This is the story of my journey into purchasing and selling rare metals online and making use of eBay as to auction site.
I’ve been doing this for around four years, and I’ve made some money every now and then, but even though this isn’t my profession, It’s a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the selling and buying of metals on the internet.
Where Did I Start
I began by selling just a tiny 1 milligram of gold. Later, I was able to sell one-half ounce of gold for profit. My first significant profit came the time I held a massive block of sterling silver for nearly two years and was able to turn a 1500 dollars revenue (well, the goal was to keep pace with the rate of inflation). However, my family was astonished at how much the value of the silver changed. By the time I was done, I was selling silver and gold bars and coins that were worth up to 4000 dollars. Most of my silver and gold bars were stored in a safe at the bank. In order to rent the safe from the bank, I lost approximately 18 dollars for keeping that safe drawer in the bank each year. It was a bit odd going to the bank every week to check inventory and later make calculations even though other customers of the bank rarely made use of the safe.
How Did It
I’d actually purchase them directly off eBay and then wait for the price of silver, gold, or platinum (whichever I was planning to sell) to go up before I placed them back onto eBay. At times, an entire year occurs within one week. This was at the peak of the recession, and investors had more confidence in silver and gold stocks as well as platinum at times too. It wasn’t a problem to find the perfect timing due to the fact that the prices of silver, gold and other rare metals were increasing slowly. There were instances where it peaked rapidly, but I was not quick enough to take advantage of the major peaks of value.
I’ve only been able to use 24k gold and .999 silver as well as the fine .999 metals, such as .999 platinum. Anything less must be appraised by a competent appraiser. The decision is yours to make the value. However, for 24k gold, there’s always kitco.com which provides daily estimates of your silver or gold quantity in pounds. If you own more than one ounce, then you are able to convert the amount to one ounce in order to begin the appraisal. This is the way I assessed my metals. It was an arduous job to determine when to buy and sell correctly since I could not sell when the market was at its peak, unlike those who owned actual stocks.
Overall I have learned a lot about timing, as well as how rare metals were valued relative to that the US dollar. Inflation made the price of gold appear more expensive than it really was due to the fact that it was being compared to a US dollar. I also realized that in 2008 that there was a massive demand for platinum, and I am glad that I was able to profit from this. It was lots of fun and is an easy method to learn the way rare metals and money are appreciated.