Bid-Ask Spread
Definition
The bid-ask spread is the gap between the price a dealer pays to buy metal from you (the bid) and the price it charges to sell to you (the ask). That gap is a built-in round-trip cost of owning physical metal.
The spread is what separates the buy and sell sides of any precious-metals transaction, and it sets how far the price must move before you break even.
Why it matters
If you buy at the ask and immediately sell at the bid, you lose the spread even if the metal’s value has not changed. A wider spread means the price must rise more before a sale turns a profit. Comparing spreads across products and dealers is one of the clearest ways to judge the true cost of a purchase.
In practice
Spreads tend to be narrower on widely traded bullion coins and bars and wider on small fractional pieces or unusual items. The ask reflects the premium over spot you pay, and the bid reflects what a dealer will return when you sell back.
Example
If a coin’s ask is 2,100 and its bid is 2,000, the 100 spread is roughly five percent of the price. The metal would need to climb about that much before selling it back left you even.