Monthly gold purchase UK-Singapore

[Deleted User]

Hello,

Recently I placed an order with BullionStar (gold bullion merchant in Singapore) and want to query how I can manage future payments.

Initially I tried to send payment via Monzo whom utilise "TransferWise" as transfer fees with them are very low, however when I attempted to enter BullionStar's bank account number it stated that it was not valid. As such I had to resort to using HSBC which cost substantially more.

I contacted Monzo, whom referred me to Transferwise whom stated the following;

"If I understand you right you are trying to send GBP to an account in Singapore. TransferWise can send GBP to outside the UK but unfortunately to a limited number of countries. We can't currently send GBP to Singapore. The full list of supported countries can be found here. It is also good to keep in mind that sending money not in the local currency (GBP isn't the local currency in Singapore) the money will be transferred as an international transfer meaning it would be slow and expensive. We always recommend to transfer money to the local currency."

Ultimately I want to make this a monthly payment as an investment. My question is, what is the cheapest way I can transfer funds from the UK to a Singapore bank account, specifically" DBS Bank". For reference, the only accounts I currently have are with HSBC and Monzo. 

Kind regards. 

DiggerUK

OK first poster, welcome.
Can I ask why the heck you are buying gold in Singapore, which entails fx charges, when you could simply buy it here in UK, put it in your baggage and take it with you to Singapore..._

[Deleted User]

DiggerUK said:

OK first poster, welcome.
Can I ask why the heck you are buying gold in Singapore, which entails fx charges, when you could simply buy it here in UK, put it in your baggage and take it with you to Singapore..._

Hi, 
Thanks for replying. 
Originally I started buying gold bars (not really bars in the sense of the word, more like flakes 😂). I then wanted to purchase via some sort of savings plan. As such BullionStar offers a "BSP" program, and the prices are extremely competitive. Ultimately I decided to go with them.....and maybe slightly for the thrill of owing gold (grams) offshore. 😁

DiggerUK

Their prices are not competitive. It also appears you have delivery charges.
If that's what you want to do, fine, you'd be better served buying here..._ 

https://atkinsonsbullion.com/gold/gold-bars

kangoora

Confused here, why not buy british gold coins in the UK from a UK dealer. No fx charges, you can look at your nice shiny coins in your own home, no CGT when you come to sell (assuming gold prices continue to rise) and finally, how much will it cost to ship the gold back to you and insure it from Singapore - unless you just plan on owning gold in another country, paying for storage/insurance (presumably) and then selling it there.............

I really don't see the point at all

Edit: I used to browse general auctions a while ago and gold coins would regularly pop in them but I never paid much attention. Presumably at auction, unless a rare coin, you would be able to buy at spot price unless you get carried away?

shaun_from_Africa

kangoora said:

Edit: I used to browse general auctions a while ago and gold coins would regularly pop in them but I never paid much attention. Presumably at auction, unless a rare coin, you would be able to buy at spot price unless you get carried away?

Did they actually refer to them as gold coins or were they "yellow metal" as in the example below:
https://www.dawsonsauctions.co.uk/auction/lot/748-a-yellow-metal-mounted-classical-coin-depicting-a-/?lot=19641&so=0&st=&sto=0&au=30&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=1&pp=48&pn=16&g=1
I used to buy a lot from auctions (never any gold or jewellery) and such coins were always "yellow metal" and never "gold" due to the possibility of being counterfeit.

doe808

This makes no sense, for the fx reason alone.

[Deleted User]

DiggerUK said:

Their prices are not competitive. It also appears you have delivery charges.
If that's what you want to do, fine, you'd be better served buying here..._ 

AtkinsonBullion

Hi, 
The reason I chose BullionStar is because of their savings program and competitive prices. For example, as of today's prices they sell 1g of gold via BSP for £50, whereas AtkinsonBullion are are selling the equivalent for £68.43p.

I would much prefer to buy via a UK business, and from looking at the replies to my question, it would appear that a low cost way of transferring money to Singapore is not possible, and so I will have to double efforts to find a similar gold savings plan closer to home.

Just to clarify for some of the other posters, I am solely doing this as an investment, somewhere to put a little money each month that won't be too sorely missed, over several years, as such I have no desire to store any gold at home and so storage prices are another deciding factor for me. 

Many thanks. 

EdGasketTheSecond

Why don't you use BullionVault? You can buy in GBP and store in Singapore if you want to. The fees are the same % whether you buy £100 or £10000 of gold so you can buy each month though there is no savings plan as such; you'd just manage that yourself.

[Deleted User]

EdGasketTheSecond said:

Why don't you use BullionVault? You can buy in GBP and store in Singapore if you want to. The fees are the same % whether you buy £100 or £10000 of gold so you can buy each month though there is no savings plan as such; you'd just manage that yourself.

Hi, 
I have just had a look at BullionVault and their spot prices are a little better at £47.45p per gram. Their storage prices are a little higher at 0.14% however that is negligible. The biggest issue however is that they have a minimum purchase amount of 10grams per transaction. 

[Deleted User]

Hi, 
For anyone whom is interested I found Instarem.com which allows me to send direct from my UK bank to Singapore with no fees, and the conversion rate is comparable to TransferWise. 

I was given the following breakdown;
You Send - 250 GBP

Fee (With Bank Transfer Method) - 0 GBP

Conversion Amount - 250 GBP

Conversion Rate GBP/SGD - 1.7878

Recipient Receives - 446.95 SGD

I think I'll give them a try in the absence of anything better.