There is plenty of information out there about how and where to buy gold but when it comes to selling gold especially bullion bars and bars, very little information is available. It’s not that there are no avenues for selling gold bullion; the major issue is that few people know enough about the gold bullion market itself.

Types of gold bullion bars on the market

There are over 200 different types of gold bars that circulate in the global gold market today. The most heavily traded gold bullion bars are the Good Delivery gold bars that are mostly traded in London. These work closely with the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) which monitors over sixty-three refineries that produce around 150,000 400-ounce gold bars per annum.  Markets like the Middle East, Singapore and India are smaller and they trade in gold bars known as tola bars. The common “ten Tola” (TT) bars usually weigh about 3.75oz and are rarely stamped with serial numbers.

In China, the gold bar that is popularly traded is the “five tael”  gold bar or biscuit which weighs about 6 oz. five tael gold bars are manufactured in Hong Kong. They have been around for over a century and are recognized by the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange.

Other gold bars sold to private buyers outside Asia include the kilobar which weighs about 32.15 ounces or 1000g. There are over a million of these types of bars that are manufactured every year. These bars are mostly promoted as a cost effective way of investing in gold. These are often cheaper than gold coins and it is easier to sell gold bullion Brisbane of this weight than it would be to sell the same amount of coins.

The bottom line when it comes to gold bars is that they come in a variety of sizes. You can get smaller bars weighing as much as a gram and buying in bulk is more cost efficient. However, 1 gram gold bars are often regarded as novelty gold bars minted for the gift market. These small gold bars are more expensive and probably cost more than the value of the gold contained within them.

Investment Grade “Good Delivery” Gold Bars

Gold bars are cheaper to buy than gold coins and the larger the bar, the cheaper it is likely to be. A 400 ounce “Good delivery” gold bars are cheaper than the novelty 1 gram gold bar. The tax on gold bars is also lower than the tax on coins. You also get to save more depending on the fineness or quality of the gold. Expect to lose 2-4% of the value of the gold when you sell gold bullion Brisbane.

Investment grade gold bars are usually 99.5% pure gold and are defined as investment grade gold eligible for retirement plans. This means you can get a tax bill when you sell these gold bars in most countries. These bars also retain their market deliverable status. When you need to cash in on the gold retirement saving you made by buying “Good Delivery gold bars”, these are more desirable especially because of their gold content. You will get more for gold with a 99.9% fineness than with one that is of a lower quality. These big 400-ounce gold bars are often traded by refineries, wholesalers, central banks and professional bullion dealers but there are a lot of private buyers who go for these. They are big and often pose a problem when it comes to storage and security.  Buyers of these types of gold bars place a lot of value on the integrity of the gold bars. Integrity can be compromised by doing something as simple as taking the gold bars out of a market-approved storage facility. If you are a private seller who has one or a couple of these types of bars, you may get less for the gold if you have been storing it in your own private home safe or even a bank safety deposit box. This might sound weird but bullion dealers are weirdly particular about the gold they buy.