Just curious how others do this. Whether you only take note of what spot was at the time of each purchase, or how much you payed over spot (and if so, would you factor in shipping or any other fees?). I write all the info down in a little notebook when I make a purchase. So, depending on how I look at it, my DCA is $25 if I figure in shipping and premiums, or it's $18 if I only keep track of spot price for each purchase. I think it's good to look at both. On the one hand it's spot price that you're really looking at, but it's also nice to know the total average price payed for each ounce owned. It's nice knowing that if I place an order right now it's a step in the right direction, and likewise knowing at what point I could choose to sell without taking a loss. I would definitely recommend new stackers start doing this right away and always keep up with it.
I used to do that but I stopped updating it a long time ago. I used to record the % over spot and the actual dollar value over spot when I bought it so I would know what I needed to recover. You have to factor in cost of postage when you buy but you also have to accept that you will lose that when you sell it. The premium you should be able to recover. In the end I figured that if you need to sell it, then you get whatever the going rate is. There is no correlation between what you paid for it and what the market rate is, the two events are not connected. You will only get the going rate for the item and that will either make you happy or sad, but what you paid won't affect the sale price. If you are trading the stuff for profit then it might help you decide which items you can sell to make a profit on, and how much profit you will make, and which items to put to the back of the safe and never speak of again. It was fun at the beginning, I tracked every purchase, knew who sold the coins, what date I bought them, how much I paid (item, postage, %over spot etc.), now I open up drawers and find coins I had forgotten about. But knowing the spot silver value of a rare coin is pointless unless you intend to sell it for scrap, so you need to keep an eye on recent sales of the coin in order to know its true value. Fine for bars, not so good for numis. I actually had several spreadsheets running for all the different metals and styles. Glad I no longer care about that. I may have trouble proving I bought them at some stage in the future, but this is no different to anything else I have bought.
Good points. I didn't think to consider numismatics. I suppose this question is irrelevant for people that buy those. I'm only buying ASEs right now, so it's not as close to spot as buffaloes, for example, but like you said I should be able to get back any premium paid when it comes time to sell. Considering this, I think ASE is the superior choice (compared to buffaloes or other coins closer to spot). Others might point out the fact that they're a bit more expensive with their premium, but does it really make any difference if you're going to be getting the premium back?
I keep track of 2 sets of figures. I keep an all in DCA for my bullion even though I have a little cheap stuff and a little higher premium stuff (pamps with certs etc). I figure I'll likely get roughly the premium i paid back anyway and keeping such detailed track won't get me a better price so as long as I know I'm ahead I just try and get the best price i can. Having said that, I have a pretty good idea what I paid on average for each "type" of bullion bar I have, but it's just in my head. If started buying more it might get more difficult but I'm not too concerned. Helps that I never paid less than $600 or more than $700 for a kilo bar which makes up the bulk of my weight. The second set of figures is for all my premium, numi and semi numi stuff. For a while I was keeping records but it's again mostly in my head. I like to think i know exactly what I paid for everything though. The thing is I'm going to be selling when i think the market best suits, not when a bar is worth a hundred more than when i bought it so as long as I'm sure I'm not selling at a loss (not hard to figure out) then it really doesn't have anything to do with the price I paid.
I would probably be able to maintain an approximate amount in my head and know if I would be selling at a loss or not, but even with my current small stack I can't tell you exactly what I paid for each purchase since the price was different for each one and it's mostly just multiples of the same item. In a long enough period of time I might be able to tell if I'm over or under but not knowing exactly how much I've paid over time in premiums and shipping would make it more difficult to tell how much of a profit I'm making, or maybe if I'm even making one at all, depending on how much spot changes. It might be more to keep up with as your stack grows but that's all the more reason to keep at it I would think.
Of course. I calculate all costs per oz in my log. How can I say I bought coin for 18 $, when I payed 6 shipping, or perhaps customs fees 10$, now I cant sell that coin for less than 25.....
Silvers real worth is $20US in 2015 (as my signature) because that includes premium and shipping already added on! Selling price of silver is only ever buy back price plus premium and shipping where applicable. I only have a small amount compared to most on SS but I only ever calculate its worth on current "Buy back" which will be what i paid plus shipping not what a dealer pays as buy back. I dont commit enough fiat to silver or gold to require me to sell as a necessity though.
I keep track of how much I paid to my door for every thing. It helps for me to see how things are appreciating, also if I had to sell a little I know what my paid unit price was... Also helps so you know how much silver you have and how much you have spent...
Note books get filled quickly. Even a small stacker is going to use up a lot of paper over the course of a year or 2. Find a good tracking programme online. You can find free versions or fork out a couple of dollars for one. Tracking is VERY important if you are planning on holding for years to come , or if flipping (especially flipping) You do not want to be selling stuff for the same price ,or heaven forbid LESS than you paid.
I log the amount in my notebook I paid for the silver; i.e. the amount that is listed next to the silver on the receipt. When I buy from JMBullion, the price of the bullion already has free-shipping and credit card fees factored in. For instance, 10 1oz bars may be $182 USD. So I log $182 for those 10 1oz bars with a list item of 182/10 = 18.20 per oz. When I buy from SDBullion, the credit card fee and shipping is extra. That receipt for 10 1oz bars could read. $165 + $5 CC fee + $8 shipping. In that case I write down the $165 or $16.50 per oz. The reason I do this is because I want the line items on my receipt for the actual silver to match up with my notebook for future tax purposes. If my SDBullion receipt for the actual silver lists $165 and I record it as $178, there is a mismatch. Plus I don't think shipping and fees can be factored in for tax purposes when it is itemized on the bill. As far as spot is concerned. I don't even try anymore. I've had the spot price change on me during checkout. Add to cart for say $185, and on final checkout it is $187. It's nearly impossible to keep track of spot. And using the SPOT at the end of the day, well, what good does that do? I've seen swings of 40 cents or more per oz.
I factor in everything minus obvious numismatic coins like 100+ ounces silver coins. I've reached my goal, have a 20.70 cost average. Could be worse. Nice to see the spot creep back up a bit
