Buying silver bullion bars on Ebay.com can be a menagerie of advertisements, fantastic offers, rows of fast-paces auctions, and the psychological intensity of an auction almost down to the last minute. Remember the first rule of buying silver bars on Ebay—do not succumb to the eagerness of winning a bidded auction at all costs.
This frenzy can leave a silver investor paying much higher amounts for silver bars than they could online or at local precious metal dealers. There are countless offerings on Ebay, and the next one could be the most profitable. Whoever wins a competitive bid that goes beyond the market price for silver at that moment has already lost on their investment.
Seller Research
Before even entering into a bidding war or “Buy it Now” purchase, it’s necessary and advisable to find out about the seller. Each Ebay seller has a nickname and number with a colored star. This number is the amount of feedback comments the seller has received, not the total number of successful auctions completed. The colored star indicates landmarks based on the positive and negative feedback from those who won an auction or purchased an item through them on Ebay.
Clicking on the number or seller’s nickname will take the interested bidder to their information page where they can go through the good and bad feedback this seller has received. They will also have an “About Me” page link and many Ebay sellers have their own stores setup where other items up for bid can be viewed.
Keep in mind that buyers on Ebay can be a surly as customers with larger metal dealers. A negative comment could be a misunderstanding or inappropriate slander. Some sellers deal with thousands of transactions and the fast pace of Ebay warrants someone will eventually muddy the feedback score of a good seller.
Auction Research
Some items to check before entering into any auction for silver bars on Ebay are details such as:
- Is there a buyer protection policy for the silver bars?
- Does the seller offer a return policy and if so, what are the conditions?
- How do they calculate shipping and handling?
- When will they ship the silver bars once the auction is complete and items paid for?
- What shipping service do they offer?
- Do they include insurance and tracking?
These are all questions investors are familiar with either online dealers they work with or local shops they buy from. With Ebay, silver bar investors may end up buying from many varied sellers and each will have a host of different options. Although Ebay offers many policies to avoid unscrupulous sellers, if the silver bars auction allows payment through PayPal, the purchase is protected by PayPal’s buyer satisfaction policies also.
Remember, it’s more expensive for sellers to offer silver bars on Ebay, so free shipping should be a consideration when entering into a bid. Always use the shipping calculator offered with sellers who require shipping and handling to be paid. Unknown shipping options can add up as the weight of silver bars can be quite daunting when calculating postage.
Buy it Now vs. Auctions
Ebay offers two main styles of sales: buy it now, and auction. Buy it now allows buyers to complete a purchase right then and there at a pre-set price. Auctions take open bids over a set timeframe, allowing the market to set the price.
Silver buyers can occasionally find great deals taking advantage of buy it now sales after the price of silver shoots up in a short timeframe. For example, if a seller listed a 1 oz silver bar at $35, with the spot price of silver being $32, and then silver shoots up $2 in the next few days, a buyer could swoop in and buy the bar for a cut-rate over spot price.
Auctions, on the other hand, tend to offer the most up to the second pricing, as the bidders keep a close eye on spot price as the auction winds down.
Ebay is a fast moving target, but the right preparations can allow for great money saving deals when purchasing silver bullion bars.