I was wondering if anyone knew where they would say they've found good deals on silver in the past? Estate sales? Pawn shops? I'm looking to invest in some silver items, however, I'm not sure where to look for some good deals. Any help or advice pointing in a particular direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Anywhere you can buy it for less than spot is the best. Pull 90% silver (quarters, dimes, and half-dollars pre-1964) out of circulation for example. I know some guys have done well with posting ads on Craigslist to buy silver, you can pay better than a pawn shop and still make a profit, but I wouldn't take the chance that way too many shady characters on that site.
I've purchased silver at good prices from pawn shops and estate liquidators. Some will even buy back from you. Lately, the places I go to seem to sell out quickly. Start shopping around, build a rapport with one or more shop owners, call them to see if they have anything good that came in. Become a regular, you might be able to get first dibs on stuff.
Thank you both for that advice. I have thought on numerous occasions about trying the craigslist route, but as you have said Peter, it seems a bit sketchy and I haven't quite decided if it's worth the time and effort. As far as becoming a regular at pawn shops and stuff, that sounds like a good idea. I'm going to have to start figuring out where some places are since I just recently moved to a new area. Gothica, how do you normally find estate liquidators?
When you purchase silver from estate sales or pawn shops, how do you know what you are getting? What do you look for to know that you are receiving a quality piece? I want to make sure that my purchase is worth the investment.
So far for me, and I'm new to this myself, what I do first is look for some sort of stamps. Of course, not all silver has stamps, and at the same time, not all pieces that have stamps are real silver. I always look for stamps though just in the beginning such as "Sterling Silver" or ".925". After that I hold it up to a light to see if I can see any type of copper shine from it and check it for petina. Petina ends up on silver when it gets worn and not cleaned. It's like a black-ish material that gets in between the links of a chain generally as an example. If it was silver plated, a lot of times you can see the copper in between the links instead of petina. Hopefully someone here can give you a little bit more professional advice, but so far those clues have worked successfully for me.
Best to purchase silver from a local store, as when you again want to sell it the bill copy can be presented and same seller would turn to buyer, also its important to purchase from good reputed seller as there might be chances of low proportion of original metal with unknown sellers.
I'm also curious how I would find out about where to locate and make deals with these type of businesses. Would you happen to actually know how to get in touch with the refineries themselves?
The best places (that I am currently aware of) are Apmex.com (for large orders over 30oz) than Goldsilver.com and than Ebay. In that order, those are some of the best places where you can buy silver without paying large premiums for bars rounds and silver eagles. But I personally like Ebay.com because I sell a lot of my junk and they are the only ones around that actually accept Paypal for silver or gold purchases online.
