A Dodgy Bullion Dealer Comparison Site

[LawrenceChard]

By which I mean a dodgy website apparently comparing international bullion dealers, rather than a site about dodgy dealers...

We received an alert from a respected bullion directory site saying:

"Hi, just a quickie - there's a new directory type site which from a little sleuthing seems to be secretly owned by Singapore broker, Bunker Group. Anyway it's business model looks to be disparaging other companies to make themselves look best. Chards does particularly badly with an overall score of 21% and a trust rating of 14% - which we all know is nonsense, plus their ranking factors seem spurious at best. I thought you guys should know it's out there... https://thebulliondealercomparator.com/chards - even if I doubt it will have any impact."

followed up by:

OK, my sleuthing revealed this:

Checking Bunker and Comparator on whois

https://who.is/whois/thebulliondealercomparator.com

https://who.is/whois/bunker-group.com

Both on UK AWS Servers
205.251.197.71 & 205.251.192.107

Doing a Google search on some of the strange language on site:

"The premium is the margin applied by the bullion broker above the 
spot price to sell gold, silver or platinum bars. This premium can 
vary from 1 to 30%. This means that the broker makes to 1 to 30% gross 
margin depending on the brands and the type of the bullion."

had a near exact match on this LinkedIn page:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-price-bullion-dealers-get-gold-christophe-numa  written by Singapore-based Christophe Numa, current MD of Bunker 
Gold

Final proof looking at source code on both sites -
Comparator Google Tag:
/gtag/js?id=UA-97652575-2

Bunker Google Tag:
/gtag/js?id=UA-97652575-2

 

I have done a few screenshots, and added some of my comments on Flickr:

 

It is not the first dubious comparison site I have seen, and it probably will not be the last.

[Clens92]

Out of interest, do you find Flickr to generate any significant traffic?  Nobody I know has used it for at least a decade; not a criticism but would be surprised if it was gaining you as much value as Instagram or similar.

[Xander]

Well spotted. These companies should be exposed, definitely.  

[LawrenceChard]

36 minutes ago, Clens92 said:

Out of interest, do you find Flickr to generate any significant traffic?  Nobody I know has used it for at least a decade; not a criticism but would be surprised if it was gaining you as much value as Instagram or similar.

I use Flickr as a very economical photo hosting site, also acts as some kind of back-up.

It has improved since SmugMug bought it from Yahoo about a year ago.

[HerefordBullyun]

The thing is Lawerence we KNOW that your team is one of the best in the UK. Thats what matters!

It must be hurtful that these shysters do this underhand tactic - they only get found out. My best wishes to you and the staff, for being at the frontline of Bullionsales whilst others have stopped trading.

Best HB

[silversky]

Chards is the best dealer I've bought from in the UK.  Great info on the website and very helpful staff to just call up and discuss things.  I've never been made to feel I was being a nuisance asking questions etc.  Very happy customer.

[Guest]

I am always a bit dubious about bullion dealer comparison sites, especially on Google searches.

It’s only after seeing a video by Backyard Bullion on YouTube who mentioned this forum that I found a comprehensive list of bullion dealers that other people have used and can verify; and to be honest, it’s the only directory I use now... And also the gold price comparison site that (I think his name is) Darren has set up. 

[dicker]

Thanks @LawrenceChard Nice detective work into the bargain. 
 

Where on earth do they get the trust rating from?!  
 

Best

Dicker

[LawrenceChard]

22 minutes ago, dicker said:

Thanks @LawrenceChard Nice detective work into the bargain. 
 

Where on earth do they get the trust rating from?!  
 

Best

Dicker

Thanks, but spotting the site and alerting us was a useful starting point.

They do have a methodoly page, which purports to explain what the scores were for, but both sites appear to be in pidgin English, and there are no real explanations of how they allocated scores.

Basically, I think they simply made a list of their own selling points, excluding any others, and probably did very little actual research on anybody else.

I am thinking of doin my own; guess how many Bunker will score! 🙂

[LawrenceChard]

21 hours ago, HerefordBullyun said:

The thing is Lawerence we KNOW that your team is one of the best in the UK. Thats what matters!

It must be hurtful that these shysters do this underhand tactic - they only get found out. My best wishes to you and the staff, for being at the frontline of Bullionsales whilst others have stopped trading.

Best HB

Thanks for the kind comments.

It's not so much hurtful when stuff like this happens, more annoying, and in this case almost laughable. Ultimately Numa and Bunker have probably done a great PR job of demonstrating their own total lack of scruples and integrity; things which should be important in our industry.

[LawrenceChard]

On 31/05/2020 at 22:10, LawrenceChard said:

By which I mean a dodgy website apparently comparing international bullion dealers, rather than a site about dodgy dealers...

We received an alert from a respected bullion directory site saying:

"Hi, just a quickie - there's a new directory type site which from a little sleuthing seems to be secretly owned by Singapore broker, Bunker Group. Anyway it's business model looks to be disparaging other companies to make themselves look best. Chards does particularly badly with an overall score of 21% and a trust rating of 14% - which we all know is nonsense, plus their ranking factors seem spurious at best. I thought you guys should know it's out there... https://thebulliondealercomparator.com/chards - even if I doubt it will have any impact."

 

I found some time to look into some of the "facts" claimed by the anonymous author / owner of The Bullion Dealer Comparator site.

I am still working through more, but here is one:

The Bullion Dealer Comparator Corruption Index - Misinformation

[Guest]

2 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

I found some time to look into some of the "facts" claimed by the anonymous author / owner of The Bullion Dealer Comparator site.

I am still working through more, but here is one:

The Bullion Dealer Comparator Corruption Index - Misinformation

“Source of our data: Wikipedia”... 😂😂😂

Gimme a minute to pick myself up from the floor, crying with laughter.

That says it all to be honest - Wiki is great to start learning about things, but I would never quote it as a source of information. 

[StackerNoob]

Also, the UK has a political stability rating of 18%. I know things are whacky here right now but 18% puts us in the category of civil war.

Oh and singapore has no score less than 91% for any category. Totally legit.

[LawrenceChard]

22 minutes ago, C60 said:

“Source of our data: Wikipedia”... 😂😂😂

Gimme a minute to pick myself up from the floor, crying with laughter.

That says it all to be honest - Wiki is great to start learning about things, but I would never quote it as a source of information. 

I have fun finding errors on Wikipedia, but it is still a good resource for all that.

So, quote it by all means, but be honest, and don't lie about what it says, at least not if you have any integrity.

Here is another example:

The Bullion Dealer Comparator Political Stability

TBDC allegedly cites The World Bank:

"Switzerland and Singapore are perceived to be the most stable political countries.", which claims to link to...

But the link is not to The World Bank, it is actually to TheGlobalEconomy.com, and shows:

1. Monaco 1.61
2. New Zealand 1.54
3. Singapore 1.51
...
11. Switzerland 1.34

[Darr3nG]

I made a purchase from your company, earlier, @LawrenceChard... Now that I see how corrupt and politically unstable your country of business is, I might have to demand a refund!  

Power of Teh InterWebz!!!

[LawrenceChard]

1 hour ago, Darr3nG said:

I made a purchase from your company, earlier, @LawrenceChard... Now that I see how corrupt and politically unstable your country of business is, I might have to demand a refund!  

Power of Teh InterWebz!!!

OUR country, bro'!

[LiquidMetalsUK]

Gotta say Lawrence I started using chards this year alongside my other (TSF sponsor) dealer and u guys are a real asset to the small guy like me. Customer service is epic prices are always great and just a real pleasure. Glad u guys are here on the forum as it's nice to be able to let u know what a great job u and your team do.

Saying that just off to purchase a couple coins from u now 😂

[LawrenceChard]

9 hours ago, Jamesd said:

Gotta say Lawrence I started using chards this year alongside my other (TSF sponsor) dealer and u guys are a real asset to the small guy like me. Customer service is epic prices are always great and just a real pleasure. Glad u guys are here on the forum as it's nice to be able to let u know what a great job u and your team do.

Saying that just off to purchase a couple coins from u now 😂

Thanks for the kind comments. It has been hard work trying to keep up for the past 3 months, and it has stress-tested our systems. We hope to be even better once things back back towards normality.

I will let our team know: https://www.thesilverforum.com/profile/3381-chardscoinandbulliondealer/