Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering

Can individual investors buy precious metals at the spot price?
The futures market allows you to take delivery at the lowest cost.  Most people don't deal in 100oz gold bars and 5000oz of 1000oz silver bars though, especially at the retail level.  That said, when you are at the retail level, often times you will find reputable Internet dealers offering the lowest cost of ownership.  Keep in mind brand name though when you're doing this.  Reputable refiners/mints will often see higher premiums versus generic, and this does matter to some extent. Quantity and weights also matter in terms of pricing; the more you buy the lower the premium.