You just purchased your first gold bar from a local retail store. Now what? As a first-time gold buyer, you have questions. Do you buy more? Do you sell yours when the price goes up? Will the price go up? Luckily, we are here to help you find the answers and guide you through the next steps of owning this exciting investment.
Is gold a good investment?
Gold is a stable and secure investment that has been used as a store of wealth and a form of currency for centuries. When inflation is high, or the economy is facing uncertainty, gold has been used as protection against financial crises. It often moves inversely to the stock market, and gold’s value increases when the U.S. dollar’s value declines.
In the last five years, gold’s value has increased by 88.65%, while the S&P 500 has experienced an increase of 83.61%. In 2024 alone, gold’s price has increased by over 16%, making it one of the best investments of the year so far.
Explore our price pages to track the price of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
Related Articles
Understanding the gold market starts with answering some of the most fundamental questions. We have built a great library of resources answering some of the most common questions first-time gold buyers ask.
- How is the gold spot price determined?
- What is premium over spot?
- What is a troy ounce?
- What is the bid price vs. the ask price?
- Why buy physical gold and silver?
- How much should I buy?
- Which precious metals should I buy?
- When should I buy it?
- How do I know my gold is real?
- What are the risks of buying gold?
- Do I have to pay taxes when I buy gold?
- Do I have to pay taxes when I sell gold?
Our Knowledge Center is updated monthly with new articles and answers to questions about gold, silver, numismatics, and more. Additionally, you can join our newsletter to get exciting updates and educational articles straight to your inbox.
What should I do with my new gold?
After you’ve bought your first gold bar or round, you may wonder what to do with it. For starters, if it came in tamper-evident packaging or a protective case of some sort, don’t remove it. These cases and packages help preserve the condition of the precious metal, helping it retain its value and protecting it from damage. While gold is highly resistant to tarnishing, keeping it in a case or TEP can protect it from dents or scratches that can occur from handling. Now, you will need to make sure your gold is stored properly to keep it safe from intruders and potential environmental damage.
How do I store my gold?
Store your gold in a safe location that is hidden and well secured. Buying a home safe that locks will deter most petty criminals, and maintaining secrecy will lower the chances of unwanted visitors looking for your valuable collection. Add desiccant packets to prevent humidity from affecting your precious metals.
If you’re uncomfortable with storing valuable gold or silver in your home, we have insured, secure storage options with minimal fees and easy access to your precious metals.
Citadel Depository
Storing your gold in a depository is an option if you want to invest in the precious metal but not keep it at home. Our storage solution is Citadel Depository, a wholly owned subsidiary of APMEX that provides maximum-security storage and insurance for your precious metals. This private storage facility is managed by Brink’s, one of the world’s leading security companies.
How much is my gold worth?
After you’ve bought and stored your gold properly, you will want to know what it’s worth. Modern investors are accustomed to seeing the value of stocks, bonds, and retirement accounts in real time with a simple login to their brokerage account. Keeping track of the price of your physical bullion can be more complicated, especially if you own more than one troy ounce, fractional gold or silver, or invested in a bar measured in grams. This becomes a problem when you want to resell your gold, but don’t know what it is worth.
To combat this issue, you can use our unique portfolio tool. The tool allows you to track your portfolio in real time and automatically calculates your portfolio’s value, giving you confidence when negotiating a sell price. You can enter your holdings manually, or the portfolio tracker will seamlessly integrate with your future APMEX orders. This feature lets you follow your gold and silver portfolio in real-time as spot prices fluctuate.
Create an account from our website or app to begin using the portfolio tracker to find out what your gold collection is worth. As a bonus, creating an account automatically makes you a member of the industry’s most exclusive club, the Bullion Club.
Sign Up Online
Create an account online to begin using our portfolio tracker. From the account page, scroll down to the “holdings” tab, and then click “Add New Asset Holding.” You’ll then be prompted to enter details about your metals, such as where you purchased them, what they are, number of ounces, acquisition cost, and the quantity.
Sign Up on the APMEX App
To sign up for the portfolio tracker on our APMEX app, you first must download the app from the App Store or Google Play. Create an account, find the settings, and click the Portfolio Tool. You will then click “Add New Asset,” and enter the details of your holdings. Download the app to experience this, other tools, and app-only promotions.
Will my gold increase in value?
The value of your gold can increase over time, particularly during periods of economic uncertainty and inflation. However, predicting future price movements is challenging. Many factors, including geopolitical tensions and currency devaluations, can drive gold prices up. Other factors, such as rising interest rates and a strong U.S. dollar, can exert downward pressure. Therefore, while gold prices can increase, it is important to consider the asset as part of a diversified investment strategy.
To stay informed and current about market conditions that affect your precious metals portfolio, subscribe to our YouTube channel. There, you will find a weekly video that tackles some of the industry’s hardest-hitting questions. We go over events that affect the prices of gold and silver, such as interest rates, supply and demand, and the Fed’s decisions during their FOMC meetings.
Buying More Gold
If you decide to purchase more gold, there are a few questions you must ask yourself. Are you just planning to pick up commemorative gold pieces, or are you investing in an asset class to preserve your wealth and protect against inflation? How much do you want and how often are you going to buy it? When it comes to precious metals investing, it is helpful to have a plan or strategy guiding your future buying habits. Click the links below to explore each question in more detail.
Why Buy Physical Gold and Silver?
The top reasons people invest in physical metals is because they offer stability during volatile times and hold their value, helping protect assets and safeguard wealth. Decide why you want to buy more gold before purchasing to avoid buyer’s remorse or making hasty decisions.
How Much Gold and Silver Should You Have?
Determining how much gold and silver to include in your portfolio is a personal decision influenced by various factors. Expert recommendations suggest an optimal range between 5% and 20% of your portfolio, but you must tailor your precious metals allocation to your specific goals.
Which Precious Metals Should You Buy?
Choosing the right gold or silver products can feel overwhelming. Explore the unique advantages of each form to simplify the decision-making process and help align your choices with your financial goals.
When to Buy Gold and Silver?
When you buy more precious metals, are you going to try and time the market or practice dollar-cost-averaging? Is there a better time of year to buy it? Deciding when to buy must be based on your personal investment goals and budget.
Ways to Buy Gold
Buying gold today is easier today than ever before. The best way to buy gold and silver is through a reputable dealer you can trust with an established history. APMEX has been in business for over 20 years and has the largest precious metals assortment of any gold or silver retailer. You can shop on our website and get free shipping for any order over $200 or use the APMEX App for fast buying and great deals. In addition to shopping on our website or app, we offer numerous other ways to buy gold or silver that offer excellent benefits and allow you to build wealth with precious metals. If you prefer to exclusively buy metal in person, we recommend avoiding pawn shops and focusing on retailers with a positive reputation.
AutoInvest
Our AutoInvest program allows you to set up recurring purchases of your favorite precious metals products. This convenient option allows you to stack over time and build your holdings. Our program is designed to allow you to incrementally build your holdings at your pace to reach your investment goals automatically, saving you time and giving you the benefits of dollar cost averaging.
OneGold
OneGold is a platform that offers a modern way to buy, sell, and manage precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum. OneGold offers digital ownership of precious metals backed by physical metals stored in secure, insured vaults. Users can buy, sell, and trade these metals 24/7 through the OneGold app or website, benefiting from real-time pricing and low transaction costs.
How do I sell my gold?
Imagine the price of gold has increased by $500 per ounce since you bought it, which is close to the amount it increased in the first six months of 2024. You feel like that is a pretty good return on your investment, and you’d like to cash in your gold for a profit. If you bought the gold from a local retail store, you might wonder if you can sell it back to them. However, big box stores don’t buy back gold, and there are no returns.
To sell your gold, you can approach pawn shops or create listings on online marketplaces, but each of these opens you up to potential issues. People can sell their PMs peer to peer to get the best possible deals, but it requires work and trust, and counterfeiting is a real concern. Pawn shops are notorious for paying out a fraction of what you could get and should be avoided as much as feasible. A trustworthy local coin shop can be a blessing for those who want to do business in person, but the quality of service and offers will vary. Depending on the cash position of the shop, they may not be able to buy back the amount customers are willing to sell. There are also some products a local coin shop will avoid buying back because they think it may take a long time to resell.
So, what’s the alternative?
APMEX can offer consistency, security and convenience in a transparent, easy to follow process no matter where our customers live. We also have the largest, most comprehensive inventory of any bullion dealer, which means we’re more likely to accept even esoteric collectibles. These factors make us one of the best places to resell gold when the time is right, and liquid cash is needed.
Using our buyback program is a fast and easy way to get paid for your metal while improving your status in our Bullion Club. Moving up between tiers in the club requires buying or selling a certain amount, and each tier opens you up to new and lucrative benefits. Becoming a member of the Bullion Club is as easy as signing up for an account, and higher tiers receive annual anniversary gifts, exclusive offers, dedicated support and special pricing.
The Next Steps
As a first-time gold buyer, your next steps are learning as much as possible about the market and its movements. Our Knowledge Center is a great resource to find information about investing in precious metals, and our YouTube channel is another way to learn about recent events affecting the market. Sign up for our industry newsletter for the latest news and information regarding precious metals.
