You should consider unallocated held by some of the larger companies. I have done that previously and sometimes they offer good deals. It means no silver at home and the ability to offload quickly. Just a thought.
^^^ ^^ ^^^ Cheer up old chap, its not all doom and gloom. Use these next 10 decades to lower you cost average.
I have a plan to break even in 3 years. I recently bought about 250 semi numismatics / rounds, from Mulligan, Golden State, Provident, Second Arrow, Regency, Northwest Territorial and Westminster Mints. Especially Mulligan. Lotsa proofs / luxe boxes / etc. In my educated wet dream these coins in the future will be as sought after as Norfeds, and people will pay the gold price. I'll need to find some way to store them in, seriously underestimated how dozens luxe boxes look together. But that's just a practical sidenote since my breakeven is more important than cosmetics/storage. In the future I plan to corner the Mulligan Mint market further. Success will be signaled by me purchasing from US and US people purchasing them from me.
collecting boxes is no different to collecting barbie dolls in boxes, same thing, it's all about the silly box. and to be honest, barbie dolls have much better success rates on the collectable market, accessories too, maybe you could diversify?
It's like a painting, put it on a towel and people pick their change. Put it in a nice frame and people pick their $100 notes. Here barbie dolls don't seem to be a success, plenty whole lots for sale, noone bidding and a year later they're still for sale. What I do collect is porcelain dolls. In a very picky fashion, I dress' them up, put jewelry etc on them. Sometimes I buy two broken ones, combine what is not broken into a nice new one, using lowpriced secondhand materials I always keep an eye out for. But it's just a small amount money in it, would be silly to spend a million dollars on hundredthousand dolls. And I thought that was obvious, but forgot the miniroos in the world! It's possible that you're right though, there are some countries where certain things are more popular, for ex Disneyland.
But those ounces sell as well for that low premium. This isn't hard no? If I buy cheapskate socks and I sell them later then the buyer will also pay me the cheapskate socks price. Logical approach? If we compare ratio A/X with ratio B/X then we can just compare A with B, the X is irrelevant. What buys at low premium (X) sells at low premium (X)
Stacker mentality says an ounce of silver is an ounce of silver. Poor souls. I just sold a large pile of cast iron - skillets mostly, and got $900 at auction. I sold the good stuff on eBay, got twice as much for far less pieces. I had another pile of cast iron, also skillets, about the same size stack. Great condition, cleaned up real nice. Wonderful to cook with, some over 100 years old. Beautiful workmanship, hand made, no Chinese junk. That stack - I took to the municipal refuge collection station and put in the repurpose shed as "Free for the taking". Gave it away, not worth hauling to the scrape yard. All because of the names, or lack of names on the bottom. Would I rather sell four pieces to make $100, or 25 pieces to make $100. Tough one.
3% over spot - @ $50 spot, is $1.50. 15% over spot is $7.50, but high spot, so sacrifice premium, only make 10% over spot, $5 per ounce. So, bought for $20 spot plus 3% ($20 + .60 = $20.60) Sell for $51.50, gross profit $30.90. or Bought for $20 spot plus 15% ($20 + $3 = $23.00) Sell for $55.00 - only getting 10% premium, gross profit $32.00. Now if spot goes up, but stays low - say $35, different story. Now you won't give up so much premium. As a matter of fact, with reasonable spot, you will have added collector interest. IMO, collector value can increase premium - over the original 15%. Dirt cheap today is dirt cheap tomorrow. Nearly always. Desirable today, more desirable tomorrow. Not always, but often. If we get the polar opposite of SHTF, Dirt cheap silver will sell below spot. Too much around, not many want it. Collectable, will still get good premium. I want some of each, cover all bases.
This is the middle-sentence where the rest of your post is based on. If one pays 10-15% over spot on moment A, why wouldn't another pay 10-15% over spot on moment B? If one is refusing to pay more than 3% over spot on moment A, why wouldn't another refuse to pay more than 3% over spot on moment B? The difference between 'IMO' and logic?
IF we completely disregard the collector market, your point is valid. I would say the collector market should not be disregarded. I would say the collector market is larger than the bullion stacker market, as evidenced by the large number of silver rounds/coins sold at more than 15% premium, compared to silver sold at under 4% premium. Bullion Stackers do not determine market value of high premium silver. Neither does spot price for that matter, although it has more influence that bullion stackers. My most recent purchases of Freedom Girl proofs, and Standing Freedom proofs, had a premium of about 82%. Don't have a heart attack. I have faith that on the future resale market, collectors will part with their fiat much quicker for my high priced Freedom Girls, than for your 69 cents over spot generics. I will stick by my philosophy that dirt cheap today means dirt cheap tomorrow, and desirable today means more desirable tomorrow. Good stuff brings good money. I will only add that there is no bad way to stack. I hope we are both around when spot hits $50 to compare notes. (bookmark) Cheers.
Sell silver to a bullion dealer???? I'm not that crazy. Well, if spot went to $40, I might take a few hundred ASEs to a bullion dealer, to save time, but I'd have to be insane to sell my Freedom Girls to them. They don't set the bar, to any but a bullion stacker. They are, by any reasonable consideration, the LOWEST common denominator. If you want a guarantee of getting the least amount of money for your silver, take it to a bullion dealer. They set the standard for cheap buying. Does anyone think otherwise?
