Bitgold/Goldmoney vs Anthem Vault vs UPMA gold vaulting

Discussion in 'Currencies' started by RogueBeeKeeper, Feb 7, 2017.

  1. RogueBeeKeeper

    RogueBeeKeeper New Member

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    There is some debate within my circle of friends when it comes to these three vaulting services. The companies are UPMA (United Precious Metals Association), Goldmoney, and AnthemVault. I'm going to compare the three against each other in terms of pricing only. If this blog gets attention then I may compare other aspects of these companies business models in future posts.

    Pricing:

    Goldmoney charges 1% in and 1% out. They offer a debit card to do this. They took this business model when they merged with Bitgold. A person depositing $10,000 one time will have $9,900 in their account (assuming no price movement). If they deposit $1,000 each month, and then use the account as a slush fund that they pull $1,000 back from every month then they will pay 1% both times. Vaulting is uniquely free with Goldmoney though.

    Total Cost: $220 (1% of total deposits) + $120 (1% of total withdrawals), $0 for vaulting, for a grand total of $340 in one year.

    Pros: No Vaulting or Membership Costs, has a close-loop payment system, Debit Card
    Cons: You pay heavily for any movement

    AnthemVault sells gold for spot price and buys it back for 1%. This is half the cost of Goldmoney. A person depositing $10,000 can sell it back for $9,900 (assuming no price movement). If they deposit $1,000 each month, then use their account as a slush fund that they pull $1,000 back from every month then they will pay 1% once. Vaulting over the year costs 0.36% They don't get hit with the one percent fee twice though.

    Total Cost: $120 (1% of total deposits sold, the $10,000 is still there remember) + $40 in vaulting fees (based off an average account balance of $11,000) for a grand total of $160 in one year.

    Pros: Low Overall Costs (half of Goldmoney)
    Cons: No Debit Card, No close-loop payment system, More limited services overall

    UPMA (United Precious Metals Association) offers a 0% buy/sell spread. This means that they don't charge anything for turning gold back into cash. A person depositing $10,000 can sell it back for $10,000 (assuming no price movement). If they deposit $1,000 each month, then use their account as a slush fund that they pull $1,000 back from every month then they will pay 0% for the movement. There is a membership fee of $2.50 per month (which covers the first two coins) and then an additional vaulting/insurance fee of 25 cents per coin per month.

    Total Cost: $0 for the spread/movement, $44 in vaulting fees (based on an average account balance of $11,000) for a grand total of $44 in one year.

    Pros: Zero/Buy Sell Spread, Debit Card, close-looped payment system
    Cons: Only service with a flat membership fee of $2.50 making it unattractive for accounts worth less than $2,000.

    Analysis:


    Goldmoney costs money every time you move it in or out. If you let $1,000 sit there for 10 years though it will do better here than the other two services. This is the largest company of the three to my knowledge.

    AnthemVault seems to be the middle of the road company. Their vaulting fees are nearly identical to UPMA, minus the membership fee. This is a great account if you just have $1,000 and don't care to have a debit card or if you don't want to pay someone else in gold.

    UPMA is by far the least expensive due to zero/buy sell spreads under the above scenario. They are also the worst for a $1,000 account with little movement. They shine when used for working capital, or as a back-up highly liquid savings account.

    If you find this helpful or see an obvious error then please let me know in the comments. I tried my best to be fair to each company by pointing out pros and cons on all of them. They all appear to be good legitimate services.
     
  2. clear

    clear Well-Known Member

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    excellent, so how does UPMA make a profit.
     
  3. RogueBeeKeeper

    RogueBeeKeeper New Member

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    That was my question. They say that about 70% of their membership eventually takes physical possession and at that moment they had sold them gold or silver for a standard premium. Also, that 0% buy/sell spread is limited to $10,000 in any 30 day period. That means if you have $100,000 that you need to turn in to cash all at once that there is a spread of about 2% on the remaining $90,000. In the meantime they make vaulting+membership fees. 10,000 funded members generates $25,000 a month. They did a pretty good job hiding their profits though.
     
  4. zedstrange

    zedstrange Member

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    I have been using Bitgold now GoldMoney personal account, for a couple of years. I have just been sticking $50pm into it just for a bit of casual diversification and a cunning kick.

    They say the deposit/withdrawal price is
    "As little as 0.5% deposit and redemption fees above spot price"

    I have never checked whether this was true or not until now. Yesterday I looked at some hypothetical transactions for deposits and their price is about 3% over the kitco live Ask price. Redemptions was the same, about 3% below Kitco Bid price.

    Thats quite a spread for something they advertise as been 0.5% above spot. I feel dirty now.

    Seems this is their explanation
    https://support.goldmoney.com/customer/portal/articles/1871471
     

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