New Zealand - Best Places To Buy Gold

Many people find that the best places to buy gold in the world are not in their own country. Some people prefer shopping from the comfort of their own home and why wouldn't you with excellent customer service, quick shipping and some of the best prices in the business?

For as long as human beings have been storing wealth gold and other precious metals have been a popular option. Because of the non-expiring shelf life and limited, controlled supply (virtually all of the gold pieces produced throughout history are still in circulation, and gold mines usually only add 1 or 2% to the total stockpile of the market every year), gold maintains its purchasing power over the long-term.   

Buying gold is one of the best ways to round out your financial investment portfolio. Silver is also seen as a safe haven by many, although perhaps not as 'pocket-able' as gold bars or coins. Unlike gold, silver is used in a lot of industrial applications. These are things such as solar panels, semiconductors and medical devices which heavily impacts the supply of silver available for individual investment purposes. As a result, the silver price is subject to more extreme fluctuations than gold. In other words, silver has a higher risk/reward ratio. I like gold because it is small enough to carry in your pocket in high enough amounts to be useful. Try pocketing a few thousand dollars worth of silver THEN see if you too, prefer to hold gold instead!  

The historical fact is that gold, silver and other precious metals do very well in times of inflation and political strife because it is REAL money, unlike many financial 'products' and fiat currencies. While traditional, stock market products can oscillate wildly because of external factors, gold, silver and platinum usually only become more valuable. For investors who prefer the non-physical approach to investing you can certainly buy stocks in gold and silver that are traded daily just like any other stocks are on a stock exchange. However, most people prefer to also keep a physical store of their precious gold and silver to be available to be used when necessary.

It can be a little bit daunting to start investing in silver and gold, but there are a few different ways to go about it. You can purchase shares of mining companies that produce gold and/or silver or purchase shares of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the price of gold and silver or actually buy real, hold-it-in-your-hand, physical gold or silver bars and coins. My personal position is to HOLD it literally and physically. Shares or options are electronic 'money' and are subject to the same wild fluctuations as the stock market so are too scary for me personally. If you know what you are doing on the stock market then you would be a better fit to own gold shares. Often, people hold physical goldin addition to gold shares to hedge their bets, so to speak.

Like so many other high ticket products, you will be prompted to set up an account on the seller's website, then buying gold online really is as easy as point-and-click. The high end dealers always have a well-organized website with good navigation to easily find and compare products by category (for example, by bullion, weight, coins, out-of-mint coins, etc.) 

When you find the gold product you want, just click into the listing to review all the details. As with any online shop, you can add it to your cart or just buy it now. You can then alter the quantity if you want or add more items to your cart. From there you just click through to checkout.  

The special thing to note about buying gold online is that once you start the checkout process with most dealers, your price is locked in for a short time, usually just 10 to 15 minutes. You should complete your purchase before that price expires because after that your cart page will refresh and you see the price will have adjusted up or down, based on the live market price. Once you complete checkout, you will receive an email confirmation along with ongoing, email shipping notifications.