Selling Silver
Selling silver is a lot more difficult than selling gold. Everyone wants to buy gold. The reason being is because money is valued by its weight in gold. Gold essentially equals money in the exact value of the piece you happen to have. Merchants and gold buyers urge you to sell your gold to them, because they know eventually the government is willing to buy it. Or because they can simply re-melt it to earn more, off of it in new jewelry, than what they paid you for it. But silver is a different story. Silver is not as valuable as its older brother gold. But it still holds a precious quality and value in itself.
Silver has antibacterial properties and it is used for many things. It can be used for jewelry, silverware, and coins. It is also a great electric conductor. It will be used by many manufacturers for the production of electronic and energy related items. Although you may not hear about it, there are many individuals that will buy silver. Many people make the mistake of buying silver when gold is getting a huge amount of attention in the stock market. Occasionally the “sell your gold” commercials appear on TV during this time, and they think its time to buy silver. In reality the best time to sell silver is when gold is in the spotlight.
Selling silver bars is a matter of convenience for the seller. Shipping costs are extremely high for selling to buyers outside of your local area. One 100oz bar of silver weighs 7 pounds. Standard shipping for a 1lb. package alone can be up to $9.00. A 7lb. bar will easily cost you $63.00. Not to mention, you might not be sending it by standard shipping for something so valuable. It will cost more for expedited, insured, and receipted mail. So be smart. You can sell silver bars online at auctions like eBay and Amazon. This way you can attribute the shipping costs to the buyer! Remember to include a reasonable “Buy-it-now” price. This will allow for a person to skip the auction and buy the item outright. But the price has to be profitable to you. Set the starting price well. Many buyers will wait for the auction to be nearing its ending point. They will bid a mere $.99 when there are a few minutes left in the auction. Then they just made off with a 7lb. bar of silver for just $.99
You can also go to local merchants to avoid the entire auction and shipping costs. Many individuals that are selling sterling silver choose this method. They can easily just go to a local jewelry store and offer the owner a decent price. They will use this to make more jewelry and are willing to buy it. But small shops have a limited budget and cannot offer you the actual value price of the silver bar.
But one thing sellers do not think of is warehouse selling. Every time you enter stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl’s, and Macy’s you will see a standing rotation rack in the front. This rack is full of sterling silver jewelry. They will have earrings and charms and even cell phone decoration links. They all get their jewelry from a warehouse merchant. Research the merchant and contact them. You can offer them your sterling silver, or silver ingots for a reasonable price. They have a better budget than small shops, and will offer you a better price.
Also contact banks. They may not always be willing to purchase from the public but if you contact high enough in the management hierarchy, you can earn yourself a sit down, and propose your terms. Banks are like monetary filters. They exchange, rotate and move currency from the tangible forms, to the intangible values. They always have the ability to purchase something with monetary value in exchange for cash. It’s what they do best.
If a bank is not an option you can contact a mint coin factory. This can be the best place to sell gold and silver together. They can purchase your silver bars, melt them down and turn it into whatever value coin they want. They may dilute coin blanks with copper, but the coin will not have an exact retail value until it is stamped. If you come across a large silver deposit, you can from some kind of relationship with a mint coin factory and the government. You supply the silver, the government adds the value and permission, the factory makes the coin, and you can have some sort of coin collectors shop on the side. Eventually you can end up with your same investment in a more accessible size for the public. It is easier to sell silver coins, than silver bars.
Gold has its own market; you can sell gold pretty much everywhere. Banks will buy gold nuggets in their raw form. This means you can find a nugget and sell it without having to melt it down into a stackable bar. Less work, for you. You can even sell gold in a mall. Jewelry stores will be interested in purchasing gold to make jewelry or repairs. There are even Gold Kiosks at the mall where you can register and have your old gold shipped off for payment. The TV ads for “sell my gold” will not give you the proper value for your gold. But they make it easy by providing a purchasing market to the public. You just have to ask yourself if the convenience is worth the rip-off.
Do your research, before you make the decision to sell. Selling may not even be a good option. Many people that own gold or silver ingots, have them for emergency purposes. They can be useful in case someone loses a job, or a death in the family changes the financial status of the remaining members. Banks will accept silver and gold bars as payments during a foreclosure. With the right information selling silver is not that difficult and even how to invest in silver.
