Buying silver

[hornadylnl]

I may be in a position to buy some silver in the near future. Most of what I'm seeing is that stores want 2-6% over spot. Is that normal? If I were to sell it back to these same places, would they pay me full spot? Is industrial silver a good investment silver? I don't like the idea of paying a collector price for coins, etc.

 

[Brandon]

If you don't want collector pricing and such go for the bars/ingots and the silver rounds. Usually they sell for spot or a 2-5% over.

I am no expert at buying and selling silver or gold but with silver being up one day and down the next all I can tell you is if you don't like what the spot price is wait a couple days.

Judging from your previous posts I don't think you buying xxx amount of silver will be worried about having to wait a day or a week to sell it for quick cash.

 

[hornadylnl]

I'm thinking more of a 10 year investment.

 

[Brandon]

Ingots and rounds depending on your funding. You cant get large ingots but may have a harder time finding a buyer... 10oz shouldn't be an issue. Again I am no expert.

 

[Brandon]

There are a few sites around as well like Apmex.com the more you buy the better their price is. The amounts I can afford in my experience I can go to Lost Dutchman Rare Coins or Brad of Brad's knives and get a pretty decent deal while supporting the local guy.

Not sure what shops around you but check some out and don't be afraid to haggle with them. The worst they can do is tell you no.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

For silver I've just been buying what they call "junk dimes". They're only 90%, but they're pretty cheap in bulk. Junk dimes are the pre 1964 ones that don't have any special collector value outside the silver value. Quarters, halves, dollars, same thing, but I've always had a fondness for mercury dimes.

 

[jd4320t]

I only buy one ounce bars for now. I buy my silver from Silver Towne in Winchester. If I'm heading that way I stop in. If not I have it shipped. Some of their bars even ship free.

Silver Bullion Bars | SilverTowne

 

[hornadylnl]

Does anyone know of any online sources for silver besides Apmex? I've been checking their prices over the last few days. On their industrial silver, they had it listed for $.89 over spot the first time I looked. Today, it's $1.29 over spot. This is in a span of a week or so. The spot price goes down, their price over spot goes up. I wonder if they allow the people selling to them to do that.

 

[ctbreitwieser]

If Im not mistaken, I dont think industrial silver is good as far as investment goes. I recently purchased a decent amount of silver from APMEX and got a lot of 10oz. bars and 1oz. bars. They're nothing fancy, just stamped with APMEX logo. With the amount of silver that is used in so many things made these days, I think its a fairly safe longterm investment.

 

[hornadylnl]

If Im not mistaken, I dont think industrial silver is good as far as investment goes. I recently purchased a decent amount of silver from APMEX and got a lot of 10oz. bars and 1oz. bars. They're nothing fancy, just stamped with APMEX logo. With the amount of silver that is used in so many things made these days, I think its a fairly safe longterm investment.

I think what Apmex is calling industrial silver is just plain silver bars, not collectible coins or branded bars.

I just think it's dirty pool to be in the business of selling commodities and adjust your "price over spot" to the fluctuations in the market. If I buy silver today at $30 spot (easy numbers here), I pay a price over spot. If silver is $29 tomorrow, they're still going to want the same total price even thought it's lower. If I buy it from them, they charge me over spot and if I sell it back to them, they give me under spot. They buy it at a certain price and demand a profit even though the market goes down. If that's good for them, it should be good for those selling to them as well.

 

[Justin Case]

One of my hobbies is coin collecting. Over the past 40 years I have some experience with buying and selling silver rounds and bars, mostly buying, but primarily I'm interesed in the numismatic value of silver coins. I can however tell you that you would be very fortunate to get the spot price should you decide to sell your silver. If you buy silver you'll pay spot plus, but if you sell you'll likely get something less than the spot price. At least that is my experience.

 

[hornadylnl]

One of my hobbies is coin collecting. Over the past 40 years I have some experience with buying and selling silver rounds and bars, mostly buying, but primarily I'm interesed in the numismatic value of silver coins. I can however tell you that you would be very fortunate to get the spot price should you decide to sell your silver. If you buy silver you'll pay spot plus, but if you sell you'll likely get something less than the spot price. At least that is my experience.

I understand that. A place like Apmex isn't going to stay in business by buying and selling at the same price. It just seem incredibly hokey that their price over spot varies as much as 30 cents in just a few days.

Let's say spot is $30. They pay me 3% under spot at $29.10 and turn around and put it on their shelf at spot + 3% at $30.90. The price of silver dips $1 next week. Rather than taking a hit on their $1.80 profit, they just raise the price over spot.

 

[ocsdor]

I had the same questions as the OP a few months ago in regards to silver. My first reason to buy was for a back-up currency when the SHTF.

So far, I have been buying 1 oz American Silver Eagles. I plan to buy 1 oz Canadian Silver Maples and 1 oz Lakota Silver in the future.

Here is a forum I go to for metal questions:
Gold is Money - The Premier Gold and Silver Forum -- Goldismoney

I buy from here:
GOLD BULLION COINS | American Silver Eagles | BUY SILVER BULLION ROUNDS & BARS
Silver, Silver Bar, Silver Bars, Silver Bullion, Gold and More - APMEX.com

Other silver-related info here:
Silver For The People – The Blog
Silver Doctors
Kitco - Silver Page

 

[ctbreitwieser]

I think what Apmex is calling industrial silver is just plain silver bars, not collectible coins or branded bars.

I just think it's dirty pool to be in the business of selling commodities and adjust your "price over spot" to the fluctuations in the market. If I buy silver today at $30 spot (easy numbers here), I pay a price over spot. If silver is $29 tomorrow, they're still going to want the same total price even thought it's lower. If I buy it from them, they charge me over spot and if I sell it back to them, they give me under spot. They buy it at a certain price and demand a profit even though the market goes down. If that's good for them, it should be good for those selling to them as well.

Ok, I was mistaken. I was thinking of the jewelry silver, which isnt for investing.

I wonder if there is a difference in actual worth of the industrial vs. the APMEX branded bars? Either way, I like uniformity, so Im glad I didnt go with the random chunks of silver.

 

[hornadylnl]

ocs,

I just checked the place you buy from and they have these 10 oz bars listed.

10 oz .999 Fine Silver Bars- Mixed Type- Secondary Market

Here's one of the reviews for these bars and it's what I'm thinking as well. I've seen several people take silver collectibles into Pawn Stars and they'll only offer them spot prices. It is my understanding that .999 pure silver is .999 pure silver, regardless of what etching is in the bar mold. I don't think I want to pay a "collector's premium" if all I'm likely to get is spot when I go to sell it.

"They may not be as pretty and shiny as the "new" bars, but a silver polishing cloth quickly brings back much of the shine and luster to these discount secondary bars. The point is that when it comes time to liquidate, they're worth the same as any .999 fine bullion."

 

[hornadylnl]

Ok, I was mistaken. I was thinking of the jewelry silver, which isnt for investing.

I wonder if there is a difference in actual worth of the industrial vs. the APMEX branded bars? Either way, I like uniformity, so Im glad I didnt go with the random chunks of silver.

I think the only difference you'll see is if the buyer values the premium. The price of .999 silver is the price of .999 silver at the current market price. That's a pretty solid standard. If you sell APMEX bars back to APMEX, will they pay you any more than they would for the industrial silver by weight?

 

[ctbreitwieser]

ocs,

I just checked the place you buy from and they have these 10 oz bars listed.

10 oz .999 Fine Silver Bars- Mixed Type- Secondary Market

Here's one of the reviews for these bars and it's what I'm thinking as well. I've seen several people take silver collectibles into Pawn Stars and they'll only offer them spot prices. It is my understanding that .999 pure silver is .999 pure silver, regardless of what etching is in the bar mold. I don't think I want to pay a "collector's premium" if all I'm likely to get is spot when I go to sell it.

"They may not be as pretty and shiny as the "new" bars, but a silver polishing cloth quickly brings back much of the shine and luster to these discount secondary bars. The point is that when it comes time to liquidate, they're worth the same as any .999 fine bullion."

Very interesting, and that answers my question. Oh, well. At least mine looks pretty.

 

[hornadylnl]

Very interesting, and that answers my question. Oh, well. At least mine looks pretty.

That site does show a buyback price on the 10 oz bars. The branded ones do have a higher buyback price than their "Our choice" bars. In the current market, I don't think it would be a problem to get premium prices for eagles, brand name bars, etc. But I'm thinking in a shtf scenario, silver will be silver period.

 

[ctbreitwieser]

That site does show a buyback price on the 10 oz bars. The branded ones do have a higher buyback price than their "Our choice" bars. In the current market, I don't think it would be a problem to get premium prices for eagles, brand name bars, etc. But I'm thinking in a shtf scenario, silver will be silver period.

Ya, thats really why I bought mine too. I just really didnt want stuff that looked like melted up blobs of silver. And hopefully if I never did need to use it in a SHTF situation, someone would be more likely to take my offer on pretty silver than a silver turd.

 

[Kick]

https://online.kitco.com/

They are not too bad. There is pretty much an industry wide standard as far as business practices.

I do not know if they ship or not but, you may also want to try:

WELCOME

or Gold Dust Coins - Chicago, IL, 60608 - Citysearch

Don't expect great customer service from Gold Dust though.
http://chicago.citysearch.com/profile/36757291/chicago_il/gold_dust_coins.html