Someone posted on another board that Apmex was run by JP Morgan and that got my attention. Upon research the claim it appears that JP Morgan is the banker for Apmex, not the owner. I am not sure what to make of that relationship, but a banking relationship is far different from ownership. I did however run across the following link where the company is claiming that Apmex is stealing its copyrighted images for use on the Apmex web site. Apmex complaint link: http://www.taxfreegold.co.uk/apmexedmondoklahoma.html While researching for Apmex, I saw this link for Gainesville Coins. Considering my experience receiving damaged gold coins from Gainesville and their refusal to take the coins back, I found the complaints credible. Gainesville complaint link: http://golddealerreviews.com/gold-dealers/gainesville-coins/
Meh - Silver Stackers is on that copyright theft list because someone used an image from their website to advertise a coin in a trading thread here. Most of those complaints about Gainesville appear to be related to slow shipping during spot price spikes or a crashing website - the major one that stands out is the one where coins were removed from a package in transit.
I wired money to Gainesville on Sept. 30. Up to now they claim they have not received the money, even though my bank (ANZ) has checked and confirmed that the money has been sent through its system. I have had to follow up with an email to Gainesville's international team every two weeks as they never get back to me unless I follow up. I've learned my lesson at a somewhat hefty price.
File a complaint with the Attorney General's Office Of Florida for theft of funds. A letter from the Attorney General's Office might help them locate the funds.
I've not dealt with Apmex so no comment. I have bought from Gainesville on 8 occassions. Delivery has always been a little lengthy however that was expected and seems to be the norm with most pm dealers. Never had any problems with the orders though. I'll continue to regularly deal with them based on the first hand experience I've had to date.
I have ordered stuff from apmex before. No problems at all. They are easy to work with. Just be sure you know what the spot price and premiums should be if you are ordering over the weekend. They pulled some funny stuff one weekend back in April/May or so when the markets were very volatile to the upside.
My issue was new 1oz gold coins damaged in shipment due to careless packaging, not due to mishandling by the Postal Service. Gainesville refused to take the coins back. When they say that they stand behind their products, they must mean they literally stand behind their products. Because their guarantees are worthless.
From Martin Armstrong "Just when you thought you were living in a free society, the freedoms we once had in the West are crumbling to dust and things could not 1 be taking any worse direction than the latest Monetary Dictatorial Powers as they are unfolding. I began getting wind of something being wrong when a conference attendee from London tried to wire money for his seat. The money went into LIMBO at HSBC and they initially told him they wanted my personal details before they would release the money either to me or return it to the sender. Something was strange for if I had an account in the USA to which funds were to be sent, then the receiving bank was responsible for the "know your client" bullshit. It made no sense that HSBC needed my personal details. Eventually they returned the money to the sender only after a month or so. Then it happened again also from the UK. Then it happened from Hong Kong. Something changed. Why should there be a problem with money coming in from any country. The receiving bank has your details. Since this was the sending bank, they did not legally require my details. It began to smell like a rat. It turns out the USA is now tracking ALL wires coming into the country tracing them back to see if the receiver has an offshore account. Good luck on getting a federal judge to uphold your illegal search and seizure rights. They are so desperate for money; they will do anything anymore. Even if you have a brokerage account overseas and you wire $1 to the USA, it will be traced. Thank you Obama!"
I'm heading to the US later this week (to see that side of the family for Christmas). While over there I intend on placing my first ever order on Apmex (haven't done it before since you need a massive minimum order for them to ship overseas). Probably just some boring stuff like ASEs or maples (can get the Australian stuff cheaper in Australia, obviously), haven't decided. Will let you know how it goes but I've mostly heard good things about them.
For your consideration.............. at any one point in time, look at the price for the same product from APMEX and then also at Gainesville. I've found that for 1oz silver coins, the difference can be as much as $1 between the two (with Gainesville cheaper). Of note, Gainesville's wire transfer price is considerably cheaper (when buying bulk) than the credit card price. The quality of service between the two companies is a seperate issue. As I noted earlier, I have not bought from APMEX yet. But I have bought from Gainsville 8 times. message edited after initial post. PM sent to Cimexus
It seriously crossed my mind that it could be Gainesville's bank that is denying that they have received the funds. However, the money I wired was only $400 (around $460 after wire fees and forex conversion fee)...it was equivalent to 10% of the total purchase I intended to make when the price of silver was in the sub $30s (IIRC). Gainesville came up with this ridiculous policy where international customers have to wire 10% of their intended purchase before they can place an order. Gainesville would then confirm that they received the wire and allow the order to be placed. Somebody posted the mechanics here a while back. I only did it because Gainesville did not accept credit card payments from overseas buyers. Thank goodness it was only 10%...if I had wired the full amount, and they denied having received the money...well.... Could their bank be that insolvent? Possibly...but IMO, not likely. Plus, I really dislike the fact that they never contact me. Two weeks ago they said that they will contact their bank...but they have not gotten back to me yet. It's been two months and I have to send them emails over and over again (with details of the wire transfer and the transaction receipt) just to get them to look into it. At the end of the day, they came up with a failed policy for international customers (which BTW they got rid off after a few weeks...I suspect it had negatively affected their sales in a very short period of time), and they take no responsibility. Again, this is my experience...but 100% factual.
El Bullion, if I remember correctly, their bank is Sun Trust. I just checked online and it appears to be operating as normal. I would suggest you contact the bank too with the details of the wire transfer and get them to confirm the money has been placed in Gainesville's account. Then send a complaint and that proof to the Attorney General's Office. You will get your money back, but you will likely have to involve someone other than Gainesville.
I just wanted to say that I have been dealing with Gainesville Coins for the past 2 years and they have always treated me right. I was originally an APMEX customer but they screwed me over one too many times! I purchase mainly 1 oz Gold Eagle, Maples and K-Rands as well as 1 oz Silver Eagles and Maples and I have found Gainesville to have the best pricing and service around. To comment on the problem with the wire transfer, my brother lives in Hong Kong and buys all his silver from Gainesville as well. I know the first time that he purchased his wire came in short due to wire fees and so it made it difficult for Gainesville to locate the wire. They did get it straightened out and he says everything has been great since. He also told me that they have since changed their policy and now he can use his credit card to lock in prices directly on their site. Hope my comments help!
lunarsilvermike, Gainesville has good pricing, but their service and honesty (or lack thereof) is where they came up short for me. Please provide specifics of how Apmex screwed you. El Bullion, have you gotten your money back from Gainesville yet?
I have had quite extensive dealings with both companies , I have a couple pages of pictures of damaged coins and boxes from gainsville that I took, I even have one of a tiger typeset damaged with a large looking bugar on the packaging (I know it isnt pretty) .If they are going to sell expensive premium nuministic coins in packaging then at least package them well. But my biggest complaint with Gainsville was when they lied to me , I ordered 40 1oz silver dragons that arrived packaged in a big heap instead of the mint rolls when I called about it they told me that "none of the 2012 1oz silver dragons come in the plastic wrap mint rolls and if someone is selling them like that they packaged them like that themselves" like i am some kind of idiot. And worse many of the capsules were scratched and many show a circle kind of thing on it which i have seen when getting coins graded and they return the capsules with this mark . I think it is from a tool they use or something. So the big question does Gainsville send their coins in they think are worth grading and the lower grade coins they sell as new to us blind consumers????? I will not deal with Gainsville it is a shame they used to be a good company but way too many problems now at least be honest with your customers.. APMEX on the other hand I have dealt with for years, I had one problem with them and they made it right even at a very small loss for them (it was their fault) and they still have my business. I could complain about some of their prices but i dont have to buy it, and on some things they have very good prices... Just my 2 cents.....
Actually APMEX is sometimes cheaper as well and you will get a better quality product , I guess it doesnt matter with maples and ase's but with semi nuministic stuff the condition makes a big difference.
Yes, its only the common bullion coins that I purchase ie Fiji Taku, Chinese Panda, US ASE, Canadian Maple, Buffalo rounds I've no exp with the semi numismatics from the firm.
Well I made my APMEX purchase the other day. Nothing exciting, just a roll of 20 ASEs for around $675 ($695 once US shipping was included). Received 3 days after ordering. Fast and easy - impressed. Would have been cheaper if I didn't have to use the more expensive credit card payment option) personal check takes too long since I'm only in the USA for a couple of weeks, and can't use wire transfers for orders under $1500. On a related note, God the US banking system is antiquated compared to Australia. In Australia I can log into my online banking, and send money to any other Australian bank account, instantly, and for free. Don't need to set up anything, just need the account number. The closest thing in the US is a wire transfer which is slower and has massive fees (plus they aren't accepted by most companies). The US doesn't even have an equivalent to the Bpay system for paying bills electronically. No wonder they still use actual cheques for everything here! It's like stepping back into the 1980s!
Cimexus, I am not sure where you got your information. Most banks in the US are begging people to pay their bills electronically. And banks love when their customers use the debit cards. Outgoing wire fees are about $15-25, not cheap, but not massive. Incoming wire fees are usually very cheap ($5 at my bank). My TD Ameritrade account has free wire transfers.
$5-$15 fees is a far cry from 'free and instant', though. Not to mention that wire transfers are not accepted many places. In Australia, direct bank transfers are the standard way you'd throw a bit of money to a friend or relative if you couldn't give them cash. It's also the way 95% of trades on Silver Stackers are made - agree on the price, shoot the other guy your bank account number, and done. In the US it's more common to use checks (which are basically extinct in Australia - I'm in my 30s and have never given or received one), or something like Paypal. My US bank does let you add accounts to send money to in a similar way, yes, but there are specific set up steps on both sides that need to be done, restrictions on which banks can be linked to it and it's generally a pain in the butt compared to the zero-setup, guaranteed to work, transfers in Aust. Merely paying bills electronically is possible and encouraged in the US, agreed, but there is no universal centralised system like Bpay in Australia. Various banks and various companies have their own, propriety systems that do a similar thing, but it's nothing like Bpay (which as mentioned is universal - pay ANY bill via any bank's online banking, no setup required, no separate accounts or anything needed). I'm a citizen of both countries and have bank accounts in both. Trust me, Australia is light years ahead on this kind of stuff (though behind the US in some other ways, no doubt).
