How to Pack and Ship Your Metals 

Fulfillment Center * 

Attention: Receiving Manager 

203 Heritage Grove Road 

Leander, TX 78641 

When you start a transaction in your account, we generate a prepaid, insured shipping label for you. That label is already addressed correctly, already discreet, and already covered under our shipping insurance program.

Print it, tape it to the box, and drop the box off. You do not need to buy postage, declare a value, or arrange coverage yourself. 

We don't receive inbound shipments at the back office. We use the Texas Bullion Depository — the nation's only state-administered precious metals depository — to process every package that comes to us. 

The depository is a purpose-built, high-security facility on a ten-acre campus north of Austin. It handles receiving, verification, and custody on our behalf. Here is what happens after your box is delivered: 

This is why packing matters and why the outside of the box stays plain. The depository knows what is coming and who it belongs to. Nobody else needs to. 

Use new, unmarked boxes for both layers whenever you can. Put your wrapped items in a small, sturdy inner box along with a printed copy of your Purchase Order (or consignment order) and a copy of a government-issued ID matching your account — a driver’s license or passport. Fill every void so nothing rattles, and tape the inner box shut. Then place it inside a larger outer box with at least two inches of cushioning on all six sides. 

Shake the finished package. If you hear or feel anything move, open it and add more fill. A shifting inner box is the most common cause of damage in transit, and a box that jingles tells a handler exactly what’s inside. 

Limits per box: no more than 500 ounces of metal and no more than $75,000 in value in any single box. These aren’t suggestions — they’re what our shipping coverage is written to. 

If your transaction won’t fit in one box: that’s fine — split it. Put a copy of the same Purchase Order in every box, and on each copy, circle or highlight only the items that are inside that box. Number the boxes as well (1 of 3, 2 of 3) somewhere on the paperwork, not on the outside. Without marked copies, the depository can’t reconcile a partial delivery and every box in the group waits. 

This is a security measure, not a strength measure. A seam that is fully covered cannot be reached into, pried open, or bent back without destroying the tape over it. A seam that is only partly covered can be worked open and closed again without leaving a mark. 

Use reinforced packing tape. Run one strip down the full length of the center seam where the flaps meet, then one strip over each of the two end seams. Three strips, top and bottom. Every strip should run past the edge of the box and wrap at least two inches down the side. No part of any seam should still be visible when you’re done. 

The depository only accepts packages that arrive untampered. If tape has been cut, lifted, re-taped, or if a seam shows exposed cardboard, receiving will flag and document the package on arrival rather than open it normally — which delays everything. 

Tape our prepaid label flat on the largest face of the box, with no wrinkles over the barcode and no tape covering the barcode itself. Cover or remove every old label, sticker, and marking from a reused box. 

The finished box should be plain brown or white with one label on it. No company name written on the side, no "fragile — valuable," no initials, no arrows, no descriptive markings of any kind. 

Take the package inside a staffed carrier location — a FedEx Office, a shipping store, or a post office counter — and hand it to an employee. Ask for a receipt showing the tracking number and keep it. 

Never leave a package in a drop box, a locker, an unattended bin, or on a porch for pickup. An unattended handoff has no witness and no scan record at the moment of transfer, which is exactly the gap a claim turns on. 

If your price is locked, the package must be in a carrier’s hands within two business days of the label being generated. Miss that and the lock expires, and the order has to be requoted at whatever the market is by then. 

Each of these has cost someone a package. None of them takes any extra effort to avoid. 

Don’t write "U.S. Gold Bureau" on the outside of the box. 

Our name tells anyone handling the package that it is full of precious metals. Our label carries "USGB" or another alias plus the depository address, and nothing more. If you are hand-addressing a box for any reason, do the same. 

Don’t indicate what’s inside — on the box or at the counter. 

No "gold," no "silver," no "coins," no "bullion," no metal weights, no dollar amounts. That covers the outside of the box, any paperwork taped to it, and the slip a shipping store or post office may hand you asking what you’re sending. Our label already carries full insurance on the shipment, so there is nothing you need to declare at the counter to be covered. 

Don’t leave old labels, barcodes, or addresses on the outer box. 

New, unmarked boxes are best for both layers. Whatever box you use, its exterior has to be clean. A leftover barcode or a previous shipping address is the most common cause of a misrouted package, and old branding draws attention. Peel off or black out every previous marking before the label goes on. 

Don’t send anything we haven’t agreed to receive. 

Every shipment needs a transaction on file before it ships, and the box should hold nothing that isn’t listed on your Purchase Order. Unannounced packages and unlisted extras have no record for the depository to verify against and no price attached to them, and they slow the verification of everything else in the box. 

Run through this once. It takes about a minute and it’s the difference between a clean claim and a denied one. 

Why does my package go to the Texas Bullion Depository instead of to you? 

Because receiving and verifying precious metals is a security function, and the depository is built for it — vaults, cameras, controlled access, and staff trained to authenticate metal. Every inbound package is opened and inventoried there under camera, which protects you as much as it protects us. From there your metals are deposited to your account, purchased by us, or placed on consignment, depending on your transaction. 

There’s a second reason we’re comfortable pointing every package there: our parent company, Lone Star Tangible Assets, is the depository’s operator. We know those procedures from the inside and can vouch for them. But even if we had no connection at all, we would still insist on a third-party refiner or depository with deep testing experience handling verification. Metal that enters our inventory gets sold to someone else later, and an independent party confirming what something is protects us, protects you, and protects whoever buys it next. 

Do I have to use the label you provide? 

Yes, whenever one is available, and one is available for nearly every transaction. The label is prepaid, addressed correctly, discreet by design, and covered under our shipping insurance program. Shipping on your own postage means your package travels outside that coverage. If you have a situation where our label won’t work, call us first. 

What’s the right answer when the counter clerk asks what’s in the box? 

"Household items." You are not required to describe the contents of a domestic package to a counter employee, and you shouldn’t. If a carrier refuses the package without a contents description, don’t ship it there — take it to a different location and call us. 

How much cushioning is enough? 

At least two inches on all six sides between the inner box and the outer box, with no voids. Metal is dense, and a half-filled box lets the weight slam around under normal handling. The shake test is the real standard: if you can feel anything move, add more. 

Cushioning isn’t only about drops. Your package passes through a lot of hands between the counter and Leander, and the rare bad actor works by feel and by blade — slashing an outer wall and reaching in. Two full inches of fill on every side means a cut through the outer box finds packing material, nothing sits within reach of an edge or a corner, and nothing shifts to where it can be felt from outside. A tightly packed box also holds its shape, so any attempt to force or bend it shows. 

Can I ship several transactions in one box, or split one across several? 

Never combine transactions. Each one has its own label, its own locked price, and its own deposit record at the depository, and a shared box means none of them can be reconciled cleanly. 

Splitting a single transaction across multiple boxes is fine and sometimes necessary — silver gets heavy fast. Watch the per-box limits too — 500 ounces of metal and $75,000 in value, whichever you hit first. Use a separate label for each box, put a copy of the same Purchase Order in every box, and circle or highlight on each copy only the items inside that box. Mark the slips 1 of 3, 2 of 3, and so on. That’s what lets receiving verify each box as it lands instead of holding the whole group. 

How long before my metals are processed? 

We aim to be quick, and most packages reach Leander within about three business days. Verification then takes as long as careful verification takes. The depository inventories, photographs, and tests every item, and we would rather they be thorough than fast — that same rigor is what protects you if anything about a shipment is ever in question. 

Market conditions matter too. When metals move hard, inbound volume climbs across the whole industry and receiving can back up. When that’s happening, we’ll tell you rather than leave you guessing. 

What none of that changes is your price. Your payout is locked when your label is generated, before the box ever leaves your hands. That’s deliberate. Plenty of investors have been burned sending metal to buyers who quote on arrival — the market moves against them in transit, or the buyer adjusts its bid relative to spot once the metal is already in its possession, and at that point there’s no practical way to say no. We’d rather commit to a number up front and keep you informed at every step than leave your payout hanging on conditions weeks away. 

What if my package is lost or damaged? 

Call us right away at 800-775-3504 and have your tracking number and your packing photos ready. Claims move on documentation — photos of the items, the packing, the sealed box, and your drop-off receipt. That’s why this page asks for them, and it’s why keeping them until your payment clears is worth the two minutes it costs. 

A two-minute call costs nothing. A package packed wrong can cost a great deal. Our team walks people through this every day. 

800-775-3504 

Monday–Friday, 8:30am–5:00pm Central