Dealer and Mint Premiums vs Ebay Prices

I was checking in on a friends blog, Gold Wars, and the latest post is titled Why Are There Premiums On Gold and Silver, in it author  Kirsty Hogg stated "Another good thing to do is a quick comparison on Ebay for a similar item. Whatever you are looking for, type it into the Ebay search field and It will come up with the price they are being sold for that day/week".  Don't get me wrong I am not knocking Kirsty's article it is good.  I just had one thing to say about using Ebay as a guide.


I buy and sell silver on Ebay as well as buy from dealers and mints. I do not know if you have noticed but often the prices on Ebay for a particular piece will be higher than if you ordered it from the mint.

I have a few theories why this happens:

1. Bidders get caught up in the momentum. Ebay is addictive, you have been watching and bidding on an item, and you get the mindset that your are going to win that item.

2. Many people on Ebay are both buyers and sellers and  usually have money in our Paypal account. It is so easy just to push a button and pay from Paypal.

3. I think is many start out buying silver on Ebay because they do not know how to shop the online dealers and mints for specials.

4. The last reason I think that some people price their items higher on Ebay is that they make money off of what few items they post, and I think sentimental value plays a large role in what they would accept. 

Dealers and mints sell on a whole other scale and that is why they have premiums, but can often sell silver bullion less than you can buy it on Ebay.  Jim Little, owner of Quality Silver Bullion commented on the Gold Wars article writing "When we buy large silver bars and silver shot, there is already a premium tacked onto it, along with the freight costs." They also have a lot of overhead costs. He went on to explain "From the premiums we charge, we end up being able to keep just a small portion as profit. That is why quantity plays a huge part in the pricing of a bullion round".

Because of the reasons above, I suggest if you are going to buy an item on Ebay.  Decide what is the most you would pay for it before you ever place a bid. You do not need to place the whole amount on the first bid, actually I suggest you put the minimal bid on it and wait until closer to the end of the auction

One thing to keep in mind is if you use Ebay as a pricing guide, you have to look at the final sale price.  Some items may list at a certain price but never sell or you might catch the auction before the end.  Most prices increase dramatically in the last few minutes.

That said I still shop Ebay as well as dealers and mints for the lowest prices.  Be careful on Ebay for fraud, but that is a whole other post.

Contest To Design The New Silverbugs .999 Silver Round!!!!!!!

If you do not know already, there is a group on Facebook called “Silverbugs”. It is for people who have an affinity for Precious Metals, especially Silver. This group is growing at an extremely fast rate. We have over 200 dedicated members, with more joining everyday, and it is open to the public.

The admins at Silverbugs are always looking for ways to make Silverbugs the best group on Facebook. So with that in mind, our next great accomplishment is that Silverbugs is going to have our own, professionally minted silver rounds produced, thanks to one of our members, Jim Little, owner of Quality Silver Bullion (QSB). But that’s not all! Not only are we going to have our own round, but we are going to let our members design and choose the Silverbugs logo that will go on the face of the round. That’s right, we are going to have an art contest, open to all Silverbugs members. Then we will let all Silverbugs members vote on the winning logo. The logo with the most votes wins!

The winning member not only gets bragging rights, but will also get a QSB .999 silver 1 troy ounce round. So if you’re not a member but want to submit an entry, join Silverbugs on Facebook. If you are already a member, get out your pencils, pens, computer art programs, etc. and get to work. The submitted artwork must be on a template that looks like this:

Your submission should go in the large circle, diameter approximately 7”, and the winning submission will be put on the face of the round that will be the size of the smaller circle. The template is on 8.5” X 11” paper. I am in the process of setting up a site where you can download the template in pdf format. The XXX’s on the template are for you to remember to leave room within the circle for lettering, as we there will be a phrase on the round as well as a link to our group.

There really aren’t any rules; except every member is limited to one submission and it must fit within the larger circle on the template. So create what you think would look best on a round. The round will not be colorized, or shaded, but if you want to submit a colorized or shaded version, the die maker can trace around it. I suggest a detailed line drawing.

I believe this contest is something we all can have fun with and the final product will be a work of art that we can all own and be proud of! I know that I will want plenty for myself. I have to give kudos to: Jim Little, who is having the die made at no cost to us and Darrell Head, who, along with Jim came up with the idea for our own round. Of course, the contest was my idea ;). We will discuss how to obtain the freshly minted rounds at another time, but for now be creative and remember Silver is Money!

NIA: Introduction and Silver Mining Stock Recommendation

The National Inflation Association is an organization dedicated to preparing Americans for hyperinflation and helping Americans to survive and prosper in the upcoming hyperinflationary crisis. The U.S. government’s obligations include a $12.8 trillion national debt, $6.3 trillion in Fannie/Freddie debt and $60 trillion in unfunded obligations for programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The NIA believes that the U.S. for all intents and purposes is bankrupt and Americans need to take steps immediately to protect themselves from the potential loss of the purchasing power of their U.S. dollars.


NIA believes the largest financial crisis in history is ahead of us as a direct result of the U.S. government unwilling to accept a much needed recession. We are now at a point where our national debt is impossible to pay off. Due to rising interest payments on our national debt, it is unlikely the U.S. will be able to balance its budget ever again. Foreign countries will eventually stop lending the U.S. money and the Federal Reserve will most likely have to print the money to fund our deficit spending out of thin air.

The NIA’s ultimate goal is to help as many Americans as possible become aware of the disaster we are rapidly approaching. The NIA believes that the wealth of most Americans could get wiped out during the next decade, but it will be an opportunity for a small percentage of Americans to become wealthy by investing into companies that historically have prospered in an inflationary environment, such as gold and silver miners and agriculture producers.

Their website has extensive articles, news, reviews, stock suggestions, gold and silver seller reviews, and coin melt values. The articles are written by the staff of the NIA, and you can subscribe to the free NIA newsletter to have them emailed to you before they are posted online. You can check out their website at http://www.inflation.us/ and you can sign up for the newsletter on the same page. The NIA also has a Facebook group site that is open to the public.

Today, NIA announced a new stock suggestion, Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation (CDE). CDE is one of the world’s leading silver companies and is also a significant gold producer. NIA's last silver recommendation was Silver Wheaton (SLW). SLW reached a new 52-week high last week of $19.83, up 194% since NIA suggested it on February 26, 2009, at $6.74.

With the recent breakout in silver prices and potential imminent short squeeze from naked short positions held by JP Morgan, NIA felt it was the perfect time to announce a new silver company that they felt has significant long-term upside potential. You can read the CDE profile at http://www.inflation.us/cde.html

As usual do not buy stock on my recommendation or anyone else’s. Always do your own DD.