Where to Sell (or Buy) Gold, Silver & Platinum in Vermont

Vermont's precious metal dealer law (9 V.S.A. chapter 97A) defines a dealer as a business that, among other things, "has a physical presence in this State, whether temporary or permanent," and requires state certification "to conduct business as a precious metal dealer in this State." Nothing in the chapter addresses buyers outside Vermont or purchases by mail. We have no Vermont premises; your items travel to our refinery in Oregon and the purchase happens there.

After you accept, you complete a simple online verification before we pay. Send only items that are yours to sell.

You get an itemized offer listing each piece with its weight and purity. Turn it down and we mail everything back with free return postage.* Accept and payment goes out the same day.**

Vermont regulates businesses with a physical presence in the state that are in the business of buying or selling used gold, silver, platinum, palladium, jewelry or coins priced above face value and that buy or sell 2,500 dollars or more of it in any 12-month period (9 V.S.A. chapter 97A). Each needs a two-year certification from the Department of Public Safety, which runs criminal history checks, and must show its certification number at the shop and in every advertisement. Trade in new metal, purely wholesale trade and investment trade in bullion fall outside the law, as do collectible coins bought and resold in the same form rather than for scrap.

For every purchase the dealer records the price, date and time, your name, address and phone number, a written description and a photo or video of each item, and checks a government photo ID (or a government ID without a photo, plus a photo of your face). You also show proof that the items are yours, such as a receipt or bill of sale, or sign an affidavit of ownership. Records are kept three years and open to police. The dealer cannot buy from anyone under 18, must pay by check, draft or money order on any purchase of 25 dollars or more bought for resale, and must hold what it buys for 10 days before selling or scrapping it or taking it out of Vermont.

Vermont taxes retail sales in the state at 6% (32 V.S.A. 9771), and towns that vote for it add a 1% local option tax (24 V.S.A. 138). The exemption list in 32 V.S.A. 9741 has nothing for bullion or coins. H.711, a 2026 bill to exempt precious metals bought for investment, was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee in January 2026 and was never enacted.

When you sell: sales tax is a buyer's cost, not yours. You pay no Vermont tax when you sell your gold, silver or platinum, whether to a local shop or to us by mail.

Vermont lets you exclude part of your capital gains, either a flat amount or 40% of gains on assets held more than three years (32 V.S.A. 5811). Both versions are measured against "adjusted net capital gain" as federal law defines it in 26 U.S.C. 1(h), and that definition subtracts collectibles gain, which is how the IRS classes gold, silver and platinum. So a gain on metal you sell is generally taxed by Vermont in full.

Federally, the IRS taxes physical precious metals as collectibles: gains on metal held more than a year are capped at 28%, and metal held a year or less is taxed as ordinary income. Inherited pieces generally use the value on the date of death as their cost basis, so they often carry little taxable gain. We are not tax advisers, so check with yours before you file.

No Vermont statute makes gold or silver coin legal tender. It changes nothing about selling: buyers price your metal off the live spot market, not face value.