Worth It

Here are a couple of things to look out for when you buy through online auctions …

1) You’ll find all sorts of listings on eBay for instance.
What you need to be keenly aware of is exactly what you are buying.

For instance, here’s an example bid description:

NORFED $10 LIBERTY DOLLAR
999 PURE SILVER COIN

What they fail to mention anywhere in the text is that the coin is only a 1/2 ounce of actual silver. You have to look at the picture of the coin to see that it’s stamped as a 1/2 ounce of pure .999 silver.

Shipping on this item was $4, and it sold for $11
All said the buyer paid $15 for a 1/2 ounce of silver.
As of the time of writing this article spot price on silver is about $17.50.
At this price the buyer would have essentially paid $30 ($12.50 over) for an ounce of silver.

Now I will say that the Norfed coins are actually collectibles so this could be why it commended a premium price. But the facts are still the facts, in regards to the spot price of silver as is dictated in the market – they over paid.

2) I also came across a few of these … 1997 MS70 American Silver Eagle
Buy Now prices were all between $495 up to $800
One auction had multiple bids with the highest at $52.
This coin is listed on Numis at $500.

I’m pointing this out because it has been stated on multiple occasions that “collectibles” or anything else for that matter is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it. As is illustrated in the aforementioned auction …
Consumers are willing to pay roughly $50 for this coin.

3) You also need to be mindful of the cost of shipping on items you bid on.
You may find a pure silver round and win with a bid of $16.25 let’s say. But then you may need to add $6 shipping on top of that. That brings your total spend on that single ounce of silver to $21 … you just paid roughly $3.50 over spot for a single ounce. So don’t get so caught up in the heat of the moment and the jones of the auction process that you forget to tally the total investment. This is one sure fire way to over spend on your bullion if you aren’t careful.

4) Lastly you need to be very aware of “silver plated” items or “almost pure” silver; also listed sometimes as .788 or other equivalents of actual silver content.

Plated items are pretty easy to spot if you pay attention. They’ll use descriptions like “brilliant silver” or “fine silver” in lieu of .999 Pure Silver. There should always be a picture of the listed item, so just look for the words (.999 Pure Silver) stamped on the item. If you don’t see it clearly then make sure you ask if the item is pure silver and what documentation they have to prove it is.

Well i hope some of that helps de-clutter the air on how you can go about getting started in silver. The same principles apply with gold. The only difference is the dollars involved or required to buy are larger.

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