SD Bullion Review 2022: Is It Legit?

Do you want to buy or sell gold and silver bullion online? If so, it’s important to use a platform that is trustworthy, secure and offers excellent prices. 

SD Bullion is a fantastic option. As one of the largest precious metal sites in the world, it has a wide product selection, competitive prices and many positive customer reviews.

This SD Bullion review can help you decide if the online dealer can help expand or sell your precious metals portfolio.

Summary

SD Bullion offers gold and silver coins and bars with competitive prices to satisfy many precious metals investors. Shipping is free on orders above $199, and vault storage is also available.

Pros

• Low prices and sales
• Vault storage
• Free shipping available

Cons

• Premiums fluctuate 
• Online-only
• Return shipping fees

What is SD Bullion?

SD Bullion originally began as a gold and silver news service before transitioning to selling precious metals. The online vendor primarily sells gold, platinum and silver coins as well as bars.

It’s possible to purchase highly-collectible coins, including:

• U.S. Eagles
• Canadian Maple Leafs
• Junk silver (pre-1965 90% silver coins)
• Pre-1933 gold

You can also buy bullion and bars like the Australian Perth Mint or South African Krugerrands from international mints. 

If you’re trying to buy silver on a budget, you can purchase silver rounds from the site. You can also buy alternative metals like platinum, palladium and copper.

In addition to buying physical bullion, the company offers vault storage if you don’t want to be responsible for safeguarding your portfolio.

On top of that, the site will buy your precious metals and boasts that it provides the highest payouts in the industry.

Is SD Bullion Legit?

Yes. SD Bullion is a legit online vendor for buying and selling physical precious metals. The company has Better Business Bureau (BBB) accreditation and has made the Inc. 5000 list three times as one of America’s fastest-growing companies.

The company claims to have facilitated over $1 billion in sales with over 250,000 customers since it started.

As a result, you can be assured that you will receive real precious metal products.

How Does SD Bullion Work?

Here’s a glimpse at how you can buy or sell through SD Bullion.

For Sellers

For sellers, the site is easy to use if you want to sell your bullion. Here’s what you can expect during the process.

1. Lock in Price

SD Bullion can be an excellent option for selling coins and bars at a competitive price. You can browse the current buyback prices online. 

The selling minimums by metal type are as follows:

• Gold: 20 ounces
• Silver: One ounce
• Platinum: One ounce
• Palladium: One ounce

While you may only have smaller quantities to sell (for example a 1 oz silver coin), you can earn more per ounce by selling large quantities at a time. Once you’re ready to sell, call 1-800-294-8732 to get an initial quote.

As always, it’s a good idea to get at least one extra quote from another dealer to ensure you get the best rate. 

2. Ship Products

After receiving your initial quote, SD Bullion sends you the shipping paperwork and a mail-to address. You need to carefully package your sold items so that they can go to the processing facility for a final appraisal.

3. Get Paid

You can receive your payment within three business days after the company receives your shipment and inspects it. 

Your payment options include:

• ACH direct deposit
• Paper check
• Wire transfer

SD Bullion promises the fastest payouts at the highest prices.

For Buyers

Buying precious metals on the site is easy. Plus, you can receive discrete home delivery.

1. Search for Items

Browsing the website is the fastest way to shop for in-stock items. You can use the search bar if you have specific products you are looking for.

As you review potential items to buy, you’ll see that the selling price depends on the quantity you want to order and your payment method. You’ll also be able to see potential add-on items you can purchase.

2. Add Items to Your Cart

Once you find what you want to buy, you can add it to your cart.

Large orders for a particular item have a lower premium. Paying by check or wire transfer can also help you secure the lowest payment processing fees.

Prices for items in your cart can fluctuate until you start the checkout process. 

Ordering at least $199 at a time can waive shipping and insurance fees. Priority shipping will cost extra.

You can also place an order by phone if you prefer hands-on customer service.

3. Payment Options

It’s simple to pay for your SD Bullion orders with various payment options.

These include:

• Check (electronic, personal, cashier’s or money order)
• ACH bank withdrawal
• Wire transfer
• Bitcoin
• Credit card
• PayPal

Check and bank payments are the cheapest options since they are cash-based. However, they can require several business days to process, which delays your order’s shipment date. This policy is similar to other online dealers. 

If you want your order more quickly, you can pay with a digital wallet if you’re willing to pay higher merchant fees.

4. Receive Your Order

SD Bullion will ship and insure your order via the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx or UPS. You can choose the shipping carrier. 

Larger orders may require a signature to confirm delivery. To prevent unwanted attention and potential theft, your shipment will arrive in plain packaging like standard merchandise orders.

It’s also possible to store your metals at the SD Depository. 

How Much Does SD Bullion Cost?

It’s free to search for items on SD Bullion, but there are several expenses that cause orders to cost more than the spot price.

Shipping

Shipping is the most common fee that buyers will encounter. Standard shipping costs $9.95 for orders less than $199 and is free for orders exceeding $199.

Expedited shipping costs extra and depends on the order size, location and shipper. 

All orders are insured, including those with no-cost shipping.

Premium Over Spot

Every online bullion dealer charges a premium in order to make a profit. However, the premiums vary by merchant, item type and current market demand. 

It can be worth your time to compare premiums between vendors to find the lowest price. SD Bullion (or any other dealer) won’t always offer the best price on every item, so price comparison is crucial. 

Payment Processing Fee

Online vendors typically pass on credit card and PayPal processing fees to the buyer. The average processing fee is approximately 4% of the order amount. 

Paying by check or through a linked checking account helps you avoid this charge as you receive a 4% cash discount.

Sales Tax

Your state may collect sales tax on your purchases. It might be possible to waive this fee if you opt for vault storage. 

Storage

If you use SD Bullion to store your precious metals instead of shipping them to you, you will pay a monthly storage fee. Thankfully, new customers enjoy $0 storage fees for the first three months.

The SD Depository storage fee is at least $9.99 monthly. However, larger balances switch to a percentage-based system.

These percentages include:

• Silver: 0.39%
• Gold: 0.29%
• Platinum: 0.29%

There are no setup fees or minimum deposits. Additionally, the account is 100% insured by Lloyd’s of London, and you can request a withdrawal at any time. Withdrawals incur a $25 transaction.

International investors may also appreciate this storage feature to avoid shipping fees and VAT taxes.

Unpaid Order Fee

If you decide to cancel your order or don’t send payment by the payment deadline, SD Bullion charges 5% cancellation fees and the market loss price difference if spot prices decline from the order date.

Make sure you are 100% confident about your purchase so that you can avoid this cancellation fee.

Key Features

These are the best benefits of buying precious metals through SD Bullion.

Easy to Search

You can easily search for items by metal type or through the site’s search bar. The website may suggest similar terms that can pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for.

If you are using the drop-down menu to search by metal type (i.e., gold, silver, platinum), there are separate categories for coins, rounds, bars and collector series.

The site also lets you search for items by specific mint if you only want to see products from the U.S. Mint or Royal Canadian Mint, for instance.

Another useful filter can be looking for IRA-approved gold if you’re investing with a self-directed IRA to minimize investment fees.

Doc’s Deals

The Doc’s Deals page can help you buy precious metals at a discount. There might be 24-hour flash sales with low premiums. 

This page updates weekly with the site’s best offers for bars, coins and rounds. Some of the sales may require purchasing higher quantities to enjoy the discount. 

Regardless, investing in precious metals is expensive. These sales help reduce your costs.

Live Spot Prices

You can view the current market price for gold, silver and platinum at the top of every page. This is the base price for any item for sale, although the premiums vary.

Spot prices update every 10-15 seconds in the ticker and for item price quotes.

Another awesome feature is the interactive price charts. Specifically, you can view the historical price for a metal and compare it to investment benchmarks.

These benchmarks include:

• S&P 500
• Dow Jones
• FTSE
• Crude Oil
• U.S. Dollar

Physical assets are an alternative investment, and you may invest in them as a store of value. However, it’s also useful to know how their investment performance compares to investing that same cash in a stock market index fund.

Additionally, the SD Bullion team publishes the Gold Silver Ratio chart that compares the price for an ounce of gold to an ounce of silver. This measurement helps precious metal investors decide if gold or silver has greater investment potential. 

Investing Guide

If you’re new to investing in gold, you may benefit from SD Bullion’s free educational resources.

The primary tool is the Gold Rush ebook that you can access after submitting your email address. 

This book covers topics such as:

• Comparing bullion products
• Storage options
• History of precious metals investing
• Basic suggestions to find good opportunities

There are also short topical articles you can read online if you don’t have time to view the full book.

Gold & Silver News

The Gold & Silver news page highlights the original purpose of SD Bullion before it expanded into an online seller. It’s free to watch videos or read articles about various gold-related topics and current events. 

For example, you can learn how gold relates to inflation or what famous investors are saying about the current economy.

Storage

The SD Depository is located near the Ohio and Michigan border. It stores gold, silver and platinum. You can visit the vault by scheduling an appointment in advance.

This service is available to American and international customers. New members receive three months of free storage and don’t need to make a minimum deposit.

If you use this service, you won’t pay sales tax at the time of your item purchase if your state collects sales tax on mail deliveries. However, you will pay tax if you choose to take delivery in the future.

SD Bullion Reviews

If you are looking for an SD Bullion review from platform users, the site has many ratings of 5 stars. These reviews indicate that you can have peace of mind when shopping or selling precious metals on the site.

Here’s how SD Bullion ranks on the different rating platforms:

Customers left the following feedback about the site:

“I received my order in a timely manner and was very happy with the service. The silver was beautiful. I have dealt with SD Bullion for 6 years and I keep coming back.” — Gary A.

“I was not happy that Fed Ex left the package on my doorstep. I had requested signature confirmation. That’s over $1000 in silver bars left on a city stoop. Thankfully most people would never guess it was something like that.” — Jay

“Seemed pretty fast, even though SD Bullion had to wait for my check to arrive, and then for my check to clear.” —David S.

“The only downside to SD Bullion is that they may not have as much variety as APMEX or JM Bullion but this downside is made up by their lower prices, quality products, and excellent customer service.” — Paris V.

Alternatives to SD Bullion

If you think an SD Bullion alternative might be a better option for you, these online bullion dealers could offer better prices or a wider product selection for the metals you want to buy. 

Patriot Gold Group

Consider Patriot Gold Group if you want to open a precious metals IRA for tax-advantaged investing. You will work with a specialist to create your account and start buying products ranging from silver rounds to coins and bars and more.

Shipping is free, and vault storage is also available. Unfortunately, you cannot learn about product and storage prices until you join. 

Trustpilot score: 4.7 out of 5

GoldSilver

GoldSilver lets you purchase gold or silver bullion through a taxable account or an IRA. Vault storage is also available at four locations across the world.

It’s possible to sell gold and silver through this platform as well. Furthermore, the platform offers many educational videos to help you learn about investing in precious metals.

Trustpilot score: 4.6 out of 5

JM Bullion

JM Bullion has one of the largest inventories, and shipping is free on orders exceeding $199. If another dealer doesn’t have what you’re looking for, it’s likely this one does.

You can also sell silver or gold with a minimum quantity of $1,000.

Trustpilot score: 4.4 out of 5

FAQ

If you are still on the fence about using SD Bullion, these answers to frequently asked questions about the site might be able to help you come to a decision.

Summary

SD Bullion makes it easy to buy precious metals. You can compare prices 24/7 and quickly receive your items. 

Its premiums and product selection are competitive with the other major online dealers. However, you should always compare costs to save money. 

The buyback prices are also worth considering if you’re ready to sell some of your precious metals portfolio to generate cash.