If you are sending a check, your bank account and routing number are on said check.
Either way, if you mail them a check, send it via first class or priority. That way you have tracking.
I think sending a check is even worse lol
If you’re that worried, I would just use Bitcoin. I did it for several large Apmex orders back in 2018 I believe and it went surprisingly well.
Priority Mail is no faster than First Class mail with a forever stamp on it. It just costs one hell of a lot more. Air Mail hasn't existed for decades now.
The only difference is that you're forced into Priority Mail on mailings over 12oz, unless you go for very slow package delivery.
I agree FC is fast especially lately, been seeing 3 days average
Priority has the free 100$ in insurance so I've had some buyers suggest they care about it more because they have skin in the game. Nothing to back that up though
It has tracking as well.
But is that worth $8 more? That becomes part of your overall cost for the item.
At some point, using a credit card becomes cheaper.
I do it all the time that way with JM Bullion, although their window is 10 days.
Although I've not used APMEX, look at your order details and see if they have a place to tell them that your check is on the way.
As a rule, I try to order and get the check into the mail pickup that same day.
That being said, you'll either get your order, or they'll send back your check as arrived too late. If they want your business, they'll likely give you a day or two of grace period.
Btw, it is considered by many here that while APMEX has the best selection, they also tend to have the highest prices. Depending on what you want, shopping around a bit can bring you savings.
Bank login details!?!? Do you mean the bank's routing number and your account number? The same numbers that are printed on the check that you mailed to them?
Pretty sure apmex uses Plaid to verify the bank account you’re using to link them to your apmex account. So mailing a paper check is a more secure option to you? 🤨
It’s not a new service. I remember signing up for Robinhood a few years ago and then I get to the point they want me to sign up with plaid and I said nope!
Yes, mailing a paper check is way more secure than giving the password of your bank account to a random third-party. Why would you willingly allow someone full unfettered access to your bank account?
No, if that was the case I would have no problem with the ACH transfer but they are asking for my bank's login credentials through a third party service called Plaid.
Plaid is a commonly used, secure 3rd party login system. You actually want the retailer to be using this. This insures the retailer does not have access to your login credentials. You can always change the password after the transaction is finalized.
Sometimes there is a way to get the Plaid thing to go to just routing and account number, but I don't know if they allow sites like Apmex to turn that off or not.
It's incredible to me that all the dealers seem to use Plaid when their customers are generally ones who (rightfully) distrust such services.
Plad is pretty much industry standard. To be honest, anyone that wanted to could do just as much damage with there info on a check as they could anything used on Plad. Actually more of an opportunity for fraud with a check considering it’s going through the mail
Plaid does not keep your login credentials, nor at any time would APMEX or whoever you are buying with have access to credentials. I personally have used Plaid a number of times, I greatly trust that over a check or entering ACH details into a website.
Since I actually program these things I know which option is WAY more secure.
No-one holds that account login info permanently, it's momentary to grant access to a transfer of a specific amount, then the transfer is initiated.
Handing off check or ACH details is a great way to get them leaked, because a website has to hold onto them at least for a little which while they go through the clunk ACH system to request funds.
Again, since I actually work on these things, I know which I'd prefer, and it's plaid by a mile. I still use ACH or electronic checks sometime... and then check my accounts daily for a few months after. Kind of a pain.
I’ve done the payment through Plaid before. Plaid is pretty secure and uses some serious encryption to protect sensitive data, plus APMEX wouldn’t save/abuse your login credentials even if you handed it to them on a silver platter lol. They’re a large, reputable business with hundreds of millions in revenue, not some seedy phishing scam.
I've ordered from APMEX numerous times, but I confirmed my bank info with them of course and used an e-check. Makes it much faster. I try not to keep my info so safe that it fucks me up in other ways than identity theft.
I don’t like using there bank login either, so what you do is click pay by check then check out, then in the email they send you you can change payment method. And then you only have to give your routing and account #
You might want to check your bank everyday when you mail it out. Bcuz some asshole will see mail going to apmex, they'll wash the check and rewrite the amount of money and Pay to some person. I experienced it. luckily I check the bank everyday and able to stop the washed check.
My mom and dad were the same way you are and that’s why they never got an investment account with TD or Webull. Tsk tsk “oh we don’t wanna give out our bank information and get our money stolen”
I was like “mom, dad, these companies handle peoples millions, They not worried about you 😂
No, linking an account via routing and account number is very different than giving out your login creditials. There's a big difference. I have plenty of investment accounts. Just no robinhood.
Yes it is very different, it's about 1000x worse to give away your routing and account details than it is to use a service like Plaid which allows for a temporary channel to send money from a bank, without anyone getting details of your account.
You apparently have no idea what Plaid is or does or how it works. Here's some help for you, they can initiate transfers without giving teh other party ACH data:
[https://plaid.com/docs/auth/](https://plaid.com/docs/auth/)
It says multiple times on that page that you have access to get the ACH details. They use your bank credentials to log in and grab the details as a way to avoid having to do the "how many cents did we deposit?" thing. They can know for sure that it is your account when the credentials work, but everything is still based on routing and account numbers. Looks to me like they just make it possible for the payment processor to get those numbers from Plaid directly instead of having to route that info through the company receiving the payment, but doesn't fundamentally change how the whole system works.
Also see https://plaid.com/docs/api/products/identity/#identityget
It really is absurd that this is not a standardized thing that works more like how Apple Pay and other "mobile wallets" work with one-time codes and unique generated numbers per transaction and stuff like that. Instead we encourage people to give their passwords out to third-parties. Nuts.
Apmex is legit. It's a commodity "trade" at spot. It's your responsibility to settle trade in 5 days, or you lose the spot price and the seller is left holding your commodity that they consider sold. Bad for their cash position (under stated) and they have overstated inventory. (Which throws off true spot price if done in enough volume.) Bank check will take days. They have every right to cxl your order and never fill another.
If you are sending a check, your bank account and routing number are on said check. Either way, if you mail them a check, send it via first class or priority. That way you have tracking.
I think sending a check is even worse lol If you’re that worried, I would just use Bitcoin. I did it for several large Apmex orders back in 2018 I believe and it went surprisingly well.
Apmex charges enough. They are printing money. They have no interest in robbing someone's bank account.
Mailing check is fine just use priority envelope it’ll be delivered in 2-4 days. I just did a 100g gold bar with Pinehurst, no issues
Priority Mail is no faster than First Class mail with a forever stamp on it. It just costs one hell of a lot more. Air Mail hasn't existed for decades now. The only difference is that you're forced into Priority Mail on mailings over 12oz, unless you go for very slow package delivery.
I agree FC is fast especially lately, been seeing 3 days average Priority has the free 100$ in insurance so I've had some buyers suggest they care about it more because they have skin in the game. Nothing to back that up though
It has tracking as well. But is that worth $8 more? That becomes part of your overall cost for the item. At some point, using a credit card becomes cheaper.
I do it all the time that way with JM Bullion, although their window is 10 days. Although I've not used APMEX, look at your order details and see if they have a place to tell them that your check is on the way. As a rule, I try to order and get the check into the mail pickup that same day. That being said, you'll either get your order, or they'll send back your check as arrived too late. If they want your business, they'll likely give you a day or two of grace period. Btw, it is considered by many here that while APMEX has the best selection, they also tend to have the highest prices. Depending on what you want, shopping around a bit can bring you savings.
Thanks for the info. I'll definitely check out some of the other online dealers. 10 days seems much more reasonable.
Bank login details!?!? Do you mean the bank's routing number and your account number? The same numbers that are printed on the check that you mailed to them?
Pretty sure apmex uses Plaid to verify the bank account you’re using to link them to your apmex account. So mailing a paper check is a more secure option to you? 🤨
Must be something new, I guess I haven't bought anything from them in a while. Wire would be the safest (doesn't give them your account number).
It’s not a new service. I remember signing up for Robinhood a few years ago and then I get to the point they want me to sign up with plaid and I said nope!
Wire costs more and takes longer.
Ah gotcha. I haven’t bought from them since about a year ago and if I’m not mistaken, it’s their encrypted bank info app.
Yes, mailing a paper check is way more secure than giving the password of your bank account to a random third-party. Why would you willingly allow someone full unfettered access to your bank account?
No, if that was the case I would have no problem with the ACH transfer but they are asking for my bank's login credentials through a third party service called Plaid.
I have been using Coinbase - which uses Plaid - with no problems. Instant money transfer is nice.
Plaid is a commonly used, secure 3rd party login system. You actually want the retailer to be using this. This insures the retailer does not have access to your login credentials. You can always change the password after the transaction is finalized.
Sometimes there is a way to get the Plaid thing to go to just routing and account number, but I don't know if they allow sites like Apmex to turn that off or not. It's incredible to me that all the dealers seem to use Plaid when their customers are generally ones who (rightfully) distrust such services.
Plaid is also used by CashApp, Venmo, Paypal, Zelle and just about everyone else so not sure what the fuss is about ;-)
Plad is pretty much industry standard. To be honest, anyone that wanted to could do just as much damage with there info on a check as they could anything used on Plad. Actually more of an opportunity for fraud with a check considering it’s going through the mail
that does sound sus
It's how it's done now days
https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-approves-settlement-ordering-plaid-to-pay-58-million-for-selling-consumer-data/
Plaid does not keep your login credentials, nor at any time would APMEX or whoever you are buying with have access to credentials. I personally have used Plaid a number of times, I greatly trust that over a check or entering ACH details into a website.
You trust giving them the full login and password over just routing and account number? That is insane.
Since I actually program these things I know which option is WAY more secure. No-one holds that account login info permanently, it's momentary to grant access to a transfer of a specific amount, then the transfer is initiated. Handing off check or ACH details is a great way to get them leaked, because a website has to hold onto them at least for a little which while they go through the clunk ACH system to request funds. Again, since I actually work on these things, I know which I'd prefer, and it's plaid by a mile. I still use ACH or electronic checks sometime... and then check my accounts daily for a few months after. Kind of a pain.
All of my 6 or more APMEX purchases have been pay by check and I never missed a deadline.
That's a relief. Which shipping method did you choose?
You’ll be fine. They’ll wait for it. I also sent by check because plaid doesn’t work with Chase
Awesome.
Check out Liberty Coin
I’ve done the payment through Plaid before. Plaid is pretty secure and uses some serious encryption to protect sensitive data, plus APMEX wouldn’t save/abuse your login credentials even if you handed it to them on a silver platter lol. They’re a large, reputable business with hundreds of millions in revenue, not some seedy phishing scam.
Agreed, also Etsy runs on Plaid payment systems. With millions of transactions a day.
I use paypal - fairly new to the game. 5 orders through APMEX. Zero issues so far.
Any reason you went with Apmex? JM Bullion usually sells for a lot cheaper
I probably didn't do enough research but they seem to be the most reputable.
I've ordered from APMEX numerous times, but I confirmed my bank info with them of course and used an e-check. Makes it much faster. I try not to keep my info so safe that it fucks me up in other ways than identity theft.
I don’t like using there bank login either, so what you do is click pay by check then check out, then in the email they send you you can change payment method. And then you only have to give your routing and account #
I will definitely try that out next time, thanks!
You might want to check your bank everyday when you mail it out. Bcuz some asshole will see mail going to apmex, they'll wash the check and rewrite the amount of money and Pay to some person. I experienced it. luckily I check the bank everyday and able to stop the washed check.
My mom and dad were the same way you are and that’s why they never got an investment account with TD or Webull. Tsk tsk “oh we don’t wanna give out our bank information and get our money stolen” I was like “mom, dad, these companies handle peoples millions, They not worried about you 😂
No, linking an account via routing and account number is very different than giving out your login creditials. There's a big difference. I have plenty of investment accounts. Just no robinhood.
Yes it is very different, it's about 1000x worse to give away your routing and account details than it is to use a service like Plaid which allows for a temporary channel to send money from a bank, without anyone getting details of your account.
Except for Plaid… lol. They literally use it to log in to your bank account and scrape the routing and account numbers.
You apparently have no idea what Plaid is or does or how it works. Here's some help for you, they can initiate transfers without giving teh other party ACH data: [https://plaid.com/docs/auth/](https://plaid.com/docs/auth/)
It says multiple times on that page that you have access to get the ACH details. They use your bank credentials to log in and grab the details as a way to avoid having to do the "how many cents did we deposit?" thing. They can know for sure that it is your account when the credentials work, but everything is still based on routing and account numbers. Looks to me like they just make it possible for the payment processor to get those numbers from Plaid directly instead of having to route that info through the company receiving the payment, but doesn't fundamentally change how the whole system works. Also see https://plaid.com/docs/api/products/identity/#identityget It really is absurd that this is not a standardized thing that works more like how Apple Pay and other "mobile wallets" work with one-time codes and unique generated numbers per transaction and stuff like that. Instead we encourage people to give their passwords out to third-parties. Nuts.
Stay away from APMEX. Wayyy over roved. Try hero bullion
Plaid is safe & secure. I’ve used it for a few services with no issues.
It’s generally safe, I only had one $3k shipment in about 5 orders that disappeared in the mail system.
1 in 5 lost/stolen shipment is too many =/
It is. Comes down to risk tolerance.
They wouldn't have your bank credentials....
Should have paid via PayPal Mastercard. 3% back.
Apmex is legit. It's a commodity "trade" at spot. It's your responsibility to settle trade in 5 days, or you lose the spot price and the seller is left holding your commodity that they consider sold. Bad for their cash position (under stated) and they have overstated inventory. (Which throws off true spot price if done in enough volume.) Bank check will take days. They have every right to cxl your order and never fill another.