This a quick warning message to gold and silver investors: DO NOT purchase any bullion from the bitcoin website Coinabul.com. This site has built a reputation as the first and one of the only sites to accept bitcoin in payment for gold and silver. I have used them in the past with no problems, but my latest order that was supposed to come the next day, is now nearly a week late.
In addition, their customer service is not replying to emails or answering the phone. Their phone number goes to a message saying to call back tomorrow during business hours, even if you are calling during regular business hours. I have also found several other people on popular bitcoin bulletin board sites complaining about never receiving their orders from Coinabul or receiving them months later.
While the irreversibility of bitcoin and ability to transact anonymously can be a benefit in many situations, in this instance it means that I might have been ripped off without recourse to recover my payment. Fortunately, I only made a small purchase with a fraction of my bitcoin holdings, but the company could be pulling in thousands per day in bitcoin payments from those not aware of the potential fraud.
Their website continues to function, updating prices on the fly, with no message about delays or other fulfillment issues. The items that I ordered, American Silver Eagles coins, have even changed to the status: “out of stock.”
Using a site like Coinabul is a great way for those that have built up hefty gains in bitcoin, to take some profit off the table by exchanging bitcoin for physical metals. In my view, this is an excellent time to do so, as Bitcoin is now over $400 and precious metals are trading at very oversold levels after correcting sharply in the past year.
I will be updating this page if I hear anything back from Coinabul. Hopefully this was just a misunderstanding and they will respond soon, but I am not holding my breath after reading similar stories from others over the past few months. It seems silly to rip off a handful of customers and lose all credibility in a business that was legit for a long time and apparently was processing a good amount of bullion orders every day. This loss of confidence in Coinabul opens the doors for competitors and probably marks the end of the company.
As an investor and proponent of both gold and bitcoin, I really want to like Coinabul. If there are supply issues or regulatory problems, don’t accept orders or at least tell customers about the delays. If you can’t deliver as promised, return the bitcoin payment immediately. This is just simple common sense and good business practice.
In the meantime, please be advised that I still have not heard anything back from customer service after several days and multiple attempts to contact them via phone and email. I may have lost my money and been con-a-bulled, but hopefully this reaches people that may be considering a purchase from their website. Buyer beware, at least for the time being!
Here a few links to others complaining about Coinabul not delivering bullion and keeping their money:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=149253.420
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1jwn...the_moment_the/
If you would like to purchase bullion with bitcoin and are looking for an alternative to coinabul.com, check out target="_blank" Agora Commodities. I have no affiliation with them and have never used their website, but others have reported success and quick delivery. I am going to put through a small order and will review their service after it is fulfilled. It also appears that their prices are significantly lower than Coinabul.com.
Another website that accepts bitcoin for gold and silver bullion is target="_blank" https://www.goldsilverbitcoin.com
