Compare · Pooled or Unallocated Storage
Allocated vs. Pooled and Unallocated Storage
Pooled storage is cheaper, and for someone treating metal as a position rather than a possession that is a fair trade honestly made. But the difference between the two is not a service tier. It is the difference between owning a bar and being owed one.
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Side by side
| Category | Us | Pooled or Unallocated Storage |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Higher — specific bars take specific space | Lower, sometimes much lower. They win here |
| Minimum holding | Suited to whole bars and coins | Fractional ounces are possible. They win here |
| Trading in small amounts | Withdraw or arrange a movement | Trivial, no physical handling. They win here |
| What you own | Specific bars, recorded by serial to you | A claim on a quantity of metal |
| Your position if the operator fails | Your property, identifiable and separate | Generally an unsecured creditor |
| Can specific bars be shown to you | Yes — yours, by serial, by appointment | There are no specific bars to show |
| Is the metal lent, leased or financed | No. Not by us, not to anyone | Depends entirely on the terms. Read them |
| What the paperwork must say | "Allocated" and "segregated", both | Frequently neither word appears |
Every row marked “win here” is a real advantage of the alternative. A table that gives the other side nothing is not a comparison, and anyone reading carefully will notice.
The fair case
What pooled or unallocated storage genuinely does better
Pooled and unallocated arrangements are cheaper, and the reason is structural rather than a discount: metal that does not have to be kept apart takes less space and less handling, and the saving is passed on. Fractional ownership becomes possible, so someone can hold a tenth of an ounce or accumulate steadily without waiting to afford a whole bar. Buying and selling need not touch the metal at all, which makes small and frequent transactions practical in a way physical bars never are. For an investor treating bullion as an allocation to be rebalanced, that is the right instrument, and paying for segregation you will never use would be waste.
The limit
Where the gap is
The trade is legal rather than practical, which is why it stays invisible until it matters. With allocated and segregated storage, specific bars are recorded as your property and held apart from everyone else’s; if the operator fails, identifiable property is generally not available to its creditors. With an unallocated claim you are typically an unsecured creditor for a quantity of metal, standing in line with everyone else. The terms may also permit the metal to be lent, leased or used as collateral — not always, but often enough that reading for it is worthwhile. None of this is hidden. It is simply written in language most people skip.
Our view
The honest verdict
If you are sizing in and out of a position and cost per ounce is the number that matters, pooled storage does that job better than we do and the saving is genuine. If the metal is meant to still be there in twenty years, or to pass to somebody else, the question is only whether you own a thing or hold a claim. Ask for the word "allocated" and the word "segregated" in the agreement. If a provider will not put both in writing, that is your answer and it is not a rude question to ask.
Common questions
- What is the difference between allocated and unallocated storage?
- Allocated means specific bars are recorded as your property. Unallocated means you hold a claim on a quantity of metal. It is the difference between owning a bar and being owed one.
- What happens to unallocated metal if the operator fails?
- You are typically an unsecured creditor for a quantity of metal. Allocated and segregated property is identifiable and held apart, which is generally not available to an operator’s creditors.
- Is pooled storage ever the better choice?
- Yes. If you are sizing in and out of a position and cost per ounce is the number that matters, pooled does that job better and the saving is real.
Other comparisons
A Large Depository
Delaware Depository, Brink’s Global Services and the state-chartered depositories do this at a scale we do not attempt. For a large part of the market they are the correct answer, and one requirement settles the question outright.
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A Bank Safe Deposit Box
A bank box is cheap, familiar and for a lot of holdings entirely sufficient. We rent boxes too, and we will point you at one rather than sell you something larger. But two things about bank boxes surprise almost everyone.
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Storage Where You Bought It
Buy the metal and it never ships — it appears in an account and can be sold in a click. The convenience is real and the liquidity is genuinely better than ours. The question is what happens when your seller, your price-setter and your custodian are the same company.
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What we store
Gold Bullion
Gold is the easiest metal to store and the one where the storage arrangement matters most, because a large value occupies very little space and is completely fungible once it leaves your sight.
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Bulk Silver
Silver is where storage economics become real. The same value in silver occupies roughly seventy times the volume of gold, and volume is what a vault charges for.
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Sovereign Coins
Coins introduce something bars do not: condition is part of the value, so how they are handled and what they sit in matters as much as where they sit.
Read more →
Tell us what needs to move.
What, from where, and roughly when. You do not need an inventory to start the conversation, and if the job belongs with an armored carrier we will say so on the call.