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 Replies: 56 / Views: 5,095 |
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Valued Member
United States
103 Posts |
I have a little money to invest in either silver or gold....only 250 dollars. Basically, I am wondering whether I should purchase a small gold piece, or several silver pieces.
About my investing habits: I want to sell quick and often - I am looking to sell at least once every other month, preferably every 2 months. I'm not looking to make huge amounts of profit, but want steady, minimal profit that allows me to purchase a little more each time. I basically want to continually recycle my stash with more coins after I sell for a little profit.
Can anyone inform me on which metal, gold or silver, is right for me.
Thanks
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3184 Posts |
so your not a hobbiest but a investor eh? Well right now metals are very volatile. Usually people who are into metals are doing it for the long term not short term. You might want to go and get paper silver like ETFs, would be better for you
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1081 Posts |
I agree with Mkman123, I dont' think either are right for you. You'll see gold up $50/oz, then down $50/oz, same with silver, it's up and down. If there was some way to get a steady stream of income every month or two, every one would be in precious metals. I don't want to sound condescending, but I think a savings account or bonds would satisfy your need much better than precious metals.
I also wanted to add that with the costs of selling, it will be much more difficult to make money that quickly.
Edited by DavidZerbato
05/14/2011 08:55 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
931 Posts |
There are no guarantees. I don't see any advantage to trading coins and especially with bullion. It is entirely possible that $250 in silver bullion may be worth $350 in two months. By the time you sell five silver coins for a profit you would have to wait for the price to drop again to buy six or seven coins.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Depending on local laws, you might advertise to buy, after making arrangements to handle the $2000 collection that shows up when you have $250. There's no practical way to do what you're talking about at the retail market.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
759 Posts |
My official financial planning advice: given the personal investment parameters you provided, not only are gold and silver not appropriate, but virtually every investment known to man would fail to consistently meet your general requirements. Should your investment objectives change, feel free to ask again. I hope you're not offended. Just calling it like I see it.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
834 Posts |
It's possible to do so with a lot of hard work, I turned a 10oz silver investment into 100oz of silver Takes a lot of time and a lot of buying on the slightest dips, and selling on ebay with 24 hour auctions I stick to only JM 10oz bars, seem to bring in the best premium. My bullion dealer Sells to me at spot +1.00 as I buy a lot, no tax and obviously in CDN dollars so my spot price is cheaper. Generally I get spot +8.00 on ebay for JM bars. To avoid huge e bay and pay pal fees. Shipping prices are usually higher to offset the % ebay gets back. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
I agree with the general consensus that this is not an especially workable idea. Possible? Perhaps. Recommended? Nope.
Dealing in coins is a lot like fishing. With fishing, 5% of the fishermen catch 95% of the fish. Why? Because they know how!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
759 Posts |
It's not even possible in the long run, period. Show me a long term chart where every 2 months or less without fail (OP's requirement) the price points advance sufficiently to cover all costs, including bid/ask spread, and produce a profit. If he's willing to back off the hard timeline, perhaps some program could be developed with a higher probability of success, but really, if you preset your holding period to 2 months or less, transaction costs will eat away at the profit potential and market moves down will get you as well. I do applaud the desire to invest, just differently.
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Valued Member
 United States
103 Posts |
Well I made 20 bucks today, and traded 2 ounces of silver for 2 ounces of silver...lucky I guess lol
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Pillar of the Community
Mexico
1304 Posts |
I'm thinking that no real plan will work so much as knowing your market, being opportunistic, and "going out to get it". (which you just demonstrated)
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
It's not even possible in the long run, period. Show me a long term chart where every 2 months or less without fail (OP's requirement) the price points advance sufficiently to cover all costs, including bid/ask spread, and produce a profit. Back in 1980, one dealer insisted he could sell krands at spot, with delivery within 90 days, despite the fact that they always went for a slight premium. His argument was that at some point during those 90 days, the price of gold would drop enough that he could buy coins to fill orders and still make a profit, plus he'd also get interest on the money, which back then was around 1% a month. Of course, the only way to guarantee he would be able to get them at spot was to lock them in on a contract, and you couldn't do that without paying today's price plus the three months' interest. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
511 Posts |
You're living in fantasyland. The way to "make money" in silver is to buy right and WAIT (this can take time) for prices to jump. Even this can be something of an illusion, as the dollar is constantly depreciating.
What you propose is also known as gambling. Us silver bugs recognize the metal as a far superior form of money to fiat FRNs, and we accumulate it as financial insurance. By the way, I buy and sell silver on a part-time basis, but I've been around this market for a long time. My core holdings are never sold. Only my working inventory is available for customers.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
830 Posts |
What you need to have a shot at legally accomplishing your goal is lots of volatility combined with nerves of steel and good timing. IMHO the type of metal isn't the real question here because as far as coins go I don't see much difference in volatility between gold and silver, but I could be wrong. In commodity trading I'd say silver is more volatile. With that small initial investment you'd pretty much be limited to 1/10th oz gold coins, so I guess silver would better to start with. The quickest way I've seen to turn a small investment into a large profit is in the options market. You can also quickly lose it all too.  but that's a little off topic. Edited by GoThunder
05/21/2011 11:28 am
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Back to the OP's plan, he's basically talking about becoming a "dealer" with no money. This can be done, of course, but the less money you have to work with, the harder it is to do. Sure, you can buy/sell on ebay, but there are thousands of other buyers, most of whom know more about coins, and we all know how ebay fees can eat your profits. You can always try buying from individuals by advertising in the paper, but just because you have money to spend doesn't mean anyone wants to sell, and vice versa. And what do you do if someone calls with way more than you can begin to handle? Is borrowing on your credit cards a viable option, and even if it is, can you make a competitive offer and still pay the interest? |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
Bought a set of five silver grizzlys for 219 free shipping. Sold each one for 45 plus 1.99 shipping. Took me 4 days to buy and resell them. Is 300 dollars a lot? Your calculator needs new batteries. If $1.99 covers your shipping (I just paid $1.75 to mail a silver dollar, plus 000 mailer, and I'm out the money if USPS loses it), you got $225 (minus substantial ebay fees) for what you paid $219 for. That's a $6 profit, not $300, and how long did it take? Wanna work for me for $1.50 a day? This sounds like a kid who told me he "made" $600 at a show that I never did that well at. Once I got all the details from someone who went with him, he sold $600, and what's worse, he had $900 in what he sold for $600, so he lost $300! A restaurant that gets $1 for an egg looks like it's making a huge profit on a $2 dozen, but it better sell a bunch of them if it has to pay rent, utilities, insurance, wages, etc ad nauseum. |
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Replies: 56 / Views: 5,095 |
Posted 05/14/2011 08:54 am
