Costco begins selling platinum bars

The company has launched the sale of 1 oz. platinum bars on its website, with a price tag of $1,089.99. A 1 oz. Canada Maple Leaf platinum coin sells for the same price. Both carry a premium markup of about $94.

The Swiss-made bars and coins aren’t available in all parts of the country and cannot be delivered to Nevada or Louisiana, the company said on its website. They also can’t be returned or refunded. And if you want one, you’ll need to act quickly when they come into stock, as they sell out almost immediately.

(Reddit users have already launched a subreddit—Costco Precious Metals—to inform each other when stock is refreshed for gold, platinum and silver offerings.)

Introducing precious metals to its online offerings has been a boon for Costco’s e-commerce operations. Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti, speaking on an earnings call earlier this year, said the increase in online sales in the last quarter of 2023 was “led by sales of gold and very recently silver.”

Costco shoppers are a bit fonder of the gold than silver offerings. An analyst note from Wells Fargo earlier this year estimated sales of the company’s gold bars account for between $100 million and $200 million per month. Sales of the one-ounce bars, which are made of 24-karat gold began last October. The bars sell for about $2,000 each.

While the revenue numbers are significant, the research note suggests the profits from these sales are low, at best. The real value, it says, is in how the price reinforces Costco’s value position. Think of it as a high-end version of the company’s rotisserie chickens—a way to attract customer attention.