Hello, I have a 100 Oz engelhard bar that I would like to sell now with silver over 20 dollars an oz. I was thinking about using Apmex, and I had a question. Using the spot price at the end of the day on Friday 20.77 The bar is worth 2077 at the spot price. Apmex is offering 2048 per bar, 29 dollars less than spot so only 1.40% less than spot. This seems to be a great price but I was surprised it was at such a small discount to spot, is it because there is pent up demand and they are desperate for bars? I think a few months ago they were buying 3% less than spot. Can anyone describe their experience selling to Apmex, or anyone else online you feel is better? I have not sold any silver before and do not want to get bamboozled, so I thought I would ask here. Thanks alot
Welcome to CoinTalk. I'm sure someone will be here shortly with a good answer for you. I haven't sold any 100 oz bars. I think you are correct that the increased demand permits dealers to lower the bid/ask spread.
All markup has to do with demand and volume, just ask Wal-Mart. In this case, you have high demand for silver given the current market. Also, with APMEX you have a company that sells thousands of ounces a week, thus volume. I haven't dealt with selling to them, but I have a feeling it is a good experience. They have a good rep in the business from all I have seen.
I too agree that APMEX is a good company regarding buying/selling. If You can`t find a dealer in Your area (either at a shop or a show) that is comparable to their rate, I would go with APMEX. Btw....Welcome to Coin Talk!
I sell tens of 1000's $ of bullion to APMEX every month, for what you have & the small percentage they are paying back you can't do any better really. They are a very good company with fast payment times.
You can also sell it on eBay. If you do free shipping, you'll most likely beat the Ampex price, even with the selling fee. You can also sell it off Craigslist, or take it to a dealer, or to a coin show. I was at a show on Saturday and my bullion dealer said he'd pay spot for a JM or Englehard bar because they carry a retail premium. I recently bought a 100oz JM off Craigslist for spot. It was a very good experience.
Ive looked into ebay. For a buyer it is great, but for a seller not so much. For an item over 1000 dollars, the final value fee is 50 dollars. Added to that, ebay requires that auctions allow for some form of online payment method, and most people use Paypal. The paypal fee is around 3 percent, so now you are playing a total of 5.3 % discount to spot assuming you get spot. If the buyer pays a preimium to spot, maybe you only pay 4.3% discounted to spot.
Sounds like the APMEX lowest price for generic, possibly beaten-up bars. They pay more than spot for their own bars back, when without serious dings.
I dont think it would pay to trade with a dealer--I would expect smaller items to have a overall premium per ounce alot higher than a 100 oz bar--I want investments where I am trading the underlying bullion not a numismatic in this case.
Well I am glad I havent sold yet--the one bar is worth 230 dollars more than when I started this Thread! However, I am still concerned about getting the best price, and I had hoped more people would chime in with their experiences selling to online buyers. I am planning on selling early next week after Fridays jobs report--which should be awful and at thirty year highs I am really ready to bounce out. I see in alot of posts about bullion online where people are always buying but never selling. What are your exit stratigies--when do you plan on cashing out--We have already had a really good run here and I am sure alot of people have more than doubled their investments already Just like any other investment, one should have a price in mind at which to cash out and lock in profits--its only a gain when you actually sell it!
i took one of my 100 ounce englehard bars on a road trip this week and stopped in at a bullion shop, i was ready to do a trade for 90 ounces of generic in 1 and 5 ounce bars + $20. they were giving me $2177 and spot was 23.07 for a $1.30 spread, i asked if i could get a better spread since i was trading and the gal went to ask the owner. the owner came out and ran some number on his calculator and TALKED ME OUT OF IT. he asked why i wanted to trade down and i told him because of the upcoming tax that i did not want to hold larger bars. he said that there are ways to handle the tax problem but thats another thread. anyways the 1 reccomendation he gave that really hit home for me was that essentially i will be paying a tax right now to trade smaller in the cost of losing 10 ounces and $20 then when i go to sell again another tax will be assessed, i took that reccomendation and threw it back in the trunk. i visited the store on 2 different days a day that silver was running up, the store had 3 or 4 people in there selling gold and silver - and today, a down day, the place was empty. the owner did say that it is a sellers market within his business.
I have not sold to APMEX but I have talked to them about the procedure. I've got alot of halves I am thinking about selling. Call them and they'll explain it all to you, they are nice and helpful.
Good information. I would be interested in hearing the details of your dealer's proposed handling of the "tax problem & thread"... I've been collecting up silver & gold bullion (including 100 oz silver bars) for a few years and am considering liquidating a small portion. I've thought about selling at a local show as an anonymous nobody but still haven't decided what to do yet... Thanks for the posts!
And you are also rolling the dice for 7-10 days until the auction closes. As you've discovered, spot can fluctuate a lot in that time. As to Craig's List, be careful who you do business with. You run the risk of robbery or fraud when dealing with strangers, and silver is easy to pawn.
