Entering into the gold business and starting your own gold dealing site is easier than ever. As goldbugs and silverbugs might notice, there is quite a bit of turnover in the online bullion retail scene. Moreover, the general websites that are highlighted are not the only ones. There are many, many online gold dealers who have carved out their own niche. The industry itself has gone through a lot of flux lately. We highlight in this article how you – Yes, YOU – can enter into the gold selling space. While we can’t go into certain technical details, this guide will make you aware of the tools you need. Here’s how.
There are numerous products precious metals oriented online retailers focus on, such as bullion gold, silver, platinum and palladium coins and bars, semi-numismatic gold and silver coins such as Morgan Dollars and Saint Gaudens (Pre-1993 gold coins), tube holders and survival gear. One thing many people, in my opinion, do not consider while opening a precious metals shop is jewelry. While precious metal coins oft carry small premiums – save for the Pre-1933 gold coins – jewelry has higher margins.
First things first, you will need a domain name. There are many different places online from which to purchase a domain. We recommend NameCheap due to their great customer service, reputation and Bitcoin acceptance. Gandi.net works as well. Buying a domain that you can be excited about is important. People get very creative. For instance, the gold dealer Buy Gold & Silver Coins can be found at http://bgasc.com. Short, sweet and marketable. Many technology people claim purchasing domains is a sort of digital real estate. If you buy some, you can sell them on Flippa.
Setting up your gold dealer website really begins with WordPress or Magento. For the sake of this piece, we will look into WordPress because it is open-source. WordPress fuels the blogosphere, but it can do much more than that. It is one of the most disruptive technologies of our time.
With a simple WordPress website, you can start numerous types of businesses. First, you will need a server at which to set up your website. I prefer Linode. NameCheap is another great service for this, especially for smaller operations. If you’re looking for top-notch security, Amazon Web Services is considered best. The government reportedly uses Amazon. Once you’ve chosen your domain name and chosen a host, you will need to match your domain names DNS records with your host. Basically, tell the Internet where you are hosting the domain. For Linode, click here to learn more. For NameCheap, click here to learn more.
Again, if you’re looking for a basic solution, then I highly recommend using NameCheap thanks to its 24 hour customer service.
Once you’ve picked your host, you can then pick your theme. Google “Free WooCommerce WordPress Themes” and include the current year. Become familiar with the layouts. If you’d like to spend a little extra on your new business, you can look at Premium WordPress themes, which cost money. Be sure that your WordPress theme choice works with “WooCommerce.” Once you have chosen your theme, and have the site live, next you will need to install some plugins. For one, you will need to install WooCommerce WordPress plugin.
You can sell more than just gold and silver with WooCommerce.
WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce platform on WordPress, and even the web (stats from Builtwith). You can sell virtually anything on WooCommerce, including digital files. This integrates with your WordPress directly and gives you control over your store’s data.
Now you have some options regarding your new company’s operations. We’ve covered some of the largest wholesalers of precious metals in the US (A-Mark, Coins N’ Things, Dillon Gage, Elemetal, AMG Limited). These can be your connections for procuring the product you need. There is an option provided by Dillon Gage – one of the dealers on that list – to allow you to integrate with their platform and effectively become an affiliate. This is through FizTrade. FizTrade will allow orders from your website to go straight through to Dillon Gage’s Digital Metals platform, who will then fill the order upon payment. Dillon Gage essentially designed a WordPress plugin to help you with this.
Marketing
Marketing in the precious metals space is similar to marketing in any other space, although the smaller margins in the industry make it important to be wise with spending. A blog, vlog and considerable social media presence will help you begin to make a name for yourself. From there, delivering product in a reasonable time period is important to building a customer base. Here are some important social media spaces in this industry: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Liberty.me. Some of the largest websites that syndicate content are SGT Report and Brother John F.
Why Start Your Own Gold Dealer Website?
One critique of purchasing precious metals is the investment’s lack of dividends. Starting your own precious metals website can help you change this. You can merely sell and resell your own precious metals portfolio, making a form of dividend for yourself in the process. Instead of your metal merely sitting in a vault or at home, it can be actively bought-and-sold on the open market.
For the most part, the only things you will need is a moderate level of WordPress proficiency, a bank account, and an ability to form relationships. If you have no interest in learning a bit of coding and design, then a partnership with a coder could work wonders for your operation. Websites like PreciousMetals.me can help with this. Although this might cost money now-and-then, it is over time akin to taking a car to the mechanic.
By following the steps above – even if you do need help from a web developer for certain aspects – you can be well on your way to entering into the precious metals space, rubbing shoulders with influential people in the industry. You can also begin developing relationships with many of the online blogs and websites providing information for the precious metals industry. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to Jeff Berwick and Dollar Vigilante.