Process & Payment
- How is the price I pay for my product set?
The prices of all products sold by Betts Investments are calculated from the spot (or live) metal prices and then uplifted by a percentage margin which is clearly shown on the website. The price will continue to vary as the spot price changes until it is fixed at the point of checkout. - Why is the price I pay higher than the spot price?
The published spot price represents the price available for major banks and governments transferring very large quantities of gold. Much as an individual cannot borrow money at LIBOR, nor can they buy gold at the spot price, because there are additional costs involved with producing and distributing small bars and coins. Generally speaking, the larger the quantity of gold you purchase, the lower the premium over the spot price will be. - How does the payment system work?
The price of your products will be fixed at the point of checkout. You can pay for goods up to a value of £2500 with a debit card using our secure payment gateway. For larger transactions, for security reasons and where online card payment may be declined by the card issuer, we take a non-refundable deposit of £500 online in order to reserve the price of your order with the balance payable by bank transfer. Once the order is placed, you will receive an email detailing our bank account number and sort code and should transfer funds to us immediately. Cancellations are not permitted once the order has been placed. Goods will only be released once we have received cleared funds for the full value of the products ordered as well as Identification, and should we not receive the funds within 48 hours of the order having been placed, we reserve the right to renegotiate the price. If you fail to pay the outstanding balance for your order, we will retain your deposit and may take further action to recover our costs. - What methods of payment do you accept?
We accept debit card payments online up to the value of £2500. We also accept bank transfers, and recommend this as the easiest and most secure way to pay for large orders. We accept cash paid into our account or paid person at our Birmingham office (subject to anti-money laundering checks) and we also accept cheques, although this may cause a delay in receiving your products, which will not be released until all funds have cleared. - Is the site secure?
Yes. We take the security of your personal and payment details extremely seriously. The website uses Norton security and payments are taken through Sage’s secure payment gateway and as well as additional security features built into the site. - What happens to my personal and payment details?
All your personal details are kept within a secure area of the site and are protected in accordance with the Data Protection Act. We will never share your details with a third party. - Can I cancel my order?
The valuations of all products on the Betts Investments website are subject to constant market fluctuations. Consequently the ‘cooling off’ period prescribed by the Distance Selling Regulations does not apply. Cancellations before dispatch are entirely at the discretion of Betts Investments and will incur a fee to cover any negative price movements since the point of order as well as a 2.5% administration fee. Cancellations after dispatch will not be accepted. - Are there any minimum or maximum order sizes?
No. You are welcome to purchase one of our smallest investment products (a single silver coin or one gram gold bar perhaps) right through to several market bars. We deal with customers right across the spectrum in terms of scale of investment, and everyone benefits from the same excellent service. Some customers like to purchase a product of low value initially in order to see how the system works before following on with a larger purchase. - Will you buy back my investment products in the future?
Absolutely. You can track the value of your investment products using the ‘my account’ section of the website, and when you decide to sell, we will always be happy to buy your products. We pay 98% of the intrinsic value of all investment products, except for ‘Betts’ own bars, for which we pay 100% of the intrinsic value, making ‘Betts’ bars the most cost effective way of investing in physical gold available in the UK. - What is the process for selling my gold back to Betts Investments?
If you wish to sell your investment products (or any precious metal bearing waste), you can either bring it to our trade counter in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter for immediate payment, or send it to us. If sending precious metal, please ensure that you use fully insured and signed for delivery, as we will accept no liability for goods until they are received and signed for on our premises. Once received, we will contact you immediately and make you an offer. For investment products, we will pay 98% of the intrinsic value. Payment will generally be made on the same day via bank transfer. - What form will you buy gold back in?
The Betts’ family business is the oldest precious metal refining business in the UK and has been in continuous operation since 1760. As such, we are genuine experts at recovering precious metals from almost any source. We will always buy back investment products, for which we pay 98% of the intrinsic value. However, through Stephen Betts & Sons, we also recover precious metals from clean scrap, lemels, sweeps and almost any other source, all at highly competitive rates. - Can you store gold for me?
We offer a storage service. We would only usually recommend this option for larger orders. For more information see here: Precious Metal Storage - Can you provide advice on my investment strategy?
Betts Investments does not provide and advice about investment strategy, nor does it make any forecasts regarding future precious metal price movements. Betts Investments does not operate in any financial advisory capacity and is not regulated by the FSA. On the Research page of the site, you will find links to relevant news streams and brokers research, which may help you to reach an investment decision, but any views expressed by third parties and published on this site are not endorsed by Betts Investments.
Delivery
- How much does delivery cost?
All orders are dispatched fully insured and require a signature. We generally use Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service for this, but occasionally use couriers where this option is more cost effective (usually for very large orders). We do not aim to profit from delivery charges. Delivery charges are clearly shown at the point of checkout. If you do not wish to incur any delivery charges, you are welcome to collect your order from our head office in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. - How will my goods be packaged?
This depends on exactly what you have ordered. Goods will be packaged securely and discretely. It will not be possible to tell from the outside of the package that it contains precious metal investment products. - Are my goods insured during transit?
Yes. All investment products dispatched by Betts Investments are fully insured until signed for upon delivery. - How quickly will goods be dispatched?
This depends on how you choose to pay. If we have received cleared funds by 3pm, we will usually dispatch your products on the same day. Orders paid by card over the phone or internet are usually dispatched on the same day, for bank transfers, it will generally take three working days and for cheques, goods will be dispatched after the cheque has cleared which may take around one week. - Can I collect my products?
Absolutely. We are not solely an online business and are always very happy to meet customers at our head office in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The trade counter can be found at Stephen Betts & Sons, 49-63 Spencer Street, Hockley, Birmingham, B18 6DE. It is always worth calling in advance if you wish to purchase a specific investment product, as we only keep minimal quantities of stock on site for security reasons. - Do you ship outside the UK?
Yes - Can I change the shipping address after I have placed my order?
No. For security reasons, we are not able to change the delivery address once an order has been placed. If paying by card, the delivery address must also correspond to the cardholder’s address. Due to the high value and liquid nature of our products, we have to enforce this rule stringently in order to protect ourselves from potentially fraudulent behavior. - What happens if I am out when my delivery arrives?
All investment products must be signed for. If you are not in when your parcel arrives, the courier will leave a card, enabling you to rearrange delivery at a convenient time, or collect your parcel from your local depot. - Can I track my delivery?
Yes. All products are sent by fully insured and must be signed for. We generally use Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service, and when your order is dispatched, you will receive and email with your tracking number.
Products
- Should I buy bars or coins?
This is really a matter of individual preference. Generally, coins are sold in smaller units than bars and incur higher premiums. If buying large quantities of investment metal, buying bars will be a considerably cheaper option. For more detail and discussion on this subject, please see the buyers guide. - Why do the premiums vary so much for different coins?
The premiums on coins simply relate to supply and demand. The more commonly available a coin is, the lower the buying premiums will be. As supply of coins can sometimes be relatively constricted, coin premiums can at times be fairly high. This is particularly the case for collectors’ coins as opposed to bullion coins. These high premiums are usually lost by the investor at the point of sale (i.e. bullion dealers will not generally pay over the intrinsic value of a coin). For this reason, Betts Investments only stocks widely available bullion coins, thereby ensuring that our products offer investors the best possible value for money. - Do all products come with a certificate?
All our bars are stamped with 999.9, was they are 99.99% pure, along with the weight of the bar. ‘Betts 1760’ bars are not provided with a certificate of authenticity, as we do not believe these to be of any real value. If you do require a certificated bar, we also sell Metalor and Umicore bars stamped with individual serial numbers. Coins are not supplied with any certification. - Why don’t you stock more investment products?
The Betts Investments websites aims to provide customers who wish to invest in physical precious metal with the very best value for their investments. We deliberately stock a tight range of products which give our customers a good range of choices between different weights of product and between coins and bars, but we only stock those products which we believe offer the best value for money and lowest premiums over the spot price. By keeping our range tight, we are also able to limit our own stock holdings and thereby keep our charges to a minimum. - How can I tell that my products are genuine?
We have over a quarter of a millennium of experience in the precious metals industry and we guarantee the quality of all investment metal sold on the Betts Investments website. We perform regular tests to check that our manufactured bars are up to the required purity, as well as using XRF analysis to check the authenticity of all products.
Account
- Why should I open an account with Betts Investments?
Opening an account to Betts Investments is quick and easy and allows you access to the ‘My Account’ section of the website, where you can review your past orders and monitor the performance of your investment products. Opening an account will also give you access to periodic newsletters and special offers. - What information do I need to open an account?
Opening an account takes a matter of minutes and is simply a matter of filling in an online form. If we require any additional identification documents for large purchases, this will be dealt with at the time of ordering rather than when opening an account. To open an account you simply need to provide your name, address and contact details as well as choosing a password. All your personal details are stored confidentially and never disclosed to third parties. - What should I do if I cannot login to my account?
If you forget your password or username, simply click the link to reset your account. - Is my account secure?
Yes. We take data security very seriously, and all your personal account details are stored within a secure area of the site. - Can I track my previous transactions?
Yes. The performance of any investment products you purchase can be monitored in the ‘My Account’ section of the website.
Regulation & Taxation
- Do I need to provide ID to buy investment products?
For single transactions under £2,500 we simply require your name and address and do not require any further identification. However, for larger transactions or for multiple transactions totaling over EUR 10,000 in a year we are required to keep identification to comply with HMRC regulations. This information will be stored securely and will not be released to any third party unless we are compelled to do so by the authorities. If paying via bank transfer, we will not generally require any further ID. If ID is required, a member of our team will contact you once you have placed your orde to explain the process. - What forms or ID are acceptable?
If ID is required in line with HMRC rules, we ask for one piece of photographic ID (such as a passport, driving license or firearms certificate) and one pieced of ID showing your current address (such as a recent utility bill or bank statement). If you send us the original documents, we will return them by recorded delivery the following day. If you prefer to send copies, these should be certified by an authority figure (such as a lawyer, accountant, doctor or business director). - Do I have to pay VAT on investment products?
Fine gold has been classed as an ‘investment metal’ and has consequently been exempt from VAT across the EU since 2000. Unfortunately, Platinum, Palladium and Silver investment products do not benefit from this classification and are VAT must consequently be charged on these products at the standard rate. - Do I have to pay Capital Gains Tax when I sell investment products?
Generally, if you make a profit on an investment in the UK, Capital Gains Tax is payable. Precious metals are no exception to this rule. However, if you purchase precious metals in the form of coins minted in the UK (i.e. Sovereigns or Britannias), these coins are technically legal tender and are consequently exempt from Capital Gains Tax. This technicality makes Sovereigns and Britannias particularly attractive to UK investors.
