Craigslist is a simple online interface that provides local communities with a free option to advertise items for sale, community events, jobs, gigs, and more. Nearly anything is sold or traded on Craigslist and there is no central method for selling items such as silver bullion.
The advantage of buying silver bullion from Craigslist is that often, the seller is local and buyers can meet with them in person to inspect the items. If they are not satisfactory or appear counterfeit, the sale can be cancelled.
Finding Silver on Craigslist
To search for silver bullion on Craigslist, create an account and choose your location from the list of regions. There may be an option for a conglomerate of cities that incorporate your area as not every individual location has a particular Craigslist system. Then choose the items for sale and simply search for “silver” under household items or other categories available. Normally, more than one category will have silver for sale.
It’s also possible to search Craigslist using Google. In the Google search bar, type in: “site:craigslist.org silver bullion”. Google has what are termed, spiders, which are applications that search the listings on Craigslist and bring up all the current silver bullion items for sale.
If items are found, then an email reply is sent to the seller with any questions the interested buyer may have. This is normally kept anonymous and once a reply is received, a meeting place and time can be arranged.
Protecting Yourself
All silver bullion must first be carefully inspected, as there are no policies or customer protection offerings, and Craigslist sellers aren’t likely to offer a refund nor let on their identity or residence. Transactions are usually on a cash-only basis and once complete, both buyer and seller go on their way. To be safe, always deal in a public location to minimize risk of theft.
If educated, a buyer can spot any possible signs the silver bullion is counterfeit. Silver bullion must be .999 % pure silver, and when they are minted a stamp is used to indicate the bar is .999 pure. Buyers need to look for this on each silver bar to be bought. Often, the sellers themselves may not know what they have and offer silver bars that aren’t pure silver out of ignorance.
Although there will be a host of scam sellers on Craigslist, there will be just as many honest people who may just need the cash. This offers silver investors a great opportunity to purchase silver at lower prices than anywhere else. It’s a good idea for those seeking to buy silver for investment to browse the Craigslist site each day, as good deals will typically be snatched up quickly.
It’s tempting to go past the amount of money they have allocated themselves to invest in silver at one time, so much like Ebay, it’s good to remember there will always be silver for sale. Unless the economy indicates a looming pitfall, building up a silver bullion portfolio can be done in reasonable increments over time.