Costco’s surprise big seller—1-ounce gold bars— are actually ‘one of the worst things that you can ever own,’ critic says

The members-only warehouse chain has seen its 1-ounce gold bars sell out faster than discounted 170-ounce jugs of laundry detergent.

Transcript

00:00 Costco is selling one ounce gold bars, but critics say they are one of the worst things you can ever own.

00:04 The gold bars recently went on sale for about $2,000 each and are typically gone within a few hours of appearing on Costco's website

00:11 according to the retailer's CFO. This price tag is slightly higher than the current market price of gold, which stood at about

00:16 $1,835 per ounce as of Wednesday. In recent years, there has been increasing investor demand for precious metals,

00:23 which often stems from people thinking there's instability at the structural level of the market or government.

00:28 "People are investing in gold as a safe haven to protect their wealth," one expert said.

00:32 But another expert disagrees and says gold is one of the worst things you can ever own.

00:36 Since it isn't, the inflationary hedge money says it is, with inflation at times outpacing gold in recent decades.

00:42 And the Commodity Futures Trade Commission has warned that precious metals can be highly volatile.