Buying Gold and Silver on the Secondary Market
If you want to save money when trading Gold and Silver and know exactly what you’re looking for then a Secondary Market is a great place to pick up those bargains. Bullion Dealers can be good for the newer limited edition stuff, but they nearly always take a decent commission and you can cut out this middle-man by trading peer-to-peer with other Buyers and Sellers just like you.
My favourite Secondary Market is the forum at www.silverstackers.com and I can speak about it from experience having both bought and sold on this market. The principle of trading here is pretty much the same in other markets like eBay. I’ll take you through some of the basics of trading on this Secondary Market and even if you’re trading elsewhere you can at least compare the experience and if you find somewhere better to trade then I am always open to new markets.
STEP 1 : Create an Account
Seems pretty self-explanatory and it’s very easy to do, just click on "Sign Up" in the top right corner and fill out the basics. You do not need to provide photo IDs or other KYC documentation. Just an email address will do.
STEP 2 : Introduce Yourself
Once you have an account activated you will have posting rights on the forum. Go right down to the bottom and you’ll see a sub-forum titled "Welcome New Members". Go in there and make a short post to say "Hello" and make a very short introduction. There are a few veterans who will probably greet you and they might look out for you and help you when you start trading. This is not compulsory but I highly recommend doing it.
STEP 3 : Browse the Trading Area
The Trading Post area is broken up into 3 main regions. For "Australia & New Zealand", "UK & Europe" and "USA & Canada". Right now 99% of the trading activity is for Australia and New Zealand (but there is no reason why other regions couldn’t use the site) so have a look in there and you’ll see all the sales threads. A few useful abbreviations will help you scan for things you’re interested in :-
FS = For Sale
WTS = Want To Sell
WTB = Want To Buy
Au = Gold
Ag = Silver
FTF = Face To Face
Other things like Mint Names or Gradings are also often abbreviated, but you’ll pick them up.
STEP 4 : Make Enquiries
If you see something you like you can send a Private Message to the seller/buyer to ask for photos or more information or even to negotiate on price. Just click on the other members name and you will see a lot of info about that person. Click on "Start a Conversation" and ask away.
STEP 5 : Make a Bid or Buzz
You can always agree to a sale in your Private Message conversation but frequently (and especially for bargains) the way to make a quick purchase and get in first is to post a public reply in the sale thread with the word "BUZZ". Not sure why this is the convention, probably simulating a buzzer on a game show or something. Most reputable members will respect a BUZZ even if someone comes in after you and offers more.
If the sales thread is an Auction then you should post publicly your bid for the item you want. Many Auction threads have their own specific terms which you should ALWAYS read and note the Auction closing time. Some have an "Anti-Sniping" policy where (unlike eBay) if you bid a few seconds before the Auction closes then the Auction is extended for a short time to allow others to also bid. It is also important to be aware that the site will only let you post every 30 seconds as an anti-spam measure, so don’t get caught out and if you’re part of an Auction then you probably want to be online for closing time.
STEP 6 : Negotiate Delivery and Payment
Once you have successfully BUZZed or won an Auction via a bid the seller will generally contact the buyer via Private Message (see above) to discuss payment and delivery. This is where convention is important. The buyer normally chooses the postage option and accepts the risk associated with that postage option. If you are choosing cheap standard postage then you might wait 2 weeks and it could be lost. It’s on the buyer. If you are risk averse you can get express postage, parcel tracking with signature on delivery and even insurance. It’s your call. Once postage is agreed the buyer usually sends payment first, via EFT, Paypal or even Crypto – there is no restriction on what can be agreed but the seller might have limited options. If the seller is only wanting to do FTF (Face To Face) they should state terms in the original sale thread.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
If you’re making a purchase or sale it is always worth checking the Trader History which you can get to via the Member Info shown in STEP 4 above. New members will have very low or no Trader History so if you’re new and are selling it’ll be expected that others will want you to post your goods FIRST and receive payment on delivery. When starting out and buying I’d highly recommend you only buy from members with at least 30 Selling History with a 100% Positive Rating strike rate who’ve been on the site for a couple of years. In my experience these people will go above and beyond to preserve their impeccable reputation.
STEP 7 : Leave Feedback
Once your transaction is complete go into the Trader History section and click on the "Submit Feedback" link to not only provide some Positive/Negative feedback for the person you’ve just dealt with, but also to help the community at large. It is only through the Trader History that we can have confidence and trust in our peers, so unlike Steemit where your Reputation is based on your earnings, on this site it is based on voluntary feedback from trades.
That is all there is to it. This is the Secondary Market that I use in Australia and it blows eBay out of the water for trust and reliability. It beats the Bullion Dealers for price and the community on www.silverstackers.com is very strong and usually helpful. I have seen a few trades go bad because of silly mistakes, but then I’ve also seen the community rally behind victims and chip in to help make people whole. There is also a lot of really intelligent and constructive discussions going on about Economics, Politics and if you have questions about Precious Metals in General or particular products there is lots of sub-forums to make enquiries and get help from knowledgeable and experienced stackers.
https://www.silverstackers.com
I primarily use the secondary market when purchasing junk silver or specialty rounds (like Golden State Mint).
I never gold and never buy standard government silver (ASE, Maples, Krug) or Big Mint Silver (Kooks, Pandas, Lunar) due to the potential for counterfeiting.
I did at one time, but no more.
In past gold is the main currency for trading.
Man. Always great content and information! Thank you! As I've expressed I've always entertained the thought of having some investment in gold or silver. Would just to be able to hold my tangible investment lol. Most places I've seen charge quite a premium above spot price. I've seen a couple that are close.... but this is very cool. Thanks much for the tips asnd guidance.
As always, thanks much for your content!
You're welcome. Glad to hear you're getting value from my content.
If you do end up getting into stacking you should totally write about it and check out @raybrockman who is offering to support new stackers and steemians with upvotes HERE
Aren't you concerned about the authenticity? I've heard there were some fakes being sold, not on silverstackers but still.
Yes, really good question! That's why it is important to stick with traders with a strong history. They won't blow years of trade history by selling fakes. There is also lots of good info and discussion on the site about how to spot fakes. This is another area where they are tons better than places like eBay where there are a lot of fakes.
This is indeed a big concern. Which is why I've been sticking with a couple of local sites here in Malaysia despite the premium over prices elsewhere. As with everyone else, I'd try to get the cheapest price too. But I would prioritise credibility and record over "cheapest". I've seen some videos at YouTube where people got ripped off by fake silver coins and bars they had bought at eBay. Better to be cautious and suspicious when it comes to parting with our hard-earned money.
For sure it is always better to play it safe. If you stick with members on the site with really strong feedback though, you should not have any problem. Some of those members have hundreds of trades with a 100% positive feedback rate. That's impressive!
I agree 100%, would never use eBay for precious metals. It's not like another item where you can tell right away if it's what you ordered. Thanks! I upvoted your comment but my vote is worth zero..
I'm going to check out this website. Hopefully it also caters to Southeast Asia because this is where I am (Malaysia). There are a few local sites that I've been making small purchases from. Due to the small market here, there is indeed a premium when compared to the much bigger markets elsewhere. The US especially. Hopefully the site you mentioned here could provide an alternative for me.
I'm also into cryptos but I strongly believe we should diversify. Gold and silver have been around for thousands of years and a proven store of value. I'd want to have some of my assets in these to ensure I'm fully covered should there be any sort of turmoil.
Definitely this site will work for you in Malaysia. You are not far away at all. We have some people on the site from Singapore and Hong Kong too. I have no idea what the postage cost or situation is like but it should be manageable.
this is pretty cool. def going to check it out. thanks for sharing buggedout 🙏🏼
Is there a way to confirm payment if it's crypto or something like that? Do all the payments go through the site? With eBay they handle the money so they know it's been sent, but if you agree to give them magic beans, how could you prove that you made payment?
When I have used Crypto I have got their Crypto address in my PM conversation and then once I've sent I get the Transaction info from the blockchain using something like Etherscan. Then you can prove you sent the funds to the address they gave you and it's on the block.
I should add, the site does not handle any payments what-so-ever. This is a peer to peer system so the site just plays a match-maker type of role.
Ahh, that makes sense. Hopefully the other person is honest and actually sends you the item. :)
Thanks for this new site I am always looking for some places to buy. I just found a few coin shops here in my area and I can't wait till tomorrow to go check them out.
wow thats awesome!
gona make an account now and browse the site.
:D
Good to hear. Don't forget to make an intro post and I'll see you on there! :)
:D
it will prolly be a bit before i post anything, as of right now just looking around.
if i make an intro ill be sure to say you told me about it on steemit.
No worries. There is no referral kickbacks or any other reward for me other than knowing another stacker is making the community stronger :)
:D
i still like to give due where it belongs.
Looks like an excellent use case for SMTs.
Ok, you've got me intrigued but I don't know what use case you are referring to. Care to elaborate?
The site could have its own currency.
Air drop based on reputation scores or total number of past transactions.
It wouldn't take over immediately, but guys who are sick of dealing with PayPal etc, might prefer to use a token directly.
It's an interesting idea, though I think that if you could buy or trade your reputation then it would defeat the purpose of having it and it would be harder to trust it. What we need is an SMT token that can be effectively pegged to the AUD. Then for sure you could have a balance on the site to use for trades.
It'd just be a once off to get the ball rolling.
From then on, users would just treat it like we treat steem.
It's usefulness in that environment would make it valuable; those who saw it that way would take it in preference to dollars.
Those who didn't would happily buy silver with their airdropped tokens, and continue using paypal, at least for a while.
I don't know that pegging it to the AUD would be a good thing necessarily, even if you could find someone willing to underwrite it.
I imagine as people discover it's usefulness and more of the stacking community joins the site, or transacts there preferentially; its price would increase relative to the dollar, which has a new range of problems.
Best to just let it float independent and see what the community does with it.