Tips on buying and selling gold for the short term

masonic

Albermarle said:

GotPrincess said:

masonic said:

If you are happy with the prospect of only getting £3k for the gold you bought with £5k a while earlier, then there are plenty of options to buy and sell close to the spot price.

It is a common question on the forum, see:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6343947/gold-coins

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6275772/buying-gold-sovereigns

etc

It would be unwise to buy bars, as these are subject to capital gains tax if sold for a profit.

Totally get what ya mean however I would not sell it if it dropped in such a chunk in a short time so the ideal is to buy coins over bars 

You can easily buy and sell ETF's ( investment funds) that follow the price of gold.
So no worries about storing gold coins in your house ( presume you would have to tell your house insurer and buy a safe) 

Unless I am misunderstanding the OP, the objective is to put the money into something that isn't too easy to sell.

InvesterJones

masonic said:

Albermarle said:

GotPrincess said:

masonic said:

If you are happy with the prospect of only getting £3k for the gold you bought with £5k a while earlier, then there are plenty of options to buy and sell close to the spot price.

It is a common question on the forum, see:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6343947/gold-coins

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6275772/buying-gold-sovereigns

etc

It would be unwise to buy bars, as these are subject to capital gains tax if sold for a profit.

Totally get what ya mean however I would not sell it if it dropped in such a chunk in a short time so the ideal is to buy coins over bars 

You can easily buy and sell ETF's ( investment funds) that follow the price of gold.
So no worries about storing gold coins in your house ( presume you would have to tell your house insurer and buy a safe) 

Unless I am misunderstanding the OP, the objective is to put the money into something that isn't too easy to sell.

Yet also "easy to convert back into cash if I need it quickly".  I'd go with gilts over gold in the OPs place - no tax on capital gain, best held to maturity but possible to sell if needed quickly.

k12479

Lots of sensible advice already given.

If the OP insists on proceeding though, the most obvious choices are UK coins, Britannias or Sovereigns. Alternatively, some jewellery, second hand to avoid the large mark up, no emotional attachment, just gold no stones, etc, simple non-controversial design, known weight and carat so it can be easily valued and pawned or sold, if needed.

GotPrincess

daveyjp said:

You may as well go and buy casino chips.  They also produce no investment income, but they can't be spent anywhere and you do at least get back what you pay for them.

This might be a idea u know

Adyinvestment

I like physical gold, this forum in general does not

I am actually in the process of liquidating some and will share my experience.

First only look at Britannia's and Sovereigns, I can not stress how important this is, apart from being CGT free these are the only 2 coins where you will get anywhere close to the same premium you paid at a dealer, avoid proofs, foreign coins, bars etc unless you want to sell privately and even then possible CGT to deal with.

Fractional Britannia's and sovereigns are okay if on a budget but they attract a bit more premium to buy and you will not get this back when you sell to a dealer (in fact you would get very slightly less for 2 half sovereigns than 1 full sovereign)

Avoid the Royal Mint and stick with well know online dealers, the best prices over the last 3 years have been Atkinsons and Chards, they also seem to offer the best prices to buy back (I have had offers at 1% over spot from Atkinsons at busy times)

Buy whatever currently has the lowest premium, buy back prices are the same for a circulated old sovereign as they are for a shiny limited edition new one, such as a Queens Jubilee or Crowned Charles (this is in reference to dealers, you may get more on eBay etc)

I have just sold my first 2 Britannia's, both were painless but different.

1. I wanted to see if I could get physical cash.
I made an appointment at my closest physical coin shop after ringing up and asking the days price, their price was about 4% under spot but they had cash to pay. Went to the shop which was easy and after they checked the coin was good they paid straight away in cash (I had asked for this). I was disappointed that they needed photo ID but it was that or no sale.

2. I wanted best price and ease.
Went online to Atkinsons clicked to see their price for the coin which was 1% under spot at this time and filled in their online form and printed off packing slip.
Packed in padded envelope and went to local post office, the price to post with next day £2500 insurance was over £18 (this was much cheaper for £750 insurance which would cover a sovereign)
Atkinsons confirmed by text all okay next day and did a bank transfer to my bank.


I wanted to sell these through dealers first to see how easy it was, and it was pretty straightforward.

You probably could achieve a little higher prices on eBay but I didn't want the added risk.

Also made a tidy profit on both coins