Concerns From The APMEX Precious Metals Survey

In addition to the awesome feedback we received with the point and click survey responses, we asked some open ended questions too. We wanted to give our customers, and the forum populations, the opportunity to voice their rants or raves on their own terms.We already showed you some of the positive feedback in previous posts.

The next few blog posts will cover the most common complaints we saw from the survey. We wanted to be fair and upfront with everyone about the results.

So here goes – the concerns and the no spin answers to them.


Part 1 - Lower Credit Card Fees

One of your main concerns was that our credit card fee is too high. Based on your comments, quite a few people feel we are penalizing them for choosing to pay with a credit card.

Here’s a good example as a quote from one of the survey respondents:

“It would be nice not to have to pay 3% when using a credit card. I understand credit card companies charge you 3%, but you shouldn't pass that expense to the customer.”

This actually surprised us a little. We crawled all over our site, and not a single time do we ever mention a credit card fee. This surprised us because, there are, in fact, other online precious metals dealers (who we will let remain anonymous) that display two clearly different prices – one price for credit card orders and another price for other payment options.

At APMEX, however, we only display a single best offer price (based on the market) - so when you buy silver bullion, US gold coins, or other precious metals, you know you are getting a competitive, honest price. You pay the same amount for your silver, gold or numismatic items – regardless of what payment option you choose.

We highly value our customers. How could it be beneficial to penalize you for anything, especially your chosen payment method? We understand where you’re coming from, but it would appear some people have misunderstood what we have stated in our Shipping FAQ’s.

Where this may get a little “fuzzy” for some folks is that we do provide a “Cash Discount” of 3% Off the Shipping, Handling and Insurance – not 3% discount on the purchased items. This discount is applied on cash, checks, money orders or bank wire payments. We can see how some people may have misunderstood the discount we want to provide for those who choose to purchase precious metals using more “traditional” means.

So, we can see that it may appear to some people that we are charging an extra credit card fee, when in reality, we simply aren’t. Any fees like that are absorbed into the operational expenses for the company, just like any other respectable company in the World.

We do sympathize and understand the confusion though. You want to get the best possible price for your silver or gold items. We respect that. Because of this, we want to continually strive to be up front with our pricing while remaining highly competitive in the market.

So do you think we should drop the 3% Discount to clarify the fact that we are not “punishing” people for using a credit card? Feel free to comment with your answer. We’re here and listening to you, our valued customers.

So – Who Buys Precious Metals Anyway?

Demographics of The Precious Metals Market

The vast majority of people who invest in precious metals like silver bullion and gold bars are men—over 90% in fact, according to our recent survey. That was a bit of a surprise actually. We figured that the majority would be men, but were surprised by the high percentages.

Another interesting point from the survey was the age range of our customers. It could be an common assumption that the more mature generations would be concerned with the current economic state, while the younger generations focus on XBOX, plasma tv’s and iPhone 3G. However, we found out that there is a strong showing of concerned people in the younger generations as well.

All generations had a significant showing – obviously demonstrating a common opinion toward investing in silver bullion, gold coins and rare US coins as a trusted way to protect wealth and avoid economic losses from other forms of investment.

Economic Motivations Prevail

This came as a comforting relief actually – it would appear that our nation’s younger men are just as concerned with the current economics as their fathers and grandfathers. Regardless of position, wealth, power or age, it would appear that at least some Americans are tuned into the declining dollar, the “real cause” of inflation and how to protect their assets from this economic drain.

As to the motivators behind the interest in precious metals…Our survey indicated that roughly 75% of people are looking to either diversify their investments, protect their assets from recession or inflation. Numismatists and collectors made up the rest of the showing.

Perhaps not so surprising, there is a strong leaning towards economic factors behind the interest in precious metals. People may be coming from different stages life, but all seem to be in a similar mindset regarding current economic conditions resulting from wanton production of currency by the Fed, the failings of an inflated real estate market and subsequent losses on the stock market.

So far, findings of our survey are just the tip of the iceberg, if you will. There’s plenty more to report, and we wouldn’t leave you hanging like that, so be watching for the rest of the story on future posts.

Take minute to let us know what you think. We always value your input, so please feel free to comment, rate this post or link to this post in your own blog. Sharing is fun – and benefits everyone in the community.

Silver And Gold Investors Speak Out

Our recent survey yielded something that we found pretty incredible – in fact, it was downright awesome!

Our customers gave us a 98% customer satisfaction rate across the board!


No boast, there – though we are pretty proud of the accomplishment. Obviously, we strive to make everybody happy all the time. But we are also realists; we recognize that we can’t be perfect for everyone, so we are very happy with the great feedback.

Perfect or not, 98% is fantastic news for any silver or gold dealer – online or local. One of our primary goals is to maintain an outstanding relationship with our customers, who value our expertise in the precious metals industry. Our services and products are all offered specifically with the customer in mind, ensuring that they receive the highest level of reliability and excellence when purchasing or selling precious metals like silver bullion, US gold coins or Mexican gold coins. The satisfaction wasn’t limited to our bullion departments; it carried over to our collections of numismatics and rare coins.

We constantly aim to be the trusted advisor and qualified source for precious metals investing, and it is wonderful that our customers see our efforts and respond to us in like manner. The only opinion that matters is YOURS – our happy customers! Thank you for thinking so highly of us – we will continue to do all we can to keep it up.

Let us know how we are doing on this blog. If there is something that you would like to see discussed here, covered in depth or if you just have something you need to get off your chest – post a comment for us.

Your 2 Cents: The Survey Results

As many of you know, we conducted a survey of our customers recently. The purpose of this survey was to gain feedback so that we may ultimately provide better service to our loyal customers.

This survey was sent out to our customers through email and posted on forums such as goldismoney.info. One forum in particular (yes, they shall remain anonymous) took great offense to our posting a link to the survey. It wasn’t self promotional or advertising – it simply was what we said it was – a survey. But they apparently felt different about it….oh well. I guess you can’t please everyone all the time!

The feedback results from everyone was outstanding. We received tons of comments, concerns, opinions and questions. Good stuff—all of it. It’s provided us with information as valuable as the precious metals we sell.

So for those of you that did participate – good for you and Thanks! We appreciate your feedback. We are so thrilled by the results of this survey. Not only were the responses overwhelming positive, we received some very good feedback that should help us improve our services even better for you.

In the next few days, we will share some of the results from our survey. Many of you wanted to be kept in the loop on the results – I guess you were as curious as we were. So be on the look-out for the next posts.

Be sure to subscribe to our blog feed so you don’t miss any of the information. You can use RSS to subscribe with Google Reader or other RSS reader, or you can simply enter your email address to the right and get alerts via your email. We hate spam too! We won't give your email address out, so don't worry. You'll just get an email every time we post something new here.

In the meantime, feel free to leave comments or ask questions.

APMEX Launches First Blog!

Welcome to the Official APMEX News Blog!

We are just launching this blog, so be sure to subscribe to the feed and stay informed on the latest happenings at APMEX.com.

Right now, we have a great many plans that are underway here at APMEX - all designed to benefit our customers and friends in the precious metals industry. In this first "real post", I will be outlining a few of the things you can expect to see on this blog in the future.

Survey Results Are In

Recently, we conducted a series of surveys to get a better idea of how to serve the needs of our customers. The surveys were an overwhelming success - so look for more in the future. We will be posting more information regarding the results of these surveys here to share with you. One thing that really stood out was the fact that APMEX has a great reputation - and we want to do everything we can to continue this trend.

Video Interviews

We will also be posting "Webisodes" here and our other blogs. These short video "webisodes" will cover interesting topics concerning investing, specific types of precious metals investments, current events and more. Stay tuned for more... we're pretty excited to be able to bring this to you in this new and exciting way.

You may be very familiar with Scott Thomas, the President and CEO of APMEX. He has been very active in a variety of popular forums and groups. With the videos, we want you to get to know other people here at APMEX that are just as committed to your success as Scott is.

We will be doing interviews to bring you specific, focused insight on a variety of topics. Who knows, we may even bring in special guests from time to time too. The point here is we want to bring you pertinent information that you find valuable and helpful.

Current Events and Commentary

As we constantly stay informed about the silver and gold markets, we run into some very colorful articles and blog posts (I'm sure you do too). Some of these articles are worth re-posting, adding commentary or opinion or simply debunking some of the myths that seem to permeate the Internet so easily. We will do our best to provide timely, well-thought information that has a benefit to you, our customers and trusted friends.

If you see something out in your web travels that you feel would be a good post topic, please let us know. Obviously, we can't take every suggestion, but we will consider it.

Your Participation is Welcomed

At APMEX, we really value your opinions (yes, even those of you who don't like us for some reason :) ). We want you to comment back on our posts, ask questions, send links to a friend or blog about us yourself. All of this activity simply goes to better educating the public at large about the situations we are all in right now.

Let the Launch Begin

Let's get this blog moving in the right direction from the start, shall we? Take a minute to subscribe to the RSS feed or bookmark this site for future reference.

It is our intention to post on this blog at least once per week, sometimes more than that. There is so much happening right now in the precious metals industry, this shouldn't be too much of a stretch.

That being said, enjoy the posts and thanks for your great feedback and interaction with us. We really value you guys out there!

The First APMEX Video

Hello Again Everyone!

We recently had a film crew in here and we wanted to share some of the highlight reel with you. So sit back, learn a bit more about APMEX.com and enjoy!







Feel free to leave comments, ask questions or forward this video on to a friend.

Why Choose American Precious Metals Exchange?

Price

Price is always important in making a buying decision. We strive to provide you with the precious metals you want at discount prices. We deliver the same high quality products that full-service retail firms do, only we deliver it for less.

Quality of our products

We have a very strict buying procedure. We do not purchase off quality products and sell them. We purchase only the highest quality precious metals available. Our expert staff inspects every piece and decides if it meets our strict buying standards. If it does not, it either gets returned or melted. Therefore, you will be sure to only receive the highest quality products at very competitive prices. Give us a try today!

Service

We are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week to accept your orders. When other companies are closed, we're open taking orders.

Consistency

We are always consistent in our low pricing. We strive to bring you the most popular products for less than our competition. Most days we are under our competition, some days we are even. On a rare occurrence, we are a bit over. We are always competitive. Check around and see for yourself, then come back and place your order with us.

Reliability

We are efficient in processing your order promptly, packaging it securely and delivering it safely so it arrives on time as promised.

Reputation

Much of our business is repeat business and referrals from our satisfied customers. We do very little advertising. Many of our clients have referred their family, friends and business associates to us. We hope,once satisfied, you will too.

Memberships

We are active members of The American Numismatic Association and ICTA, The Industry Council on Tangible Assets. Both organizations help to protect the rights and serve the members of the numismatic profession and investing public for coins and tangible assets.

We are also active member dealers of PCGS & NGC Grading services. These companies help to bring consistency in grading to the numismatic industry.

About APMEX.com

American Precious Metals Exchange

American Precious Metals Exchange was created to serve as a source where investors could diversify their portfolios with gold, silver, platinum and palladium for less money than typically found elsewhere. We have never made any guarantees about always having the lowest price on any of our products. However, our prices are consistently competitive and many times lower than our competition. Unlike many of our gold dealer competitors, American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX) does not have any hidden fees or charges, what you see is what you get. The only additional charge is for shipping which is clearly defined during the ordering process or you can view them here.

Gold & Silver Dealer

As a leading online gold dealer, we offer great service and terrific prices. The volume of business we do allows us to purchase precious metals in larger quantities at discounts and pass the savings on to you.

We are a gold dealer that is highly active in buying and selling most precious metals including bars, wafers and coins. We carry all U.S. Mint bullion products including gold, silver and platinum American Eagles. We also sell all Royal Canadian Mint Products including the gold, silver and platinum Maple Leafs as well as Krugerrands of South Africa. Additionally, we make markets in most gold bullion coins of any other foreign country.

Dedicated To Your Financial Success

American Precious Metals Exchange has helped many individuals and families in protecting their hard-earned assets and increasing their wealth by investing in precious metals. We work equally as hard in helping those who are still building their wealth. Everyone at American Precious Metals Exchange is dedicated to helping you diversify your portfolio with precious metals.

We are firm believers in having a minimum of 10-20 percent of your assets in precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum or palladium. It serves as a hedge against inflation, economic uncertainty and asset preservation.

APMEX makes two-way markets in all products listed above at our trading office in Edmond, Oklahoma. We are available via telephone Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm, central time and over the internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We are a growing leader in the precious metals market, continually selling our products for less. Give us a try, open an account and start investing in your future today.