I'm also new but I've jumped in head first (having uni work die has given me loads of motivation and time to procrastinate so I've spent days straight researching and learning).
Here's a few things I've learned:
look around before you buy! You would be amazed at how an identical item, even say 1kg bullion, which is a genuine commodity item, can have wildly varying prices. This week I've had quotes for 1kg pamp suisse bars from $720 down to $668 and you could pay even more on ebay. That $50 will really add up if you buy more than a couple bars and eats up the first 10% of your profits as prices rise. I've found the people here to be quite reasonable when it comes to buying and selling and in the end better to give your premium to a fellow stacker who might return the favour when it's time for you to sell than a faceless online store. Always good to find a couple local bullion stores who are helpful and reasonable though.
Be clear on what you want! Are you going after collectable or semi collectable items, or are you just trying to put ounces into your stack? It's Ok if it's a little of both (I'm doing a mix of both) but be clear before you start buying. If you are trying to buy bulk silver you will regret buying brand new rounds from the more popular and collectable mints. You will also find larger bars, usually .5kg and up carry smaller premiums than buying a pile of 1oz bars. There is nothing wrong with wanting coins or paying extra for new bars or bars that are new, look nice or are slightly collectable but make sure you are doing that because you have made a conscious decision and want that particular item for a good reason (liking the way something looks can be a good reason if it brings you joy) and not because you've haphazardly bought something on a whim.
If your going to buy some of the semi collectable coins, do some reading and don't be afraid to ask questions! I've found the people here to be very friendly and extremely helpful and I made a few minor mistakes that I could have avoided if I'd asked before I spent my money. Even if it'as basic as "is there a reason I shouldn't do this? ", particularly if your about to make a large purchase. I bought a 1kg bullion lunar dragon coin because it was so freaking beautiful and I got it at a decent price but I didn't know that they made as many of these as they could sell and so they aren't as rare or collectable as the 2-10oz versions and that I would probably have been better off with 3 x 10oz coins. After seeing a 10oz coin in person I've found I like them as much anyway, a relatively small error since u didn't pay much more than I could likely sell the coin for but a little research and asking gave me a much better idea what I should have done.
Don't get ahead of yourself! This one relates to the first 3. I personally think silver has a rosy future compared to today's prices over the tune frame of a few years but today's low prices aren't likely to jump significantly overnight. So if your half as enthusiastic as I am just keep reminding yourself that you have time to learn and that you likely won't miss out on a great silver price by putting things off for a day or two or more extra reading and researching whatever your interested in buying. This is particularly important for collectables and high premium items where you might find something out that changes your view of what it's worth to you.
Lastly, enjoy it! I've found stacking silver to be great fun. From looking into financial markets and researching the economics of silver, hunting for bargains, finding out about numismatics and collectables to appreciating the bars and coins themselves I've found it highly rewarding. It's an investment and a great hobby. Plus the people here on the forum are great fun. I'm going to my first SS local meetup tomorrow and I expect that to be just as fun.
Also a note on taking advice: the people here are (generally
) quite sensible but there is easily as much absolute nonsense online about silver as good advice. Particularly when watching youtube videos or independent blogs and websites evaluate what your reading critically and leave your nonsense detector set to 11. If someone starts talking about the price of silver compared to gold an ancient Greece that's interesting information, if they are trying to tell you that has a significant varying bearing on what the price should be today despite the 100 years very different performance during the whole modern industrial age then maybe that's not helpful information. Also, if they start talking about the new world order, anti-christ Obama, The illuminati, Jewish banking syndicates or the junior league suppressing/artificially raising silver prices, planning to confiscate everyone's precious metals or any other generally Alex Jones sillyness just switch off, it's a waste of your time and it saps your iq. Besides, everyone knows it's the nephalim who are really suppressing the silver price in coalition with the RAND corporation using reverse vampires as their day trading puppets in a grand conspiracy to eliminate the meal of dinner... we're through the looking glass people.
