The gold price has been hitting record levels and thousands of Aussies are trying to get their hands on the rare metal. (Source: Getty) <\/p>\n
Australians are queuing for as much as four hours at a time to get their hands on a slice of gold<\/a> as the price for the rare metal hits record levels. The price per troy ounce has skyrocketed<\/a> in recent weeks due to a variety of factors happening overseas<\/a> and many want to get on the bandwagon before it goes up any higher.<\/p>\n ABC Bullion is Australasia\u2019s leading precious metals and bullion vendor and its Sydney store has seen lines of people<\/a> running outside the door and around the corner for the last few weeks. ABC Bullion general manager Jordan Eliseo told Yahoo Finance it’s been wild to see so many people keep turning up, day after day.<\/p>\n “It’s not uncommon for us to have lines outside the door from time to time, but for this sustained period of weeks on end where there are queues forming before the stores even opens… that’s a new phenomenon,” he said.<\/p>\n “But it’s important to point out that that physical queue is, in many ways, the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n “The digital queue for people opening accounts to transact online, and the amount of client activity that we see on that front, that is in some ways has dwarfed the uptick in people coming to our stores to buy.”<\/p>\n He confirmed it is taking up to four hours for people to snake their way through the queue to enter the store and purchase gold.<\/p>\n Do you have a story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com<\/p>\n That’s because the Sydney store, as well as the other ABC Bullion retailers dotted around the country, have a high level of security and want buyers to have a good experience.<\/p>\n Once inside, people can buy all sorts of gold and silver, ranging from blocks that only weigh 1 gram all the way up to those iconic-looking 400 ounce gold bars, which are worth more than $2.67 million each.<\/p>\n The current spot price per troy ounce for gold is AUD$6,689.61 (USD$4,356.27).<\/p>\n Aussies wanting to pick up a 1 gram tablet could do so with a relatively small $236 investment.<\/p>\n Commonwealth Bank head of commodities Vivek Dhar said the surge in the gold price this year has been “nothing short of spectacular”.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s worth noting though that other precious metals have been surging too. Palladium has increased 75 per cent, while platinum has sky\u2011rocketed 87 per cent since the start of the year,” he said.<\/p>\n Story Continues <\/p>\n \u201cOne key driving factor has been the shift in monetary policy that has made precious metals a more compelling alternative to bonds and the US dollar.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the real catalyst was President Trump\u2019s \u2018Liberation Day\u2019 tariffs, which triggered a sharp equity selloff and pushed investors towards metals as a safe haven.\u201d<\/p>\n Those tariffs sparked global turmoil as stock markets plunged out of fear of what the foreign policy will mean for dozens of nations.<\/p>\n In times like this, investors rush to gold as it’s seen as safe asset.<\/p>\n And it’s very good news for Australia.<\/p>\n “As the third largest miner of gold and with one of the largest gold reserves in the world, the Australian economy stands to benefit from recent price gains,” an investor note from Commonwealth Bank said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n “We expect higher gold prices will transmit through the Australian economy in two ways: higher national income and higher investment.”<\/p>\n Despite warnings abound that price rises will likely end, there are several avenues Aussies can go down if they want to join in on the gold rush:<\/p>\n You can buy physical gold bars from places like The Perth Mint or ABC Bullion<\/p>\n You can invest into a company that holds and stores gold<\/p>\n You can buy gold ETFs<\/p>\n You can invest in companies that derive the majority of their profits from gold, so gold mining companies or gold distribution companies<\/p>\n Gold expert Justin Lin from Global X, one of the largest gold fund managers in Australia, told Yahoo Finance that he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw how many people were lining up outside gold retailers to physically buy the metal.<\/p>\n “ETFs are by far the easiest way and probably the best way to access physical gold exposure given that you don’t have that massive bid-ask spread,” he said.<\/p>\n “When you go to a physical gold vendor, they’re going to charge you a 10 per cent surcharge off the top just for going to them.”<\/p>\n The bid-ask spread is the difference between the prices quoted for an immediate sale and an immediate purchase for stocks and other assets.<\/p>\n However, when you physically buy gold, it can attract premiums of 2-10 per cent above the spot price.<\/p>\n Eliseo said ETFs aren’t a bad entry point for buying gold, but it’s not going to be for everyone.<\/p>\n “For a lot of people, myself included, they value the physicality of bullion,” he said.<\/p>\n “People talk about an ETF, but there’s 50 pages of product disclosure statements to read through, and you need to have a brokerage account, and there’s other moving parts.<\/p>\n “There is room for both and I think the important thing is that people are just looking at getting gold exposure full stop.”<\/p>\n Financial adviser Hamish Landreth told Yahoo Finance that buying gold to diversify your investments isn’t a bad idea, but going all-in could end badly.<\/p>\n “The word of caution is to not follow the herd and stick to the tried and true principles of diversification, and not getting caught up in the latest hysteria,” he said.<\/p>\n “If people are running to gold now as a way to protect against future volatility, you could argue that that’s already baked into the price,” he said.<\/p>\n “The risk is that if the global economy effects don’t play out to the extent that the media is speculating, that could also see downward pressure on gold with people exiting out.”<\/p>\n Get the latest Yahoo Finance news – follow us on Facebook<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n People have been waiting for hours to get into the ABC Bullion store in Sydney. (Source: Getty) <\/p>\n