Invest Solid Gold
Editorial Methodology
We evaluate the decision a reader must make, not the volume of a merchant’s marketing. Every commercial guide starts with five pillars: fit, ownership, total cost, safeguards and exit.
1. Scenario fit
We define who might realistically benefit from a route and who should pause. A scenario is illustrative, never a claim that our team personally purchased or tested a product.
2. Ownership and custody
For physical and vaulted gold, we ask who has legal title, whether metal is allocated, how records are reconciled, what insurance applies and what happens during provider failure. For exchange-traded products, we examine the security structure, issuer, collateral or backing, custody and relevant documents.
3. Total cost
We look beyond the advertised fee to premium over spot, bid–ask spread, delivery, storage, insurance, platform, fund or product charges, currency conversion, withdrawal and sale costs. Live figures are included only when a repeatable update process exists.
4. Safeguards and evidence
We prefer primary sources: provider legal documents, official regulator records, HMRC guidance and established market bodies. We do not invent review scores, tests, prices, returns or customer counts.
5. Exit practicality
A product is not fully understood until the reader knows how it can be sold, what identification or packaging is required, what price formula applies, how long settlement may take and which costs appear on the way out.
Last reviewed: 26 August 2026.