With the recent lows, would now be a good time for someone who doesn't own any silver to get into it? I'm not rich, I could probably only afford to buy 2-3 OZ per 2 weeks, would it be worth it? I live in the UK and I'd like to protect myself from inflation in the years to come. If so should I buy physical or go with an option like bullionvault.co.uk to avoid markup and tax? I can get physical bars for 20.75/$31.8229 where as with bullionvault I can buy for SPOT price. BullionVault lets you buy pure physical gold and silver at the lowest possible price, but they keep it for you in there London/Zurich vaults. Please help me to decide, I don't want to miss this opportunity as I know Silver probably won't fall this low again for a couple of years if at all.
You are a silver hunter. You need to do what silver hunters do. It's only natural. Or failing that, ask your mum. Welcome to the roller coaster anyway, I'm sorry I can't offer you any more advice.
All bets are off, the market isn't working the way it should and although there are lots of theories around it is all just guesswork at the moment. It could well go down but if you buy now you will only lose a couple of quid. People on this site have lost 1000s of dollars and they are still buying, others have said enough is enough, it is pretty nerve racking for people who already paid a lot of money for silver but for people wanting to get in, now is a great time to start. When silver gets really cheap there is a worry that the supply will dry up as people buy up as much as they can afford and people like me refuse to sell it for a loss. What some people are selling might just be a promise to supply silver in the future. We have silver mines in Australia and a world famous mint and even we can't buy silver for spot, I would be wary of any dealer selling for spot, it is pretty much unheard of, its how they make their money. I would get the bars, physical, pay the tax and hold them, if it all goes horribly wrong you don't want to have to go to Zurich to argue with the manager.
I would suggest you wait untill the bottom is def IN Could be about $21 USD Maybe take how much you have budgeted for silver and split it into 3 if you have $3k = 3 x $1000 spreading it out like that actually reduces the risk just something to think about
At this moment in time there doesn't seem to be a 'right' answer, only time will show that some were less wrong than others. At the moment silver is cheap, it might get cheaper still. If you don't have any silver then you have nothing to gain or loose. Some people will get a loan to buy masses of silver, some will only risk getting a few ounces. I had the leisure of building my stack over a period of years which were calm in comparison to today, jumping in the deep end in times of such uncertainty is a risk, you don't have time to make an informed decision, the rest of us are making misinformed decisions! Getting a couple of ounces will not break the bank if the prices continue to drop but if you don't get them now you might get another chance, who knows. The best thing to do is be comfortable with your purchases, if you are going to worry yourself sick everyday that the prices are going to drop, spend every hour checking spot price until it starts to go up a bit then what will you gain, fiat money. What will you loose, your health, sanity and it puts a strain on your relationships. If you have a few pounds lying around that you don't need for food or for the rent/mortgage then I would be getting some silver. If you can't spare it then use the money to pay off your credit cards or personal debt, you will get a better return guaranteed. For what it is worth I have stopped buying with my personal money but I am still buying with my pension fund, personal money is paying my mortgage, if I could pay my pension into the mortgage I would do that, but I can't, so silver it is and at these prices I am happy. I am happy because I am buying not selling, if I was selling I would be a nervous wreck. I am happy because compared to what I bought last week this stuff is cheap today, the fact that it might be cheaper next week is another cause for happiness. When I run out of money to buy I will just wish I had a bit more.
An ounce in the hand is worth 2 in the bank. Around here you might hear the phrase 'If you don't hold it you don't own it' The Cypriots had money in a bank, not in their hands. Now they don't have money. Bank deposits and security deposit boxes are only as secure as the legislation lets them be, they can open up your safe deposit box and confiscate the contents. I don't know bullionvault.co.uk but they tell you that you are allowed to avoid paying tax, does that sound legit to you? Do you think it sounds legit to a cash strapped government who are looking for a way to pay the bills? In America the FBI confiscated $8million in silver, legally, from a mint. This silver was being held for customers, they will never see any of it again. They are selling for spot, if they pay spot, how do they make money? If they pay under spot then good on them for passing on the savings. Some of their customers might be on the forum and they can probably vouch for the company. If not then you might be entitled to more silver, but you might never see it.
How many more ounces are we talking about anyway? Some places will store 'unallocated' silver for you, this is silver which is in a pool. If you ever wanted to take possession of it you would need to take it out of the pool and it would need to be made into a product that you could hold. You would get charged a fabrication cost on top of the money you have already paid. If you sell it back to the dealer you should not have to pay the fabrication cost but they might buy it back for less than spot or charge you an admin fee.
sorry my post got cut off half way. What i ment to add is that the premium on physical might change if silver continues to under-perform. Reason: over time people who trade silver have overheads, and those overheads need to be met. If physical volume purchases decline, then there will be a couple of sub-cycles 1) denial: traders will refuse to hand over stock at a lower price 2) reality: bills need to be paid, insufficient sales, offload at lower margins
Just checked the website, you realise that you would need to pay storage fees for your silver, and insurance? Metal Fees (including insurance) per month minimum per month Gold 0.01% $4 Silver 0.04% $8 There is a 10% charge for withdrawing your silver and then you have to pay the 20% VAT. No such thing as a free lunch! If this is the way you want to go, go to this forum's owner, Goldstackers, you can buy small amounts of silver, get free storage and free insurance and you probably don't have to pay VAT as it will stay in Australia, probably, talk to him anyway http://www.goldstackers.com.au/store/unallocated.html it might not be available for overseas customers but you never know!
My thousands ounces were bought at an average of 28 euro per coin. I started buying silver in february 2011. And I thought that I had been very careful. I never bought when spot was > $32. The last year I never bought when spot was > $29. But here I am, despite above, in the not materialized deep red. I can buy today at 21.60 euro per coin. But I don't have euro's to do so. Maybe this helps you to decide lol. I remember that Rawdog post, where he expressed his disappointment in the buying/selling behaviour of those on the silver market. Well, I can now only agree. I never intended to sell high to buy back in low. I have had many chances, including $50, while I was sure to see lower $30's returning. I said I would never do it and I also never did. But this recent price drop, that appears to be due to the delivered market side, well, it made me doubt about my 'attitude'. It is possible that if I see over X months or years $35 or $40 or whatever substantially higher, a price uptrend that appears temporary to me, that I'm gonna 'dump' too. For the same reason that that Rawdog gave.
Well I am glad Lorian never heard you say that, he'd call you a low down hypocrite for sure, and part of the problem.
And the people of Cyprus thought their money in the bank was safe too. Recent events have proven to me that the only thing(s) you own are ones you can put your hands on, that have no debt or lein on them. Buy physical my friend, you will never end up in the position of having some "manager" offer to "compensate" you because something "can't be found" - or worse, you show up at their front door to lay hands on what you were counting on owning if/when SHTF, to be faced with an armed guard and a padlock.
JLizard makes great points. To SilverHunter, I am also new to precious metals....got turned on in October of last year. I bought a small bundle of bullion coins at prices that are close to double of what they are now. There are people who bought when the price was even higher than that. Now, I don't have expendable income (injury at work put me on the disabled) so it's much tougher to take advantage of lower prices....wish I would have known that the prices will go lower. But that's the point, most of us don't know with certainty what the future will bring in terms of spot price. The spot is also not really indicative of the actual value of PM's and many of the economies of leading countries have printed so much money that the rosey picture is really artificially created, not forged out of honest capitalism at work. My suggestion to you SilverHunter, because you are buying small quantities, is to buy now what you can afford. I honestly don't think the spot will go below $20 USD....that's just my gut feeling. And even if it does, you won't be in the sink hole because you are not betting the house on silver.
The only advice I can give you is either buy silver pay your taxes and take delivery or if you want to avoid tax buy some gold - the small quantities you are talking about dont warrent vault storage and the charges that go with it.
Look at all the hypocrites that spam about silver shortages and Comex defaults to lure people in paying bloated prices, to then dump their silver and blame JP Morgan instead of the mirror. If it becomes clear that the amount of such hypocrites is big, I take it into account, and act accordingly. What did you think I would do? Smile to the hypocrites? No. I adjust my silver methods. And I won't blame JP Morgan when I dump. When everything appears rosy and the hypocrites talk about a price level of 4 times $today and imminent Comex default, I will dump silver and instead of silently I will just say it, like BuyLowSellHigh said some months ago, that he sold all his silver. That's the difference between your low down hypocrites that mislead and lie, and people that just say what they do.
I agree pirocco, there are NO shortages. What i learned today and friday is to allways keep cash as long as silver and 'silver' have to be payed with euro's/dollars. I started buying silver in may 2012, so i am also in the red. 21eu spot is my reference point. Previous spot i do not care. TA, supportlines etc etc doenst mean a thing to me. Yes, I have sold premium coins at a higher price the what i bought them for and bought back when spot/prices were lower. Just to gain ounces. I never sell with a loss. My stack hast lost fiat value, but i consider it the ultimate saving. What i bought today i might sell later when spot will be higher. Again, to gain ounces. I also traded gold for silver and back. Again, to gain ounces. But the amount of euros i want to spend is limited. What i have learned in this year is not to listen to the doom scenario's and manipulation theories. Could be right, could be wrong. Who knows? But there is no shortage. I have visited 2 dealers today, enough silver and gold available. Waiting line of 10 persons waiting to sell gold. Online dealers also, offcourse i can imagine they dont want to sell their stock they bought more expensive. Premiums up a bit but that is also logic as prices are lower. I have learned from your Mundus thread,and i also adjust. I have no remorse i bought so heavily in the beginning. Coulda shoulda woulda. The past is where i learn from, i do not complain. As long as we get our paychecks and buy our bread, beer and iphone in eur/dollar, these things will happen. We,'small' physical stackers who buy to preserve wealth, try to beat inflation or make some fiat out of ag/au are not the reason of these huge price fluctuations. The amounts of silver traded today are massive and silver is very oversold. We buy/sell something to preserve wealth, gain fiat or beat inflation that is in fact not in our own hands. I don't know how many ounces of 'silver' have been traded today, but there is no way these amounts can be delivered physically at once. De stropers zijn boswachter en de boswachters zijn ook stroper. My amount of ounces is still the same and i will allways keep cash for moments like these. Keep up the good work!
