Buying and selling silver flatware: An antique show example

I visited the Scott Antique Market this past weekend. This is a huge show held monthly in Atlanta and I sometimes go because I know I'll see eight or ten dealers in various types of silver. As a result of this visit, I wrote two articles that might be if interest to some.

I interviewed two dealers in silver plate flatware regarding their business:

• Silver plate flatware price: Validation from two dealers

I also looked at the way some dealers are pricing and selling sterling flatware:

• Prices of sterling silver at antique shows: A recent example

If you are thinking about buying or selling silver flatware, one or both of these articles might be of interest.

Click on any picture to see a larger version. By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions and comments. Or, you can send us an email by clicking on "Email Silver Jim" in the right column.

Selling Your Silver: A Guide to Finding a Buyer and Getting a Good Price

I receive tons of questions from people wanting to know how to sell their silver, especially since the world commodity silver price has skyrocketed. So, I've written a 28-page booklet that provides information about the process. For anyone interested, it can be downloaded here for a small fee: Selling Your Silver: A Guide to Finding a Buyer and Getting a Good Price. I think you have to sign up for a free membership at the publisher's site.

Click on any picture to see a larger version. By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions and comments. Or, you can send us an email by clicking on "Email Silver Jim" in the right column.

Why can't I sell my sterling silver for higher than scrap value?

The wild commodity silver market has triggered many questions to me from blog readers who are thinking about selling their sterling flatware and hollowware pieces. Many have questioned why they could not get a better price. We've been watching sales on eBay lately and it seems that many sellers don't even get the scrap value for their sterling. Here's an article we wrote recently:

• Why can't I sell my sterling for higher than scrap value?

As a reminder, we don't think folks should ever sell their sterling unless they really need the money. In general, the price received will always be disappointing, especially if the seller expected to get somewhere close to retail or close to the prices charged by companies like Replacements, Ltd. We think the value of sterling as a personal family heirloom is much greater that its value on the used market and it should be handed down through generations.

If you must sell, be patient. Get offers from several buyers and try to find the buyer who wants sterling for personal use. Such a buyer often is willing to pay more.

Click on any picture to see a larger version. By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions and comments. Or, you can send us an email by clicking on "Email Silver Jim" in the right column.

Who Will Buy Sterling Silver for Scrap Value - Update Regarding Refineries

I've posted a few articles regarding selling sterling for scrap but most were written when the commodity price of silver was much lower than it is now. Since the price of silver has increased dramatically during the past year or two (2010-2011), I've gained new insight and experience regarding selling silver for scrap.

It appears that the best price for your scrap silver will be obtained from a business that actually does the refining. It is not unusual to find a refinery who will pay 90% of the world spot price for silver. There is a catch - many of these refineries only do business with other businesses and do not offer their services to retail customers. So, you may have to search around to find a refinery to work with you.

You should also be aware that you will have to trust the refinery to do the right thing. Once they refine your sterling, they will produce some sort of report regarding the weight and purity of the items you handed over to them. They should tell you:

• The weight before refining
• The weight after refining
• The purity of the silver

If you disagree with their assessment, it may be too late to do anything about it - it's already been melted!

Here are some things to remember:

• Sterling is 92.5% silver content by weight.
• Knives and similar "hollow handle" pieces are about 15% sterling by weight (this is just an educated guess).
• Some pieces, such as candlesticks, may contain cement "weighting" material inside - sterling content may be relatively small.
• Silver plate pieces have very little silver content.

If you want to pursue a relationship with a refinery, submit one or two small batches for refining first. Look at the results and see if they agree with your estimate. Understand any deviations. Once you feel comfortable with a business, you can submit larger batches of sterling for melt down.

You'll see some ads at the top of the screen. Scroll right and you'll probably see several ads from refineries. Google attempts to display ads from businesses in your general location.

You might also try searching. In the Google search box on the right of this screen, enter "silver gold refinery refining". You might add the name of your city to the search. After you click the "Search" button, a new window will pop up. Check out the ads at the top and the right of the new window.

Click on any picture to see a larger version. By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions and comments. Or, you can send us an email by clicking on "Email Silver Jim" in the right column.

Case Study & Warning: Selling scrap silver to a refiner

I wrote this article on May 22, 2011. So far, it is Number One on the Hit Parade of articles! It received 600% more "hits" on the first day than the next most popular article I ever wrote.

     Case Study & Warning: Selling scrap silver to a refiner

Click on any picture to see a larger version. By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions and comments. Or, you can send us an email by clicking on "Email Silver Jim" in the right column.

Silver Price Continues to Soar

I've been wrong many times in my life and this is one of those times. I just did not think the spot price of commodity silver would continue to climb as it has. Aside from one unusual circumstance around 1980, silver has never been this high before. As I'm writing this, it's at $34.25 per Troy ounce, an increase of 108% over the price a year ago of $16.46.

This is all well and good for investors in commodity silver. However, it's having a tragic side effect on sterling flatware and hollowware. It's now often more profitable to sell used pieces to be melted down than to sell them for what they were intended. The result is that there will be a dearth of pieces out there in the market for some discontinued patterns.

What a shame.

Click on any picture to see a larger version. By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions and comments. Or, you can send us an email by clicking on "Email Silver Jim" in the right column.

A Process to Sell Silver for Scrap at a Decent Price

We are not big fans of melting beautiful sterling pieces just to recover the silver. But we do realize that there are valid reasons to proceed with this process for some pieces. For example, your garbage desposal may have grabbed a spoon! A problem for the average consumer is finding a buyer who will pay a decent price for the sterling to be melted.

Because of the currently high price of silver, we have decided to offer a service to blog readers who are having a hard time finding such a buyer. We have established a relationship with a local metals refiner who pays us a decent percentage of the value of the recovered silver.

If you would like to have us take your scrap silver to this refiner on your behalf, click on 'Email Silver Jim' in the right column to send us an email. Tell us your name, address, contact number and a brief description of what you have. We'll email you a simple contract, terms and conditions and a description of what to expect from this process.

Click on any picture to see a larger version. By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions and comments. Or, you can send us an email by clicking on "Email Silver Jim" in the right column.