Scrap silver, best place to sell?

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Bahama Jim

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Feb 4, 2013
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Does anyone just happen to know, I have several pounds of silver, my question is,,, will a smelting factory buy scrap silver or do you have to be a dealer. If a smelter factory will buy the silver will they pay more that a wholesale buyer, and do you know of a factory that might buy scrap silver.

Lots of silver and gold buyers around, but they don't pay much.
 

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You should be able to get 90% of the spot price of silver for your scrap silver so long as it has a hallmark. That would be 90% by total silver content. If you have .925 sterling for example, you should be able to sell for 83% of the spot price of .999 silver.

Try your local coin collector's shop. Stay away from jewelers and run away from pawn shops. The problem with scrapping silver is that if it does not have a hallmark it is almost worthless to most buyers. The acid test for silver will show various shades of red for various silver content, but an acid test will not tell the buyer the exact silver content. The acid test can't really tell the difference between .925 sterling and .800 sterling silver for example.
 

Sometimes you can sell at spot silver content to individuals that are buying for the silver. It's been a few years....but I was a buyer for Gold, silver, Platinum...for a short time and was around for years before that .I never had to send any silver to "melt"(refinery)...There were enough silver buyers/hoarders out there that were looking for any silver they could get. At that time I could only get about 80% plus fees from the refiner. So, selling to a collector was easier and they also paid more.

On the content...I agree with the above post...But there are guys who can tell pretty close on purity based on a nitric test alone. The different grays or cream colors and how fast it turns is a pretty good indicator. At one time I was really good at just dropping some 67% (or around there) nitric on it and could pretty much tell purity. There is some oddball stuff that shows a little different. But works pretty good for people that see a lot of it. I had to learn it fast because of all the unmarked stuff that was showing up. And testing marked stuff to double check too.

If you have pounds you should be able to find someone. For me at the time I had to take 20% off spot then another 20% off of that to be in the ball park of making anything. Unless large amounts or pure....

You have to sort it by purity. Then weigh it, and call a few refineries for quotes. If you go that route.

I may be way out of touch with all of this, but this was how it worked 5 years or so back.

Remember it's yours! You can offer it to any pawn shop, or buyer for what you want. They have the prices they pay but.......money is money and if they can make something enough for their time of messing with it? or if they need it to hit the next level to ship? A lot of times they may buy it for what you want if you leave them some room to make a little. That depends on who they have to buy it and for what percentage. Cash etc......There are a few things that play into all of that depending on how much volume they move and who their buyers are.
 

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Thanks for the very good info. Most of the big buyers want you to ship it to them and they decide what its worth, and they say they will ship it back if you will not accept their offer,, they say..
I have been looking for a dealer that will value the silver while I be there, most say for security reasons, they will not let you bring it to them,,, for security reasons,,, I prefer to take it and bring it back if I am not happy. My silver is at risk if they screw up,,, so I am looking for a dealer near central Florida that will work with me,,,, still looking.
 

What are you looking into when your looking? I would think central FL would be a good place to sell. Orlando has some big dealers. I couldn't imagine that you can't find someone that will be somewhat fair in that area.

I've never heard of a place saying don't bring it in for security reasons. I've seen it brought and sold to and from places using armored cars. Your looking too small of a place if they are telling you that. A couple of pounds is nothing to a buyer. Not putting your amount down, just lost on why they would tell you that. 1 100ozt bar weighs pounds, there are guys out there driving around with that in their trunk or glove box. a couple tubes of silver Eagles weighs pounds. And why couldn't you divide it up? Just take portions of it at a time. That cuts your risk of being robbed too. Any place that I've been to that moved any kind of real volume at all was pretty secure and sometimes secretly armed and not worried about a deal in that amount. :laughing7: Most of your smaller coin shops have that laying around on their back counter. Not knocking on your amount at all, just confused on why in the world they would tell you that. :icon_scratch: I use to beg for those types of deals and would have went out of my way to try to buy, not turn someone away and say...don't bring that for security reasons! That would scare people from ever coming to your shop!! I also preferred they sat and watched when I figured it, I very very rarely checked someones stuff with them not watching every move and on tape. That protects the buyer too from false accusations or any confusion. That happens too!

And for the amount your talking there are buyers that will come to you. Sometimes, you can use your local police station as a meeting place. I've bought that way in the past, so both parties feel comfortable. That might depend on area too, but is just another idea. Just go in and explain what your doing. In the area where I was they usually had no problem kind of watching the transaction. Just don't abuse it and annoy them. haha
 

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I have dealt with Jay on goldrefiningforum.com three times now. screen name is: scrapman1077

What he does is take your junk silver (and %) and refines it. Then he sends silver rounds as payment. Those should be much easier to sell because the are .999 and marked 1 ounce and look great.

Of course he makes a commission (some of your silver) but you get pure AG

This is his thread name. Trade Mint Fresh 999 1 oz rounds for your scrap silver
 

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I have dealt with Midwest Refineries once, it was a while ago. I choose to deal with them only because they are in the same state as I. They give you the choice of being paid in fine silver bullion or cold hard cash. I had a few pounds of sterling scrap and was pleased with the fine silver bars and rounds I got in return. I didn't really scrutinize the math on the return but felt like I got a square deal. For me, having it refined was pretty much my only option as my scrap was the by product of silver smithing. I believe they paid out 90%.
 

The price of a metal depends primarily on its quality and the place where it was mined. the same way it was extracted. I prefer to buy silver from large factories on a larger scale. Where it is produced and cleaned from impurities
 

I think it's right to buy silver scrap at factories. There you can get a guarantee about how it was created and how metal was extracted for this. Now I buy only there where I know that they work http://www.mobilescreening.co.nz/ machines. This is a company from New Zealand. They sell high-quality machines for such plants. This ensures that my purchase will be of high quality
 

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