Everyone knows you can depart Costco Wholesale with a cart full of jumbo jars of peanut butter, a television larger than your living room wall, and a decade’s worth of toilet paper. However, did you realize that the retail chain also sells gold bars?
Costco has begun selling gold ingots weighing 1 ounce. There are two options available: a 1-ounce gold PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan bar and a 1-ounce gold Rand Refinery bar.
Each variety is available exclusively online and is limited to two per member. There is no refund policy.
Given that gold bars are not a typical grocery list item, one might assume that they would be overlooked on the Costco website. But demand has been surprisingly strong.
During Costco’s latest earnings conference call, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said, “I’ve gotten a couple of calls that people have seen online that we’ve been selling gold — 1-ounce gold bars. Yes, but once they’re uploaded to the site, they’re typically gone within a few hours, and members are limited to two.”
The Costco website indicates that both bars are no longer available as of October 10.
Why Do Individuals Hoard Gold?
The yellow metal has served as a store of value for millennia, and people possess it for a variety of reasons.
Unlike fiat money, which can be produced in unlimited quantities by central banks, the precious metal has inherent scarcity, making it a hedge against inflation.
At the same time, gold historically has been recognized as a safe-haven asset, providing investors with a hedge against economic uncertainty and geopolitical risks. In times of political unrest, wars and other crises, the yellow metal has often been sought as a refuge, given its global recognition and value.
