SD Bullion is a precious metal dealer whose primary aim is providing their customers with the lowest gold, silver, and platinum prices on the market. This focus on lowering costs doesn’t mean that SD Bullion skimps in other areas, though. Along with their low price guarantee, they promise to provide their clients with the highest levels of customer service. A lofty promise, but how does SD Bullion actually perform? Are their prices really that low, or is it just a marketing gimmick? What is the overall customer experience like? We dug deep into SD Bullion to bring you the verdict on whether or not they’re a company you should do business with.
WHO IS SD BULLION?
SD Bullion originated from another precious metals website, The Silver Doctors. Founded in March 2011, Silver Doctors was founded as a knowledge base and resource to help visitors keep up with all the latest news from the precious metal markets. The venture was a success, and within a year their total visitors had risen from 5,800 to nearly a million. Notable investors Jim Willie and Eric Sprott are among SD Bullion’s biggest fans. Sprott, a billionaire silver mogul, says he visits SilverDoctors every day and recommends that others do the same.
The founders, two actual doctors known as “The Doc” and “Bull Run”, built on that the following year with the launch of SD Bullion in March of 2012. They wanted to offer the investor community a place to learn about protecting one’s financial assets while at the same time providing easy access to low price, high quality bullion. At first, all sales were completed via telephone. In fact, their original motto was “Nothing fancy. Just a telephone and low prices.” They would go on to launch online ordering via their website two years later.
Their post-sale surveys showed a nearly 100% satisfaction rate from buyers, which played a large part in helping SD Bullion grow to where they are today. They’ve continued to gain market share, and in 2017 were ranked #177 on the list of the fastest growing companies in America by Inc Magazine. SD Bullion now stands as one of the premier bullion firms in the nation. They have also expanded their product line to include ammunition and lead bullion.
SD Bullion’s commitment to low prices clearly runs deep, but what about their selection? Low prices aren’t very useful if there isn’t anything good to buy. Let’s take a closer look at their offering and see if it’s worth spending your money on.
WHAT DO THEY OFFER?
SD Bullion’s offering primarily consists of bullion bars and bullion coins. They do not offer any self-directed precious metal IRAs or numismatic coins.
They carry a full range of bars, rounds, and national mint coins. With SD Bullion, you’re able to buy coins from the Perth Mint, British Royal Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, Mexican Mint, New Zealand Mint, Armenian Mint, South African Mint, and Chinese Mint. This includes the most popular specimens such as the American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, New Zealand Taku, and Chinese Panda, among many others.
At the time of our review of their website, we found that they stocked roughly 200 silver products and 30 gold products online. A very solid selection that includes the most common items that investors usually desire.
When we compared their prices with the competition, we found that they were consistently among the least expensive, and often the single cheapest. They will also usually price-match if you find something cheaper elsewhere, so overall SD Bullion is hard to beat if price is your main concern. More on that later.
As with most of the top precious metal dealers, SD Bullion has a buy-back program so you can liquidate your holdings whenever you want. We found it’s a pretty easy process. You’ll first lock in your price, and then you will get a purchase order with all the details, including the destination shipping address. Once SD Bullion accepts and inspects the delivery, you’ll receive payment within 3 days.
SD Bullion also offers their customers a segregated storage facility for their precious metals. The fees are as follows:
Silver 0.39%
Gold 0.29%
Platinum 0.29%
As for SD Bullion’s shipping policy, all orders over $99 qualify for free shipping and insurance. If your order is under that amount, you’ll pay a flat $7.77 fee. Note that the free shipping offer is only for addresses within the United States. SD Bullion uses UPS, USPS, and FedEx as their shipping partners. If you’re placing an international order then you’ll have to go through the checkout process to see your total shipping cost, as it is calculated based on the order value and your location. Some products aren’t eligible for international shipping, either.
SD Bullion has expanded their offering in recent years to offer non-bullion products, as well. This includes safes and storage products for your metals. Not only that, but they’ve also moved into the ammunition and survival spaces. You can stock up on ammo, lead bullion, survival rations, herbal medicines, and other whole foods. If you’re looking to protect your financial future while at the same time preparing for the apocalypse, SD Bullion has you covered.
Finally, it’s worth noting that there’s a way to get even better prices and shipping rates with SD Bullion. If you become an SD Bullion “Platinum Member”, you’ll get expedited shipping and processing times, exclusive discounts, higher debit/credit card limits, and $6.95 shipping on all orders. They’ll also allow you to use the “fax your check” option to pay. This means you can fax your paper check to them, which expedites things if that’s your preferred payment method. You’ll automatically become a Platinum Member if you either complete at least 5 orders or spend over $25,000 in a calendar year.
WHAT DO WE LIKE?
First of all, in line with SD Bullion’s overall theme, we love their low prices. As we touched on earlier, they have a low-price guarantee that’s hard to beat. It’s pretty simple: if you find a lower price on any of their competitor’s websites, they will match it. This includes prominent dealers such as JM Bullion, APMEX, Provident Metals, and Modern Coin Mart. If for some reason they can’t match the price, they’ll actually send you a free Silver American eagle for your troubles. Not bad!
SD Bullion claims to make customer service a top priority, and we found they back up their promise of providing an incredibly high customer satisfaction rate. They’ve been accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) since 2014, and have earned their highest rating of A+. On TrustPilot they have an “Excellent” rating, scoring 4.5 out of 5 stars with over 1,500 reviews. On Gold Dealer Reviews they have an impressive 4.7 stars out of 5 from 134 reviews. When we contacted them, we found their staff to be very responsive and liked that they demonstrated a great deal of expertise regarding precious metals. They’re available via email 24/7, and you can reach them by phone Monday through Thursday 9:00am-7:00pm and on Friday 9:00am to 5:30pm EST. There’s also a handy little live chat feature on all pages of their website during business hours, which we really liked too.
SD Bullion also regularly gives their customers special offers, deals, and coupons. You’ll receive a special one-time coupon for use on your first purchase when you sign up for their email newsletter. They also send out codes for free shipping and discounts ranging from 10% to 40% on particular products. Add to this the Platinum Member status you can earn after 5 purchases or $25,000 spent, and you have a company that knows how to treat its customers right.
Finally, we found that their website is very easy to use. The categories are well organized and navigating around was never a challenge. You can click on the “categories” tab at the top and see their complete inventory of whatever metal type you want. They also use trusted security technology on their checkout process, powered by Authorize.net, to ensure the highest level of safety for their users.
HOW TO GET STARTED
SD Bullion accepts a wide array of payment methods on their website. This goes for everything they stock, whether it be metals, ammunition, or survival gear. Let’s go over the different payment methods you can use and what their associated limits are:
Bank Wire – This should be your preferred payment method for SD Bullion. Wire transfers are accepted for all orders. It’s also the only payment option for orders totaling over $20,000.
Personal Check – Accepted for orders less than $20,000.
Cashiers Check – Accepted for order totals between $1,000.00 and $9,999.99.
Postal Money Order – Accepted for order totals between $1,000.00 and $9,999.99.
Credit/Debit Card – Only accepted for orders shipping to the United States and Canada. The order total must be under $10,000. (NOTE: if you use your credit or debit card to make purchases, you’ll be subjected to an additional 3% processing fee.)
Orders shipping internationally must be paid for by bank wire.
As we mentioned earlier, SD Bullion also has a buy-back program. It’s a fairly straightforward 3-step process. First, you’ll be quoted a price based on current market values. The price will be locked in at that point, so you won’t have to worry if the spot price falls before you can complete the transaction. After that, you’ll receive a purchase order for your precious metals and will be instructed where to send them. Finally, SD Bullion will receive and inspect your metals for authenticity. If everything checks out then you should see your payment within 3 days.
THE BOTTOM LINE
SD Bullion makes some big claims, primarily offering the lowest prices while still maintaining top-notch customer service. After taking a comprehensive look at their company, offering, and business practices, we have to say that they succeed in their mission. Their prices are among the least expensive to begin with, and their low-price guarantee means that even if you do find something cheaper, SD Bullion will most likely match it. Combine that with a lengthy track record of high customer satisfaction and positive reviews, and you’re left with an industry-leading precious metals dealer. We feel SD Bullion is a trusted company and would recommend them to any of our readers that are considering purchasing precious metals.
If you’re interested in learning more about SD Bullion, or are looking to purchase precious metals, visit them at www.sdbullion.com or call 1-800-294-8732.