Good Evening from the United States, I've recently taken it upon myself to try to purchase silver from random individuals. There are those who either get into tough times and try to sell their silver or there are those who are impatient with it and try to give up. I'm just a normal guy who wants to buy silver for the long term. I've placed ads offering what I think are fair prices compared to those offered by local coin dealers. That being said, I'd like to get your feed back on whether what I offer is fair as well as what you would pay people on the street for their silver. If I'm buying silver bars or rounds I offer the spot price per ounce. If I'm buying American junk silver, I offer 18 x face value. Does this seem fair to you? I've recently encountered people who have been selling their silver and they have given me a bad reaction to my prices. I had a gentlemen recently who wanted to sell a 10oz Apmex bar. I offered him spot price per ounce. He became angry and stopped returning my emails. Why should I pay someone off the street more than spot when I can get equal prices at my local coin dealer. If I'm going to pay a premium, I'm going to pay it at a reputable source. I most definitely will not pay a random person a premium. I know one thing could have been that he probably paid a premium when purchasing from APMEX and on top of that probably paid their astronomical price of shipping if you don't buy their minimum order for free shipping. That's your loss buddy, just because you were a sucker and paid that doesn't mean that I am. Am I wrong by this? The second bad experience I've had recently is a gentleman who was having an estate sale. He wanted $8 U.S. for each silver quarter in his possession. I tried to calmly tell him that they weren't worth that and that I would offer at a max $5.50 per quarter U.S. He refused and told me he wasn't budging on his price. I went as far as to send him a link on ebay of the recommended price of silver quarters which is +/- 5% the melt value. The highest with the current silver price is $5.44 U.S./quarter. I offered him $5.50 and he refused. Are my prices fair? What experiences have you had and what do you recommend? Thank you!
I half agree with what your offerings are and if I may add my bit i would suggest if someone declines your offer because they think there silver is worth more than let it go. I understand your not willing to take the risk and pay a premium so expect this reaction from a lot of people. I have had low ball offers and I have declined them and thanked them anyway. Continuation emails isn't a good way to get that price as they will feel as if they don't know what there talking about which in turn could stop them from going to you when they have had no offers. Not everyone trusts randoms on here, however you need to take a risk now and again and the dealers wouldn't have half of the strange and rare gear that pops up on here. I hope this helps mate, its good that your asking for help
Depends who you're asking obviously. But if I wanted to get spot for my metals........ I'd do as you said and take it to a reputable source, not just some random person.......
I completely agree with you, in this situation I was emailing the gentleman late at night and I was a bit slow in my thought process. He asked me my offer and I offered "spot." He responded sarcastically with "So what is your offer." I responded (not catching the sarcasm), that I would offer spot and calculated spot price X 10 ounces lol. The next morning I reread the emails and noticed his sarcasm so I replied that I apologized I didn't notice his sarcasm and wasn't trying to offend him, I explained that a dealer would offer him less than spot and further explained that it would be a win/win because I would get the silver without a premium and he would get more than if he were selling to a dealer. I left it at that and didn't push it. Thank you both for your responses, I greatly appreciate it.
On this forum, silver generally sells at prices not much under dealer retail between "random people" all of the time. In Australia someone can walk into many dealers and get spot over the counter without the security concerns of meeting up with an unknown person. You need to find a balance between the benefits to yourself of buying silver at prices lower than retail, and the benefits to the seller of getting prices over the dealer rates. I don't think spot is fairly balanced.
You obviously don't value the anonymity which purchasing from "random people" offers ... Personally I reckon that deserves a premium - NOT a discount! :lol: If you don't mind advertising to the government exactly what PM's you have bought - then go ahead and purchase from a registered dealer or coin shop.
What you're also not taking into account (conveniently) is that spot represents a theoretical paper price for silver. To get the actual metal cast into a one ounce round there are significant costs attached. In the case of one ounce rounds I would argue that a 10% permium above spot price is more than fair. For larger bars the casting premium becomes less, eg for a 1 kg cast bar a fair price could be around spot + 5% While I agree that some sellers do sell at spot price (although hardly ever 1 ounce rounds) - these are usually distressed/highly motivated sellers who don't have the luxury of time to make the trade. I would pay "retail" price to a well know fellow stacker any day of the week before buying the same item at a registered bullion shop. There are exception of course, as some bullion dealers don't ask for all your details incl undies make/size when you purchase from them. So it depends on the dealer as well.
I agree with the OP when I buy bullion I start with the spot price as my basis I also check the prices other dealers are buying at. Note dealers buying I add a modest premium for desirable items
I think it would be safe to say that on many occasions you may very well end up with fiat in your hands and no metal :lol:
Your current holdings are not the point. The point is how efficiently you will be able to add to your holdings in the future - in particularly sourcing from fellow stackers. I would argue that offering spot price you will be able to entice only the ignorant and the desperate to part with their metal ...
You're very sensitive toward and considerate of other people's feelings. While that's a nice and good thing, I personally think it has little place in precious metal sales. My LCS offers 75 cents under spot for generic bars--period. They don't care if you paid a lowball premium or an inordinately high premium. Their prices on everything else are also fixed and without regard to what the seller paid for the item in question. They're good people and they're good at what they do, but they're all business. Personal feelings and drama don't enter into it. The thing about your post that I thought worth more consideration is your apparent willingness to buy silver from unknown private parties to save a little money. That's a practice I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole these days. There are countless counterfeits, forgeries and knockoffs (of EVERYTHING!), fakes and plated crap presently glutting the market and I doubt I'm smart enough to pick the good ones out with any acceptable degree of accuracy. I think anybody who thinks they're a killer counterfeit-detector is ripe for a major fall. In addition to that, personal safety is a major issue. If you ever deal with sellers you dug out of Craigslist or anything else like it, I think you're courting disaster and you might well be a lot closer to it than you know. I buy from my LCS, a couple major national online dealers and (once every tenth blue moon) from another forum participant. I pay fair prices--but never the absolute lowest imaginable. But---most importantly, I never end up with any tungsten crap in my stash or any lead pipes in the back of my head! But--whatever... Pick your own path, chart your own course and travel it with care. Best of luck with your PM buying and above all, stay safe!
@ Fat Freddy + 1 Fair comments... Just to put the record straight - i buy from fellow stackers - people who have been vouched for by fellow stackers who i know and trust. Ironically, the tungsten filled gold i believe you're referring to was bought from a reputable dealer Similarly if i sell I do so to fellow stackers who I know or who have been vouched for by others i know. We are a pretty tight community on here
Yip---It took me some time to write, rewrite, proofread, polish and finalize that sermon above. The whole exchange you had occurred while I was off on my trip to Writingland. So---my statements were written as a response to the original post... nothing to do with subsequent posts and no inputs for any subsequent posters. Whatever that "...tungsten filled gold i believe you're referring to..." thing is---I honestly don't know what your reference is. Color me oblivious. Not the first time. Anyhow--on the rare occasions my posts include something targeted at any individual, my intent will be crystal-clear and unmistakeable. In addition to my fabled 20/20 hindsight, I also have the subtlety of a brick coming through a picture window. So--as nothing in my sermon was personal, nothing in it should be taken personally. In closing--on buying from known fellow stackers... I'm OK with that. To me, a known party vs. an unknown stranger is the issue and between those two is the line that I don't cross. In addition--I'm intrinsically unsociable and I get good prices at my LCS, so the combination of those two things keeps me off the fellow stacker trail. I also think "fellow stackers" in the US is something we need to be more careful of than what you face in Oz. We've got too many scammers, poseurs and general bad dogs here and letting one's guard down can be a surefire formula for a bad learning experience. Worse yet, I'm in New York--the home of the steamboat, IBM, Wall Street and I think also the drive-by shooting. Taking good damn care in my patch is essential to survival. At any rate -- peace, love and all the rest of that crap. Happy stacking!
Dont worry about yippee we just ignore him . Hes alright after about his tenth post for the day he settles down to a semi human state
Where ya been yip you been a bit scarce lately . Did ya get locked up as a dissident for badmouthing the gubmint ?
lol - nah - the inactivity in the market coupled with lots to do at home kept me at bay. if i had a slim curvaceous lady sharing a little island with me i'd be WAY MORE SCARCE than i already am! what's YOUR escuse for NOT being scarce?? :lol:
