Here’s another item to add to your Costco shopping list: Gold bars!
Yes, it might sound like something only a pirate would have on their shopping list, but Costco is selling gold bars now, and they’ve reported that they’re going fast.
The 1-ounce minted gold bars are made by PAMP (“Produits Artistiques Métaux Précieux”), a company that produces precious metals in Switzerland. They are famous for their Lady Fortuna design, which features an artistic motif of Fortuna, the Roman goddess of prosperity.
The cost of the Lady Fortuna gold bars will vary, but customers say that they have paid around $1,900 for one 1-ounce bar, which is on par with current gold prices. (Right now, the price of gold is $1,877 per ounce).
Richard Galanti, Chief Financial Officer of Costco, discussed the gold bars in a recent earnings call.
“I’ve gotten a couple of calls that people have seen online that we’ve been selling 1 ounce gold bars,” Galanti said. “Yes, but when we load them on the site, they’re typically gone within a few hours, and we limit two per member.”
The gold bars are only available online, and you must be a Costco member to purchase. And, as mentioned above, you are limited to two gold bars.
The price of gold has risen dramatically in recent years, and experts predict that it will continue on this upward trend.
MORE: Costco is cracking down on people who share their memberships
But if keeping gold bars in your house or the bank makes you feel too much like Long John Silver, don’t fret. You don’t need to buy physical gold like the gold bars at Costco in order to see a gold profit. You can opt to invest in gold-backed exchange-traded funds. Experts advise that investing in gold offers a higher return than buying physical gold, and you also don’t have to worry about storing it.
And, if you’re interested in investing in gold, some financial pros even suggest buying at this time of year.
“Seasonally, gold generally offers the best buying opportunities in the late summer or early fall,” Carley Garner, futures and options broker and strategist at DeCarley Trading, told CBS News.
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