Full review
BGASC (Buy Gold and Silver Coins) was founded in 2012 in Calabasas, California, and operated as an independent online bullion dealer until August 2022, when JM Bullion — a wholly-owned subsidiary of publicly-traded A-Mark Precious Metals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRK) — acquired BGASC's assets. BGASC continues to operate as a distinct brand under A-Mark ownership, with its current BBB profile registered in Dallas, Texas (the same metro as JM Bullion's home office) and BBB accreditation dating to January 2023. The brand is now one of two A-Mark-owned dealers in our review set (JM Bullion is the other) — a fact worth disclosing because pricing competition between the two is not fully independent. A-Mark is a publicly-traded company with audited financials, which is an uncommon transparency signal in the bullion-dealer category.
On pricing, BGASC's discount structure is unusually consumer-friendly: the displayed price already includes a 4% cash-equivalent discount, so customers paying by paper check, bank wire, money order, or cashier's check see the discounted figure up-front rather than after switching payment methods at checkout. Bitcoin payments qualify for an additional 3% discount. Credit-card and PayPal customers effectively pay 4% above the displayed price. Our snapshot data shows BGASC's premiums tracking competitively on standard bullion across the silver bar and silver round categories — closer to the leaner end of the dealer field than to APMEX's positioning. If you're buying bulk silver and willing to use a slower-clearing payment method, BGASC is one of the more competitive options in our review set.
Shipping is where BGASC's structural disadvantages show up. The policy states orders paid by bank wire, credit card, Bitcoin, cashier's check, or postal money order "usually ship within 5-10 business days" after cleared payment. Personal checks are held an additional 5+ business days on top of that. Combined with carrier transit (USPS, FedEx, or UPS choice on the free-shipping path), a 2–3 week order-to-doorstep on the cheapest path is realistic — meaningfully slower than APMEX's 3-business-day standard. On the upside, free shipping kicks in at a low $199 order threshold ($9.95 flat below), all packages are fully insured by a Lloyd's of London policy, and signatures are required on most transactions above $500 — a useful porch-theft control on higher-value shipments. BGASC ships within the US only; international buyers should look elsewhere.
Returns are the policy's tightest constraint. Returns must be initiated within five business days from delivery — the shortest window of any dealer in our review set, tighter than APMEX's seven calendar days and meaningfully shorter than the 14-to-30-day industry norm. A Friday delivery effectively gives you the weekend (during which BGASC's customer service is closed) plus one full work week to inspect, decide, and contact returns. Credit-card and PayPal returns incur a 5% restocking fee; wire, paper-check, and Bitcoin returns are described without that explicit restocking line but still bear market-loss exposure if spot has fallen since purchase. The customer is responsible for return shipping, and outbound shipping is non-refundable. The full cost stack of a returned credit-card order on a sub-$199 sale is: 5% restocking + return shipping + market loss + the original $9.95 outbound. Read the policy before you click buy.
Customer service is functional but not extraordinary. A single 888-line is staffed Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM Central Time, with email and online chat as backup channels. There are no department-specialized lines (unlike APMEX's separate IRA, international, and wholesale numbers), so all calls hit the same queue. No weekend support of any kind, which is structurally tight given the 5-business-day return clock. The A-Mark acquisition does provide back-office scale that purely-independent small dealers lack — risk that the operation suddenly disappears is low. Live chat is available during published hours but not 24/7.
BGASC is the right dealer if you're buying standard bullion, value broad payment options (including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal Credit alongside the usual fiat and Bitcoin paths), and are willing to wait the longer ship-out window in exchange for competitive pricing. BGASC is also a sensible choice if you specifically want a dealer backed by a publicly-traded parent for the financial-transparency signal. BGASC is the wrong dealer if you need fast shipping, want an international fulfillment option, expect a generous return window, or are explicitly seeking diversification from JM Bullion (you're buying from the same parent company). For comparison shopping between BGASC and JM Bullion, treat them as one A-Mark-shaped corner of the dealer landscape rather than two independent counterparties.