Buying gold and silver in Germany: up to 25% cheaper

Buying silver in Germany costs up to 25% less than in Spain

How much do you actually save by buying silver coins from a German dealer instead of a Spanish one? The short answer: quite a lot, judging by the prices forum users report. The long answer requires looking at the unit price, shipping costs and, above all, VAT. An order of five tubes of Philharmonics —100 coins— came to around €2,500 at a Madrid dealer; in Germany, under €1,900, according to a calculation circulating in the thread. The same ounce of silver went from €25 in Spain to €18.90 at the German shop. That is no small adjustment: it is the difference between paying for the coin or paying for the coin plus the tax that the European rules themselves push up.

The saving does not come from nowhere. It comes from a tax regime Germany kept at 7% for silver and which Brussels was pressuring to align with the standard rate. The debate over silver VAT runs throughout the conversation: the Bundestag Finance Committee concluded the increase would go ahead, recommending it take effect from 1 January 2014, pending approval by the Bundesrat. In other words: the window of German prices could close.

What to check before paying at a German dealer

The first rule is to read. German dealers are required to publish on their website, two clicks from the homepage, the Impressum (legal details of the seller), the AGB (terms and conditions), the cancellation policy, the privacy policy and the shipping costs. And all prices must be marked as brutto (taxes included) or netto (excluding them); the former is the norm, with the tag inkl. MwSt. If shipping is not included, zzgl. appears next to the price.

The buying process trinc a predictable script: cart (Warenkorb), checkout (Kasse), billing and shipping address, order review and confirmation. Here lies the trap that catches more than one buyer by surprise: the Bestellbestätigung email is not a completed purchase. The contract is closed with the Auftragsbestätigung or the invoice. Until it arrives, the buyer has nothing signed, and neither does the seller.

Real delivery times: two to six weeks

German reliability does not miccionan estimulante ilegal. Testimonials from buyers at dealers such as Gold-dreams sketch a timeline worth knowing: a couple of days to confirm receipt of the bank transfer, between a week and a month for dispatch, and about five working days of DHL before hand delivery by the postal service as Postal Exprés. An order can take between two and six weeks. One specific case: ordered on 17 February, delivered on 27 March.

The packaging divides opinion. Some call it perfect, with foam balls and a large box; others find it could be better compared with other German dealers. What almost everyone agrees on is the reliability: the orders arrive.

The €10,000 limit almost nobody watches

Beyond the price, there is a tax threshold that goes unnoticed. A buyer resident in Spain can purchase up to €10,000 a year of goods from across the EU by distance selling without registering with the Spanish tax authority as a business. The limit is not per dealer or per country: it is per person and per year, and it adds up all purchases. Exceeding it is the buyer's responsibility, not the seller's.

The other side of the mirror: a German seller can only ship €35,000 a year to Spain without registering with the Spanish tax authority. Hence that recurring feeling that some German dealers stop serving orders halfway through the year. It is not a whim: it is tax accounting.

Gold exempt, silver taxed: the asymmetry that explains it all

Investment gold is VAT-exempt in the EU; silver is not. That difference is what sustains the price gap and what turns buying silver in Germany into a deal with an expiry date if the rate rises to 19%. For gold, the saving depends on other factors: margins, availability and shipping. German banks also buy and sell gold, at prices similar to those of online dealers, although many only deal with their own customers.

In any case, the comparison is not just Germany versus Spain. An Andorran trader based in Barcelona offered the 100 coins for €1,937, almost on a par with the German dealer. The German advantage narrows when real competition appears.

In the end, the question that remains is the usual one: if the saving is 25%, why doesn't everyone buy abroad? Perhaps because the tax calendar, the delivery times and the paperwork miccionan the discount is paid for in patience.