“Acquiring Gold is becoming trendier as time goes on. Purchasing gold adds an assured guarantee that in the face of economic concerns, you will have a viable and reasonable return on your investment. Gold bars and coins are considered one of the more popular investments. There are a few mistakes that people make when purchasing gold and dealing with gold bullion dealers.

Here they are:

–Not doing enough research – as with any investing, doing the necessary amount of research is essential. One of the common mistakes is going into a gold bullion fury and purchasing as much as you can from a gold bullion dealer. By checking various valuation books, investors and collectors can avoid paying more for the gold bullion than they should be paying.

–Taking advice from people who are not knowledgeable about gold – a pitfall among collectors is gleaning advice from a peer, who on the surface seems to know about investing in the precious metal, but does not. Everyone has different investment goals. What may work for one collector may not necessarily work for another.

–Buying from a non-verified source – with many different online vendors and dealers, it is important to read up on where and whom you are purchasing the gold bullion from. There are many reputable gold bullion dealers, yet there are also those gold bullion dealers who do not have the collector’s best intentions. Counterfeiters do exist, and fraud with gold does happen. It is imperative that one reads the reviews and forums online about the Gold bullion dealers that they plan on having an interaction with. Some online dealers are unknown to collectors and it is important to find out who you are dealing with before making a purchase.

–Spending too much money by purchasing more expensive coins – while purchasing gold is a worthy investment and collector’s item, purchasing too much is not a good thing. Many dealers will often take advantage of this is you are trying to make a purchase of a precious metal. It is important to be up front with the dealer about your particular financial situation, so you do not end up spending more money than you intended to. Some dealers will even try and persuade you to purchase coins that are more expensive.

–Buying from a shady eBay seller – while eBay is a great place for items and rare accessories, many sellers practice scrupulous behavior and/or do not have positive feedback as to merchandise quality, shipping timeframes or not shipping the items at all.

–Letting the dealer talk you into purchasing something else – many gold bullion dealers may talk you into purchasing something different than you had initially intended. Know up front what you need to buy and stick to your plan and budget.

–Trying to buy the rare coins – many gold bullion dealers do sell rare coins. Even if you are a collector, you need to have numismatic knowledge when considering purchasing a rare coin. Numismatic coins are valued higher than regular coins and are generally given a grade by organizations such as the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.”