Forgive my hesitation, but eBay is the last place I'll ever buy an expensive and long-term investment from. I would not appreciate having to be told ten years after the purchase that "we can't take this - it's a silver plated copper bar!" I recommend real dealers, if you can find them.
Yeah, I'm with Nemo on that one. Ebay is like, scam central. You don't buy a gold bar on ebay unless you're hoping to buy a bar made out of pyrite... LOL
I would suggest not to buy precious metals online. Get it from your local outlet and that will be more guaranteed in quality than the online one. Moreover, the exchange process is also easy and fast in local outlet than in online.
I agree, unless you're buying from really top rated sellers, I wouldn't recommend buying at eBay. Though it depends on your local outlet, if they overcharge, you might just be better off in eBay, or maybe finding a local dealer, if you can manage. Try Yellow pages?
Kitco is really cool. These are some of the cool stuff which you can buy from them: Olympic Gold Maple Gold Eagle Gold Buffalo Gold Philharmonic Gold Krugerrand Gold Bar 400 oz Silver Grizzly Bear Silver Kookaburra Silver Eagle Silver Bar 1,000 oz Platinum Maple Platinum Noble Platinum Eagle Palladium Maple Rhodium Sponge
Gainesville Metal is a good place to buy online. Most of the large metal brokers online are decent and don't scam you on the metal.
I buy all of my silver from a local coin and jewelry shop here in Lawton, Oklahoma. I like it better that way. In the event I need to make a purchase online, I have always used StraightSilver.com in the past. Shipping is free and delivery is unbelievably fast. They like to charge a pretty penny over spot, though. You can expect to $35 if spot is around $31. Again, with shipping being free, this is still sometimes a better choice than other only places. I went to buy from APMEX once and could not believe the tax at the end. Needless to say, I canceled my transaction.
eBay is pretty good for buying silver coins like Eagles. It also gives you a nice rule of thumb for what the current market is willing to pay by watching a few auctions end. Besides that, I like finding local coin shops. I've found some that will sell generic (not Eagles, Maples, etc.) .999 silver coins (like Disney coins) at the current spot price. For Eagles, $5 over spot seems to be what the coin stores (and eBay sellers) get.
I usually buy from Apmex because they offer great deals at some low prices. Their shipping prices are pretty reasonable too. Often times when I travel I will stop in at some antique and coin stores and once in a blue moon I will find a good deal. Sometimes I will get lucky and find a store where the dealer hasn't been in to change his prices in a while, and will score a nice coin.
