Panda America Review
It's common knowledge that investing in precious metals is a superb financial insurance move that gives us a hedge against any future economic crisis. However, in any emergency, you may have to liquidate these assets to get some cash.
But what happens when your precious metals dealer doesn't offer you a liquidation outlet? Now, that is some bad news.
Anyway, I believe you get the idea that your dealer must guarantee you easy access to liquidating your metals in the same way he offered you its acquisition.
If you have issues getting a dealer, you may want to read this review on Panda America.
About Panda America
If you have been a collector for a while now, I'm sure you are already familiar with the name ‘Panda.' And yes, it's the same ‘Panda' from the highly collectible Chinese Panda Coins. Panda America takes its name from these collectible coins.
It has grown into being one of the principal distributors of modern coins in the world today. They distribute almost all world collectibles made from gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
Panda America works as a Creative Marketing Partner for several mints around the world. And though their primary products remain the Chinese Panda Coins, Panda America now offers a wide array of collectible coins from different years and several countries.
They have also worked for many prestigious coin issues, such as supplying commemoratives for the Olympic Games. Panda America believes in serving its clients doesn't end at selling to clients.
Thus Panda America created a two-way market for all its products to ensure that its customers can readily liquidate their metals at any time.
Background
Panda America was established in 1982 by Martin Weiss but later got sold to Peter Yeung and Kitty Quan in 2005. Martin initially started Panda America as the official United States distributor of the first set of China-issued Panda gold bullion coins.
However, the unexpected success of these coins as both collectibles and great investments led the company into becoming a world-recognized leader in modern numismatics and precious metals.
And today, Panda America has been named distributor by several major mints and governments.
Since its establishment, the owners and staff have made several trips to Asia, working with leading government mints, attending international coin shows, and setting up meetings with clients.
In 2011, Panda America started Panda America Pte Ltd. in Singapore in the bid to bring its personalized service to the Asian market. This office in Singapore mainly serves to provide the Asian Pacific market with the best commemorative coin and medal programs.
In 2011, Panda America started the Singapore International Coin Fair (SICF), a 3-day program for the exhibition of collectibles of several leading world mints and international dealers.
About the Management
The Leadership seat started with Martin Weiss, a life member of the American Numismatic Association. He is also a recipient of the PNG's Sol Kaplan Award of 2002 for his activities to reduce the presence of dishonest dealers in the world of numismatics and for promoting the ethics that the PNG stands for.
During his tenure as the President, Kitty Quan started her career at Panda America. And that was in 1988, after which she worked her way to being CEO to date.
The current President of Panda America, Peter Yeung, also worked with Martin Weiss from 1988 to 1992, before returning in 2005 to purchase the company with Kitty Quan.
Peter Yeung had started collecting coins at the young age of 11 before starting his own coin selling business at the age of 15. Both Kitty Quan and Peter Yeung are also life members of the American Numismatic Association.
Contact Details
The main office of Panda America is located at 3400 Torrance Boulevard Suite 101, Torrance, California.
Services at Panda America
“Panda America is a distributor of modern issues coins who also buy back products from its customers.”
The description above summarizes almost all I mentioned above, but is that all they stand for? Or is there more? These are the questions I will answer below. But first, let's see all that is involved when transacting with Panda America.
Purchase of Precious Metals
When buying precious metals for the first time, I understand it can be quite overwhelming. I also know that the process becomes simpler when you know who you are dealing with and how it works.
Panda America offers a broad catalog of coins from around the world to include common ones such as the China Gold Pandas, American Gold Buffaloes, American Gold Eagles, and Canadian Maple Leafs, which are also IRA-approved metals. Apart from the coins and collectibles which they offer, you can also get jewelry.
For this, you get to choose the kind of metal you want as the centerpiece and a bezel design to create a custom pendant.
Panda America also makes sure its Sales Executives are always available to answer your questions. You can ask questions about how the precious metals market is at that moment and any other question you may have to ensure you feel confident throughout the whole process.
Once you have all your questions answered, you can then go further to order and lock-in on the current sales prices.
The importance of locking on a concluded price is to protect you from the constant fluctuations of the spot prices of these precious metals.
Once you lock in a price, Panda America will forward you a copy of your invoice, which can only be used within 24 hours to make payments.
Another way apart from ordering through a phone call is by making use of e-commerce on the website. It follows the same price lock-in process, after which you will also get an invoice for making payments.
As a point to note, Panda America doesn't offer storage services. You will have to find your way of keeping your precious metals safe, can be your home storage or a precious metal depository.
Sales of Precious Metals
You can also sell your coins, bars, jewelry, and scraps to Panda America. You can either go over to their facility or mail your product to them.
However, if you are planning to send the products to them, you will have to put a call across to them to mention your wish to sell to them, get a spot price locked in, and get your other questions answered.
After this, you will ship your products (preferably with USPS Registered Mail, fully insured) to them within 24 hours of the lock-in.
Once your package is received, Panda America will make payments based on your product's melt value. In the case of going to their facility, you will be paid immediately by check.
Mint Coins and Medals
Panda America also offers you the chance to combine an artist's work with exceptional quality to produce coins and medals.
They offer all varieties, including Brilliant Uncirculated, Proof, and Antiqued coins. So if you are looking to mint some impressive award medals or a million coins, you can reach out to Panda America to get started.
Payments & Shipping
Panda America allows payment by Credit Cards, Checks, Money orders, and Bank Wires. Regarding sales tax, only customers within California are to pay a sales tax of 9% for orders below $1,500. And I guess that gives a hint regarding overseas orders already.
Panda America also ships beyond the United States. However, the preferred payment methods for international orders are Bank Wires and International money orders.
Panda America usually ships with the USPS. And they pledge your package will arrive within ten business days after payments.
Ratings
Below is a list of ratings that Panda America currently has as proof of their years of serving customers.
- BCA Rating: AAA
- TrustLink: Not Listed
- Trustpilot: Not Listed
Are you surprised? Because I am shocked that a company that has existed since the 1980s, presently has no rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are, in fact, not currently accredited with the BBB.
But to make up for this would be their rating with BCA, only that they also have no membership with the BCA.
This goes a long way in describing Panda America's stance on giving support to promoting honest business practices, and I must say, it isn't good enough for a company of their status.
Are There Complaints?
YES! I couldn't find that many complaints, but the accusations are quite significant compared to the number of reviews that exist.
I figured that the main topic was that Panda America charges you for orders that are not in stock. Hence, you end up getting your orders delivered late, or at times, you may not get them at all.
⚠️Is Panda America a Legit Company?
My answer to this is pretty simple. Panda America has no solid rating to prove its legitimacy.
There is even still the case of accepting orders for products that are not in stock. There are just so many questions to be asked, and I will recommend you check out other dealers of precious metals.
Pros and Cons
I believe you must have picked quite some of their pros and cons from all you've seen above. So let's go on now to list them out as you need to consider these strictly to be sure you've got the right dealer for yourself.
👍 Pros
- They offer a buy-back program.
- They offer an e-commerce service.
- Panda America offers a wide selection of collectibles and bullion.
- Panda America offers you the chance to have your custom-made jewelry.
👎 Cons
- Panda America accepts payments for products that are not in stock.
- Panda America does not help with the creation of precious metals IRA.
- They offer no storage services.
Conclusion
Panda America is a distributor company that has grown larger than being a supplier of Chinese Panda Coins to having more world coins in its inventory.
However, a low count of reviews and their present lack of accreditation with BBB are unfavorable qualities that a dealer should never have in the precious metals industry.
So, I advise that you check out other precious metals dealers as you can't afford to lose out when you are only trying to gain some financial insurance.
