Those that by silver

Those of you that buy silver for resell, how much off of melt price do you pay?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

By, bye, bi or buy?

 

ya beat me to it.

"Those that by silver" live & die by silver

 

I recall that the Lone Ranger specifically said that Silver was not bi.

Chris

 

"Doctor say you gonna die, Lone Ranger.."
Tonto

 

Dunno if this helps, but I won't buy ASE's for more then $23, which is about $5-7 over spot. Scrap silver I won't buy for more then spot, and silver bullion 'coins' or ingots/bars I try and stay within 10% over spot. I also choose when I buy based on that day's price.

 

Including you?


OP,

There is no simple answer, and is in many ways due to the very vague question. Perhaps you could tell us exactly what type/types/forms of "silver" (I assume coins or rounds) you're talking about?

That said, if buying for resale, I can't tell you how much you need to pay in order to make a profit, and is simply because I don't know your individual situation.

 

Remember that little tug you felt about a half hour ago? That was me pulling your leg...

 

Pay the price that you are comfortable with, don't get crazy.

 

The last ASE I bought cost me $20. I would expect to sell it for 10% more which is $22.
However, it seems that silver and gold are trending downward. So I would wait to sell on an uptick.

 

Remember this don't get greedy. Make a buck make more, if you don't have to sell just wait and ride it out. BE COMFORTABLE.

 

You typically pay a premium over spot price. The amount you pay over spot depends on what silver product you are buying. Rounds and bars usually are the cheapest. 90% Junk Silver is usually next. Coins such as Silver Eagles and Silver Canadian maples are more. Here is an example of what I typically pay:

Silver Eagles=Spot + $2.75
Canadian Maples=Spot + $2.25
Junk 90%=Spot + $1.25
Generic Rounds= Spot + $.99
Generic Bars=Spot + $.99

Premiums can change due to the market and specials that are run, usually on-line deals.

Selling is a different ball game. You can sell at the prices above if you find consumers. Selling to dealers you are looking at lower premiums. Eagles for $1.50 over spot; Maples at $1.25 over spot. The rest usually spot sell back.

 

Last ASE's I bought were $20 each.

 

Equal opportunity, my friend.... I don't discriminate.

 

When I'm buying anything to resell, I want to make sure it's worth my time and trouble, and I also factor in risk (and opportunity).

Time and trouble: I won't drive across town to buy something for $15 that I can sell for $20. $150 for $200? Maybe. $1500 for $2000? I'm there. If I see a BIN lot on eBay, I'll take a smaller margin, because my "time and trouble" is much smaller. (Click a button, wait, open a package -- and opening packages is fun, not work.)

Risk: if I'm buying silver, I always assume that it may go down before I can sell it. It could also go up, of course, but I don't like that sort of gamble. I guard against that by waiting for the right discount, and by thinking about how soon I'll be able to sell. (I usually sell to a particular dealer at local shows, because he consistently offers more than other dealers. I don't sell enough at a time to justify shipping to Provident, even though they pay a bit more.)

Opportunity: if there's a lot that looks like it may contain some more interesting material (better dates/conditions), I may pay melt or even above. I do like that sort of gamble, where I might lose a little money, but I might gain quite a bit.

I see people advertising on local Craigslist to buy pretty close to melt (maybe 5-10% back of melt). I wouldn't go into the business myself buying at that price. Pawn shops offer 50%-60% of melt; I'd be ethically uncomfortable offering a price that low, but if I find a BIN (or an overlooked auction) going at that price, I'm happy to participate. So I guess my sweet spot would be maybe around 20% below melt?

And as a result, of course, I don't get opportunities to buy very often. I'm okay with that. It's the searching and finding, not the having or selling, that I enjoy most.

 

O.K. then I will say it "its so"

 

There are so many different ways to buy silver a book could (and I'm sure has) be written on it.
At one time of another I've bought scrap, junk, bars, rounds and coins. By coins I mean current release Eagles and ATBs. I finally settled down to just US silver coins. Why? Scrap, bars, junk and rounds will always just sell for around melt. Coins, on the other hand, tend to increase in value and many are not tied that closed to the price of silver. For instance I have a roll of ATB 5oz 2015 Blue Ridge National Parkway, that I bought $93 each. Current melt at $17 an oz would be $85, but with premiums would go for about $110. However, they are currently going on eBay for $140. So if I listed mine with a 'Buy it Now" of $130 I suspect they'd go pretty fast. The current Ellis Island ATB is going for around $113. That's a $5.60 an ounce premium. Expensive, but I see a much bigger up side for these down the road.