards on eBay purchases that can then be used to buy silver rounds.
The normal cash back reward for eBay Bucks is 1% on the purchase price of items bought from listings in eligible categories. The Bullion category is excluded from earning the cash back reward from eBay Bucks, however, many reputable dealers will create alternate listings in other categories which allow you to earn the rewards when you buy silver rounds.
Several times per year eBay runs promotions where they increase the cash back earning of the eBay Bucks program. The promotional bonuses have historically been as high as 15%. Though it is far more common to see promotions of 8% to 10%. That cash back reward from eBay Bucks can offset your investment or be used in the future for additional silver bullion purchases.