1. How many of you know about several "regular" people from work and your social life talking about Silver and Silver investing?.....try to give a number 2. How much as a percentage (%) of the bullion products on E-bay are fake? Whether it's bullion coins, bars, rounds, etc
1. People I know talking and investing = 2 others, one who works with 3 others (didn't meet due to the interest). I have told a lot of people for a long time, but nobody really seems to be getting on board. 2. I have no idea. The ones with no back side photo are good candidates.
1. Only one other person I talk to speaks of silver. I too have tried to spread the word, but most people don't see a problem with our current monetary system. 2. Don't have a clue. I usually buy my silver locally.
One other person I work with buys PM's for investments only,everyone else thinks were crazy. Feebay no idea.
No people at work (as i know) are investing in any bullion. A couple of family members are on board for bullion investment. I'm sure some fakes are going around. I don't think it's a lot though. People would see through that quick and post negitive feedback and report it.
1. Nobody I know at work talks about silver bullion investing. 2. I don't know what percentage of ebay silver bullion sold is fake, but I would guess less than 10%. Too many checks and balances involved; negative feedback, buyer protection in the form of mandated refunds/automatic returns in the event of a misrepresentation/fake, the fact that buyers can fairly readily identify most silver bullion, and the fact that until recently it there was no big incentive to counterfeit straight silver bullion, as a .999 fine 1 oz silver round only started selling for over $20 less than 9 months ago.
I like the question, the answers have already given some insight into how crowded the silver trade is. 1. I work with professionals (Bachelor, Master, PHD) and none of them invest in silver and none are even in the ballpark of having any interest. I know several other people who have a net worth well in excess of $2 million and two of these are into silver. 2. I have no experience with ebay PM trades.
1. I don't discuss this with anyone, much like religion, politics, and sex 2. I don't do fleabay so I don't know how many fakes are out there.
I really only know 1 that is not in the business that is an "investor", most are accumulators. So they complain when the price is down that their stash (Including some very large ones) is losing money, and they complain when silver is going up that they can afford to buy any, and they will probably end up close to the middle. The other one buys and sells physical metal regularly, and sports a new Escalade every year. Most of the difficulties on ebay are that the buyers do not read and research before they buy. Raw coins are usually real, just mistreated so their value is much less than seen in price guides. Don't understand the difference between plated and solid silver. Don't know there is a difference in troy ounces and pounds and avoirdupois ounces and pounds. Fall for the semantics on high rated "common modern coins" future value, and that one-of-a-kind errors may be worth only face value. I often buy on ebay and have only had 1 problem transaction, and that was with a film camera and not a coin, but I would never recommend it to a novice or someone who would buy with out thinking, and that lets a lot of my family and friends out Jim
Thank you for all the responses and would like to see them keep coming. I feel this gives a very good indicator as to the popularity of PM investing and it's tie to silver bullion, coins, and general investing alike. Again, thank you for the responses and it's wonderful that MANY of you have great insight and instinct into this topic.
#1. I know two other guys at work who purchase silver. #2. I have no idea about ebay. I try stick to small bids and purchases on Ebay myself.
I found one person at work that has also purchased bullion, but no one that talks about it other than me. As for eBay, pretty much every auction tells you what is being offered. if people were to read the description's better there would be less complaints. I think most of the "fake" complaints come from people that did not read the description - that is - they purchased exactly what was described, they just did not pay attention to the listing. (example, "mills" plated bars versus solid bars. .875 silver versus .999, a plastic holder and not a bar). Even the fake Morgan coins are listed as such.
1. I actively speak to approximately 10 people (including family) about finance and investing. NONE of them are interested in buying silver. The funny thing is, I've been able to get every one of them to admit that they should buy some Silver/Gold with this argument: You invest in paper stocks, paper bonds, and paper money. Wouldn't it be wise to diversify at least a small portion of your portfolio into a hard commodity? I'm not sure why it's so hard to break free of the inertia and start investing in metals. My wealthiest friend maxes out his 401K mutual funds and transfers an extra $2,500 a month into an online brokerage account. I had to BEG him just to add a few Mining Company shares to his portfolio since he refuses to buy an oz of silver. "You've got enough Apple stock! Why not buy some Tinka just in case I'm right about Silver going to the moon?" 2. Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think there are too many fakes for sale on eBay. Buy from an established seller and I'd say your chances of being scammed are <1%.
My answer to #1 is zero [which is why I doubt we are in a bubble]. The answer to #2 is high enough above zero that I stopped using Ebay several years ago.
1. NOBODY i know is talking about or investing in silver (0 out of about 200 people that I know pretty well). It's funny but if you tell someone that silver has increased 400% (quadrupled) in the past 2 years, they usually say "really, i had no idea". 2. I would guess maybe 1% to 2% are fake (it might be higher though?) ... trouble is, i dont know if I could detect a good fake. i seriously wonder how many fakes are floating around in legitimate dealer inventories (especially in faked PCGS or NGC slabs)
1. 2 people, my father and the owner of the company I work for. (Both of which have started looking into silver because I encouraged them) My father only buys single bullion bars/rounds here and there. The owner, however, did some research and decided to go ahead and purchase several 100oz bars. 2. Fake, probably around 2-5%, dishonest or misrepresented probably around 20%
1. There are only 3 guys here at work who talk about silver investments. I guess this is higher than most of the other posters above me. I am in the petrochemical industry and the people I work with get to see the effects of supply/demand and how raw materials cost affects profit margins. Maybe this is why we are more inclined to be drawn to silcer as an investment. 2. No idea on the ebay fakes. I have trouble detecting cleaned coins, much less fakes.
None of my friends talk about the specifics of how much money they have, or their specific investments. I also don't talk about silver investments, other than to say that I have put some money in precious metals...enough said. I have been the high bidder on numerous eBay actions that involved silver, and all but one went very well. eBay reimbursed me in full within two weeks of my formal complaint. I continue to use eBay.
