Costco restricts purchases of hot-selling item after insane demand

Is the “bar” closed?

Costco’s Gilded Age may be coming to an end. The Big Box retailer is restricting purchases of its iconic gold bars after savvy buyers clamored to cash in on the precious metal amid market turmoil.

Now, customers will be limited to buying only just one of the store’s 1 ounce bars — which are available in PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan and the Business Insider reported.

Gold hoarders could still earn a pretty penny even with a one-bar limit, however.

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The store’s 1 ounce Gold Bar PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan sells for an eye-popping $3,389.99 on the website including shipping and handling, meaning those who purchased the item last year would’ve raked in a healthy profit given its then price tag of $2,779.99, Quartz reported.

Since the items’ launch in 2023, the chain has seen a veritable gold rush as Costco prospectors flocked from far and wide to gobble up their gilded treasure trove.

According to a Bloomberg survey from October of last year, approximately 77% of Costco branches across 46 states had sold out of gold bars within a week, even after receiving fresh stock, the Daily Hodl reported.

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In April 2024, Wells Fargo estimated that the commerce giant was earning $200 million per month in gold bar revenue, Quarts reported.

“Our work suggests there has been significant interest given COST’s aggressive pricing and high level of customer trust,” Wells Fargo equity analyst Edward Kelly said in a note to clients. “The accelerating frequency of Reddit posts, quick online sell-outs of product, and COST’s robust monthly eComm sales suggest a sharp uptick in momentum since the launch.”

The gold fever quickly spread via social media as well.

Finance influencer Humphrey Yang went viral earlier this month after purchasing the PAMP Suisse gold bar for $2,359 in April 2024, and then selling it to a gold dealer for just under $3,000, netting himself around $600 in profit.

Since Yang sold his bar, the price of gold has skyrocketed to a staggering $3,300 per ounce with Goldman Sachs upping its year-end forecast for gold from $3,300 to $3,700, Yahoo Finance reported.

The precious metal’s skyrocketing valuation comes as spooked investors stockpiled gold to safeguard themselves against economic uncertainty spurred by President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive. 

In February, the president’s tariff plans even prompted some of the largest banks in the US and Great Britain to fly gold bars from London to New York City on commercial flights as a hedge against inflation.

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